This company pays kids to do their math homework | Mohamad Jebara

翻译人员: YIRAN WANG 校对人员: Eric Yang

在我的印象中，我一直深爱数学。

For as long as I remember, I've loved mathematics.

Actually, it's not 100 percent true.

其实这个说法也不是绝对准确。

I've loved mathematics for all but a two-week period

确切地说，我一直深爱数学，

in senior high school.

除了高中时期的两个礼拜。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

I was top of my class,

我当时在班里名列前茅，

and we were about to start the Extension Maths course.

我们正要开始学习扩展数学课程。

I was really excited about this brand new topic coming up,

我对这个全新的领域兴奋不已，

complex numbers.

复数。

I like complex.

我喜欢复杂的东西。

My teacher was priming us for the concepts

老师给我们铺垫了一些概念，

提出了一些关于平方根的问题。

with some questions about square roots.

Square of nine -- three;

9开二次方是多少——3；

square of 256 -- sixteen.

256开二次方是多少——16。

Too easy.

这太容易了。

Then she asked the trick question:

之后老师问了我们一个难题：

What about the square root of negative one?

-1开平方是多少呢？

Of course, we were all over it --

当然，我们都认为这不可能 ——

"Come on, Miss!

“拜托，老师！

We all know you can't take the square root of a negative."

我们都知道不能对负数开方。”

"That's true in the real world," she said.

老师说：“在实数域中确实是这样，

"But in the complex world,

但是在复数的范畴里，

the square root of negative one is the imaginary number i."

-1的平方根是虚数 i。”

(Laughter)

（笑声）

That day,

那一天，

my entire mathematical world came crashing down on me.

我的整个数学观都坍塌了。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

"Imaginary numbers?

“虚数？

Seriously?

真的吗？

But mathematics is a source of truth,

数学是真理的来源，

please don't go abstract on me.

请别把它搞抽象了。

I would have studied art

如果要和

if I wanted to play with imaginary numbers."

虚构的数字打交道， 我情愿去学艺术。”

(Laughter)

（笑声）

"This is Extension Maths, let's get back with our program!"

“这是扩展数学 ， 让我们回到数学的正题上来！”

She didn't,

但老师没有这么做，

and over the next couple of weeks,

在接下来的几周，

I reluctantly performed meaningless calculations,

我不情愿地进行着没意义的计算，

(Laughter)

（笑声）

finding imaginary solutions to quadratic equations.

给二次方程式求虚数解。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

But then something amazing happened.

但之后发生了令人惊讶的事情。

We began finding elegant solutions

我们开始找到之前

to real-world problems we previously had no answers to,

在现实世界中无解问题的答案，

starting with the complex world of imaginary numbers.

而这都要从复杂的虚数开始。

So some mathematician 500 years ago

500年前的一群数学家

decides to have some fun and make up these imaginary numbers,

想找点乐子 ， 于是构想出了这些虚数，

and because of that we can now derive these amazing identities

我们也因此将这些神奇的记号

with applications in the real world,

运用到了现实世界中，

in fields like electrical engineering.

例如电力工程领域。

Wow!

哇！

I gained a whole new level of appreciation for mathematics.

我对数学的欣赏 上升到了一个全新的阶段。

And after my brief mistrust,

在经历了短暂的不信任之后，

I was now in love with the subject more than ever.

现在的我比以往更爱这个学科了。

Francis Su, the mathematician, sums it up beautifully when he says,

数学家弗朗西斯·苏 有一句优美的总结：

"We study mathematics for play, for beauty,

“我们学习数学 是为了乐趣，为了美好，

for truth,

为了真理，

for justice and for love."

为了公正，也为了热爱。”

But if you ask a student today,

但现在，如果你问一个学生，

you'll probably hear a different story.

你可能会得到不同的答案。

You might hear "difficult" and "boring."

你可能会听到“困难”和“无聊”。

And they might be right about difficult.

说数学困难可能有些道理，

But it's certainly not boring.

但数学肯定不是无聊的。

In fact, I'd say being difficult to master

我其实觉得，数学的一大魅力

is part of what makes it beautiful.

就在于它难以掌握。

Because nothing worth doing is easy.

因为有价值的事情 做起来都不会容易。

So we need students to stick around long enough through the difficult parts

我们需要学生们 长期坚持，面对数学之难，

to appreciate the beauty when it all ties together.

将难的内容联系起来时 才能感受到数学的美。

Much like I did for that brief couple of weeks in high school.

