York teacher, Rachel Dunsmore, creates maths app up to GCSE

Rachel Dunsmore, has designed the app called ARC Maths to support secondary school pupils up to GCSE level.

Rachel said the app is proving to be a valuable resource for home learning, with content that covers the entire Key Stage 3 and GCSE curriculum, and it only takes 10 minutes a day.

She said: “I’ve designed ARC Maths to help students retain the maths skills and knowledge that they are taught at school, by interrupting the process of forgetting. Quite understandably, many children find it hard to remember all the work they have covered in previous years.

“The handwriting recognition technology sets it apart from other online learning tools. It can recognise even complex algebraic expressions, so we’ve been able to move beyond multiple-choice questions and students can input answers in a way that more closely resembles their schoolwork.”

ARC Maths has taken Rachel two years to develop, with help from a host of York-based companies: App developers, The Distance; Design agency, Cann Creative and background guidance from the University of York.

She said: "Successful trials and extensive testing of the 15,000 questions have taken place at Manor CE Academy in York, where the response from the pupils has been definitely, overwhelmingly positive."

Underpinning ARC Maths are ideas drawn from evidence-based research into how the memory works.

Silke Goebel, senior ecturer in the department of psychology at the University of York and head of the Numerical Cognition Lab said: “One particular advantage of this app is that it is not only adaptive to the level of the individual student, it also takes the learning history into account.”

ARC Maths is available for iPads on the Apple App Store and is suitable for 11-16 year olds or anyone wishing to brush-up on their maths. Pupils at Manor are able to access it free of charge through their school. A seven-day free trial is available for new subscribers and monthly subscription is £3.49.