Updates from Maths Pathway Pilot

Since we formalized our partnership with Maths Pathway in June, we had piloted this learning model in 3 schools (2 in Phnom Penh, 1 in Kandal), and reached 440 students in total. Our 6 Fellows facilitated this model in their classrooms, which covered 7th-10th grade. 

This is a picture of a math classroom before Maths Pathway.

This picture shows a classroom utilizing Maths Pathway.

In just a few months of piloting this program, our teaching Fellows saw significant impact from this new model. According to 8th grade students in Bun Rany Hun Sen Koah Dach High School, Maths Pathway learning model was fun and motivating due to the variety of learning styles available (video, visual, discussion). They also enjoyed the ability to learn the basics that they missed in previous grades. 

In this new model of math teaching, our Fellows played the role as facilitators instead of teachers. This helped them sustain their energy while being able to keep track of their whole class’ progress, and provided support to students accordingly. Before Maths Pathway, teachers used to have to teach the whole class the same content and expect the same result from all students, regardless of students’ level of understanding in math. In addition, teachers could not tell the levels of their individual students. This previous way of teaching was exhausting for teachers, and not every student could grasp the lessons or improve in math. With Maths Pathway, teachers were able to see that some students’ math level is below their grade level, and some students exceeded their grade level. 

One of our Fellows who facilitated the Maths Pathway pilot told us that “with this model, every students gain more knowledge about math everyday, no matter which level they are at, and this model teaches students to learn on their own. Students are able to access this model both in school and at home, and this allows them to put in extra effort in areas that they need to improve on. For teachers, we don’t have to spend as much time preparing for lessons and exams. Thus, we are able to use this time to support our students better, especially those who are behind their grade level. Lastly, we as teachers now have time to improve our own knowledge of this new program”. 

Furthermore, a town leader who is also a former director in one of the schools implementing Maths Pathway was so impressed by the impact of this new model that he took a big step to build a new building, just for this program (see picture below).

Hearing these stories and seeing the impact with our own eyes, we feel that we are on the right track. Yet a number of challenges remain such as unstable internet connection in some schools and language barrier as this pilot program is all in English. That said, our Fellows also noticed that through this model, students were able to improve on their math, English and computer skills.