这和我在高中 那几周的经历差不多。

Unfortunately, our school systems --

遗憾的是，我们的教育体制——

we move students through mathematics in a lockstep process.

只是单纯地对所有学生采用 统一的教学进度。

So those who fall a little behind

那些落后一点的学生

find it near impossible to ever catch up and appreciate that beauty.

会认为赶上别人、学会欣赏数学 几乎是不可能的事情。

But why is this a problem?

为什么这是个问题呢？

Why should we care?

为什么我们应当关心这个问题？

Well today, more than ever,

当今世界对人们数学能力的需求

our world needs every citizen to be skilled in mathematics.

比以往任何时候都要迫切。

With the advent of artificial intelligence and automation,

随着人工智能和自动化时代的到来，

many of the jobs we see today will either not exist

我们现在的许多工作 未来都将不复存在，

or be transformed to require less routine work

或者被迫进行改革 ， 以减少常规工作，

and more analysis and application of expertise.

并加强专业化的分析和应用。

But we're not producing the extra mathematics students

但我们没有足够的数学专业学生

来填补这些新增职位。

to fill these new roles.

This graph shows the number of students

这幅图显示了20年间，

taking Standard Mathematics

在澳大利亚

and Advanced Mathematics

学习普通数学

over a period of 20 years in Australia.

和高等数学的学生数量。

It's clear that while we have demand for mathematics skills rapidly increasing,

结果一目了然，虽然我们对 数学人才的需求快速增加，

supply is in steady decline.

具备这些能力的人数却在稳定下降。

To put things in perspective,

也就是说，

half of the students completing high school today in Australia

如今在澳大利亚，一半高中毕业生

are not prepared to understand any argument

都不能够完全理解 有关数据变化率的

about rates of change in data.

任何论点。

In this digital age

现在可是数字时代，

where fake news can influence election results,

假新闻都能够影响选举结果，

this is very concerning.

这非常令人担忧。

Let me give you a concrete example.

给大家一个具体的例子。

Let's take a closer look at that graph.

我们再看看这幅图。

Can everyone see what I've done there to stress my point?

大家能看出来 我为了突出重点做了什么吗？

If you can't, let me show you now,

如果你看不出来，我来告诉你，

with the vertical axis starting at zero, where it should be.

纵轴的起始点本应该是0。

There, you see it now, right?

现在能看出来了吧？

It's the exact same data

本来是一模一样的数据，

but I've manipulated the representation to influence you.

但是我在展现方式上 做了手脚来影响你们。

And that's cool, that's my job up here.

这很酷，也正是我站在这儿目的。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

But in all seriousness,

但认真地讲，

unless we do something

除非我们做些什么

to drastically improve student engagement with mathematics,

来大幅增加学生们 在数学课程上的投入，

we'll not only have a huge skills shortage crisis

否则我们将不仅面临 巨大的技能短缺，

而且人们的思想也将摇摆不定，

but a fickle population,

easily manipulated by whoever can get the most air time.

轻而易举地被电视里 出镜最多的人操控。

So what's the solution?

那么，有什么解决办法吗？

There are a lot of things we have to do.

这项工作任重道远。

We need curriculum reform.

我们需要课程改革。

We need our best and brightest encouraged to become teachers.

我们需要最棒、 最聪明的人成为老师。

We need to put an end to high-stakes tests

我们需要取消 “一考定终身”的制度，

and instead follow a mastery-based learning approach.

改用以能力为基础的教学方法。

But all these things take time.

但所有这些都不能一蹴而就。

And I'm impatient.

而我又没什么耐心。

See, I've been thinking about this for eight years now.

八年前，我辞掉了 金融衍生品交易员的工作。

Ever since I left my job as a derivative trader

从那时起我就一直致力于此，

to build a web application to help students learn mathematics.

开发网络应用，帮助学生学习数学。

Today, our app is used by schools across the globe.

如今，我们的应用 被全球各地学校广泛使用。

And we're seeing big improvements

经常使用它的学生

在成绩上也有了显著提高。

for students who use the program regularly.

But here's the thing --

但有一个问题——

we're only seeing it for students who use the program regularly.

这种提高只体现在 经常使用应用的学生身上。

And most of them don't.

而这类学生只占少数。

So after years of developing and refining the application,

因此，我们虽然 花费数年开发和改进应用，

our biggest challenge was not so much product related,

但面临的最大挑战 却并非来自产品，

our biggest challenge was motivating students

而是如何激励学生，

to want to work on their gaps in understanding.

