Creating Multivariable Calculus at Khan Academy
Apr 2020
What: I proposed and obtained a custom internship to build a curriculum and to create practice problems for Khan Academy’s online multivariable calculus course. Now the course offers 600+ unique problems, each with a detailed solution to guide students to the answer if they need help.
When: I began this project in July, 2019. We haven't published the course live yet but hope to soon: COVID-19 has been an obstacle. I estimate I’ve spent 400 hours on this project over the last 6 months. [Update: it's published!]
How: The process of getting the internship was quite chaotic and not at all planned ahead of time. All I knew before June, 2019, was that I wanted to work at Khan Academy and that I would do anything to get a position. I'm grateful to Drew Bent for invaluable advice near the end of the school year about how to create a resume and whom I could talk to. He introduced me to my future mentor at Khan Academy, Jeff Dodds.
Why: Back in January - April of 2018, I went through KA’s multivariable calculus course and was mildly annoyed that there was no built-in practice. This is unlike most of their other courses: for example, AP Calculus BC has more than 100 exercises for practicing different skills. While brainstorming ideas with Drew Bent, I brought this up and we agreed that this was where I could provide value for Khan Academy.
Why it matters to me: I deeply care about math education. Building practice for Khan Academy’s multivariable calculus course is my way to contribute to KA’s mission of a free, world-class education for everyone, everywhere. I hope the updated course helps thousands of university students who are struggling in their multivariable calculus courses. I also tried to make the exercises as visual as possible. My goal is to make multivariable calculus easy, because the fundamental ideas are not complicated. They can get convoluted in the symbols, but anyone can understand the ideas, and anyone can learn to manipulate the symbols with practice.
What I learned: So much.
- Corporate environment and how to be professional. Throughout the summer, I worked in a company structure and quickly acclimated to having a boss (really a mentor), having co-workers, preparing for meetings, reporting progress, etc.
- Organization. Within my first week, I drafted a 17+ page document with every math exercise I would make for the rest of the summer. By scaffolding out everything I would do, I could easily report my progress (what I did / what I need to do) and adjust my pace. I also set weekly goals so I could stay on track.
- Bonds with other summer interns. I made friends with the cohort of ~10 other summer interns. Through these friendships, I learned about their college experiences (talked about the classes they were taking and the schools they attended), what they were working on (which taught me new CS concepts as well), and what interested them (which usually interested me too).
- Work ethic. This project took hundreds of hours of work. There's no other way but consistency over months.