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When Math Meets Active Learning

From student anxiety to confident problem-solvers in Prealgebra–Precalculus.
A mathematics learning platform built for step-by-step support, clarity, and real understanding.

Client

  • Top Hat

Industry

  • EdTech
  • STEM
  • eLearning
  • SaaS

Services

  • UX Research
  • Product Design
  • Mobile Design
  • Design System
  • Accessibility Design

What is Aktiv Mathematics?

Aktiv Mathematics is a step-by-step, interactive platform built to make learning math feel approachable, logical, and confidence-building.

It supports courses from Prealgebra to Precalculus, blending structured feedback with active problem solving. Students receive guidance at every step, while instructors gain insights into not just what answers students provide, but how they got there.

The project goal was to help students move from memorizing to understanding, and to design experiences that promote active learning at every level.

Challenge & Context

  • Many digital math tools emphasize correctness, not comprehension. Students were often penalized for mistakes instead of guided to understand them.

  • Instructors expressed frustration that they could only see final answers, not student reasoning. This made it difficult to diagnose misconceptions or provide targeted help.

  • The existing systems didn’t scale well across Prealgebra to Precalculus with consistent UX

We wanted to design a system that mirrors how students naturally think — explore, test, and learn through doing.

Dr. Justin Weinberg, CEO, Aktiv

We needed to design an experience that:

  • Encouraged students to learn through practice, not fear mistakes
  • Provided learning modes that mirrored how students thought & worked
  • Helped instructors visualize student thought processes
  • Worked seamlessly across desktop, tablet, and mobile
  • Maintained pedagogical integrity across Prealgebra through Precalculus

Discovery & Research

I collaborated with our Product Manager and joined multiple user interviews with instructors and students. While I didn’t directly lead the sessions, I participated in observing user behavior, taking notes, and later reviewed and synthesized the collected data to identify recurring patterns.

I also worked closely with subject matter experts (SMEs), such as professors and math curriculum designers, to ensure the product aligned with both pedagogical best practices and real classroom needs.

Key Insights

  • Cognitive overload often came from unclear steps or lack of context.

  • Students wanted reassurance — real-time feedback, hints, or small wins.

  • Instructors needed visibility into each student’s process, not just outcomes.

  • Consistency in layout and math entry improved confidence for lower-level students.

"Students often defaulted to paper because they didn’t trust the system to help them think through math."

Tom Khulesa, PM, Aktiv Mathematics

The Design Process

01 — Defining the Learning Modes

To support different learning approaches, we designed three modes that scale with student mastery:

  • Scaffolded Mode — Step-by-step guidance for building foundational skills

  • StepWise Mode — Students show reasoning with targeted feedback after each step

  • Final Answer Mode — Standard input for summative assessment and mastery

Each mode was designed to feel consistent yet distinct, with subtle interface and interaction variations that matched cognitive complexity.

02 — Math Input and Feedback

We simplified math input interactions, focusing on clarity and flow:

  • Equation editor supports fractions, radicals, and exponents with natural keyboard entry

  • Graphing tool (powered by Desmos integration) provides real-time visualization

  • Feedback bubbles appear inline to guide corrections, not penalize errors

03 — Instructor Experience

Instructors can now:

  • View step-by-step student reasoning for deeper insight

  • Track class-level analytics and trends

  • Configure assignment settings and difficulty across learning modes

I designed these instructor dashboards to feel less like spreadsheets and more like visual stories of student learning — showing progress, confidence levels, and areas for reteaching.

Collaboration with Experts

Working with subject matter experts was crucial. Together, we reviewed question types, problem structures, and interface patterns to ensure every interaction reflected sound mathematical reasoning.

For example, SMEs helped validate Scaffolded Mode interactions to ensure they matched instructional logic used in real classrooms. This close loop between pedagogy and UX helped make the product truly “teacher-approved.”

Results & Impact

  • Used in hundreds of universities and K–12 bridge programs
  • Higher student engagement and lower frustration in formative topics
  • Improved instructor visibility into student reasoning processes
  • Positive feedback from faculty on balance between usability and rigor
  • Received Patent
    (US Patent #: 12,198,567 B2)

Takeaways

Designing Aktiv Mathematics reminded me that learning tools must respect the way students think; messy, iterative, and nonlinear.

What I learned

  • Balance pedagogical depth with interface simplicity

  • Collaborate deeply with subject matter experts for domain authenticity

  • View error states as part of the learning process, not obstacles to avoid