让他们愿意克服理解数学的障碍。

You can imagine in today's attention economy,

如今是注意力经济时代，

we're competing against Facebook, Snapchat and PlayStation

我们是在和Facebook， Snapchat，Playstation竞争，

努力争取学生们的时间。

to try and get these students' time.

So we went back to the drawing board

于是我们退后一步，

and started to think about how we could make it worthwhile

开始思考如何能让学生认为

for students to spend some of their "attention budget"

分一些有限的精力在教育上

on their education.

是值得的。

We tinkered with gamification elements

我们在应用中 添加了一些游戏元素，

like points, badges and avatars,

例如积分、勋章、炫酷的形象等，

and we'd see a temporary spike in engagement

我们发现参与度短暂上升，

but things would go back to normal as soon as the novelty wore off.

但当新鲜感褪去后， 一切又迅速回到正常水平。

Then one day, my cofounder, Alvin,

我们的联合创始人埃尔文

came across a study of students in Chicago

某天偶然看到芝加哥 一项关于学生的研究，

led by the behavioral economist, Steven Levitt,

这项研究由行为经济学家 斯蒂芬·莱维特发起，

where they paid students who improved on their test scores.

他们付钱给测验成绩提高的学生。

He started telling me about some of the things they tested for

他告诉我了一些测试的内容，

and the interesting findings they had.

以及一些有趣的研究发现。

For instance, they found that incentivizing students for inputs,

例如，他们发现 对学生的努力程度等投入

like effort,

进行奖励，

worked a lot better than incentivizing for outputs,

其效果要好于对分数等结果

like test scores.

进行奖励。

They found that for younger students, you could win them over with a trophy

他们还发现， 可以给年龄小的学生奖杯，

but for older students,

但对于年龄大一些的学生，

you really needed cash.

则需要给他们金钱奖励。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

And the amount of cash mattered -- 10 dollars was good,

钱的额度也很重要， 10美元还不错，

20美元就更好了。

20 dollars -- even better.

But perhaps most importantly,

但也许更重要的一点是，

they found that the rewards had to be instant

他们发现这种奖励必须及时，

rather than promised at a later date.

不能延迟发放。

They went as far as to give the students 20 dollars and say,

研究人员甚至 拿出20美元对学生们说：

"Touch it, feel it, smell it --"

“摸摸它，感受它，再闻闻它——

(Sniffing)

（闻一下）

"It's all yours.

这都是你的。

But if you fail, I'm going to take it back."

但如果你失败，我就得把它拿回来。”

And that worked really well.

这样做的效果非常好。

I immediately got excited

我立刻意识到将这项研究

about the possibilities of implementing this in our program.

应用到我们的项目上是可行的， 我对此十分兴奋。

But once the excitement settled down,

但一旦冷静下来，

there were a few concerns that crept in our minds.

我的脑海里冒出了几个问题。

Firstly,

第一，

was this ethical?

这符合伦理道德么？

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Secondly, how would we fund this thing?

第二，我们如何筹措资金？

(Laughter)

（笑声）

And finally,

第三，

would the results be sustained if the students were no longer paid?

如果以后停止给学生金钱奖励， 这种效果还会持续么？

Now, let's look at the ethical part first.

我们先来看看伦理问题，

I'm a bit of a mathematical purist.

我算是一个数学方面的 纯粹主义者。

So I'd be one of the first people to say that we should study mathematics

我就是那种认为应该为了数学

for the sake of mathematics.

而学习数学的人。

Remember -- for play, for beauty, for truth, for justice and for love!

要记住， 是为了乐趣、美好 真理、正义和热爱而学习数学。

Not for money!

不是为了钱！

(Laughter)

（笑声）

As I struggled with this, I came to see that,

在内心挣扎的同时，我意识到

while it's a way I look at mathematics now,

我现在这样看待数学

it's only because I studied it long enough to appreciate it.

是因为学习了足够长的时间， 能够欣赏它的魅力。

It's very difficult to tell a student struggling with mathematics today

但对学数学很痛苦的学生来说，

to work hard for a payoff in the distant future.

你难以诱导他们， 努力学习终将有所回报。

And it's not so much bribery that's at work here,

这种诱导在这里行不通，

because I could bribe students

我满可以告诉学生们

by telling them about my big bonuses in my derivative trading days

做金融衍生品交易员有高额奖金，

as a reward for doing well at maths.

这就是学好数学的回报。

But it doesn't pay off for a very long time.

但这种回报要等很久才能实现。

So it's practically naught.

因此，这种鼓励几乎没什么作用。

Behavioral economists call this hyperbolic discounting.

行为经济学家称之为“双曲贴现” （相比后期大回报，更看重眼前的小酬劳）。

And Levitt goes as far as to say

莱维特甚至说，

that all motivating power vanishes

当延迟发放奖励时，

when rewards are handed out with a delay.

一切激励作用都会消失。

So, from a purely economic point of view:

因此，从一个纯粹的 经济视角来看：

if we don't use immediate incentives,

如果不给予及时的奖励，

we are underinvesting in student outcomes.

就等于没有对学生的成绩 进行足够的奖励。

I took heart from that, and came to see that as a society,

我认真思考了这个问题， 发现不论经济奖励的提供者

we're actually quite used to financial incentives.

是政府、雇主还是家庭，

Whether it be by the government, by employers or at home.

我们其实早就习惯了它的存在。

For instance, many parents would pay their children

打个比方 ， 很多孩子会帮忙做家务，

an allowance or pocket money for doing chores in the house.

家长会因此奖励给孩子零花钱。

So it wasn't really all that controversial.

因此，用钱激励学生 也并没有太大争议性。

As I thought about that,

想到这儿，

我开始思考第二个问题， 即我们如何提供资金支持？

it started to answer that second question of how we were going to fund this.

Naturally, parents are the most invested in their children's education.

父母自然是 孩子教育的最大投资方。

So, let's charge them a weekly subscription fee

于是我们开始按周收取

to use our program,

软件使用费，

but --

但是——

if the students complete their weekly maths goal,

如果学生达成了每周数学目标，

we'll refund the subscription amount directly into the child's bank account.

我们会把这笔费用 退回到他自己的银行账户。

We chose three exercises completed

我们设置了三个练习，

over a one week period

如果能在一周之内完成，

for a 10 dollar reward.

就可得到10美元奖励。

That way we're incentivizing effort rather than performance

我们奖励学生们付出的努力， 而不是他们的成绩，

over a short enough period

这段时间比较短，

and with a substantial enough payout for the students to care.

奖励也足够大， 能够引起学生的重视。

Now, I remember when I first told my wife about this new business model.

我还记得，当我最初 把这个新商业模式告诉妻子时，

If she had any doubt left that I've gone completely mad,

如果之前她还不确定我是否疯了，

that pretty much confirmed it for her.

我的这种想法就能 让她确定我真的疯了。

She said to me, "Mo ...

她说："穆...

you realize that if everybody does their homework, which you want,

你意识到没有，要是每个孩子 都如你所愿，完成作业，

你可就一分钱都赚不到啦。

you're not going to make any revenue, which you don't want.

Great business model."

这真是厉害的商业模式啊。“

(Laughter)

（笑声）

I say it's more like an antibusiness model,

我认为这更像是个反商业模式，

使用就免费，不使用则付费。

it's free if you use it, but you pay if you don't.

Now, I knew from experience

根据以往经验，

that not everybody in the country was going to jump on

我知道在这个国家， 不是每个人都能斗志昂扬

每周做数学作业。

and do their maths homework every week.

如果真是如此 ， 我们很快就破产了，

And if they did, sure we'd go bust pretty quickly,

but hey, we would have solved the country's maths skills crisis.

但是这样一来，数学能力 不足的问题不就解决了吗？

(Laughter)

（笑声）

As a company, we've always run a double bottom line,

作为一家公司 ， 我们总会有一条双重底线，

looking to both make a return for investors

既要给投资商回报，

as well as improve student outcomes.

也要提高学生成绩。

We know that our path to long-term profitability

我们清楚，如果要长期盈利，

is through improving student outcomes.

就要提高学生们的成绩。

So our dual objectives should never be at odds.

我们的双重目标就不会相悖。

So we're always looking

正因为如此，

我们一直都努力 让我们的产品决策

to make our product decisions

around helping students reach their weekly maths goal,

能够帮助学生达成每周数学目标，

effectively ensuring that they get paid

确保他们能够拿到钱，

and not us.

而不管我们是否盈利。

Now you must be wondering: How is this crazy business model going?

你可能会问，这个疯狂的 商业模式如何运作？

You'll be glad to know we're still in business.

令人高兴的是我们仍在运营。

We've been testing this now for the last five months

在过去的五个月，

on just our personal home users in Australia

在我们将其推广到学校之前，

before we think about rolling it out to schools.

我们针对澳大利亚的 个人使用者进行了试验。

And here are the early results.

以下是初期结果。

The green represents students who are completing their weekly maths goal

绿色代表完成每周数学任务的学生，

and the red those who aren't.

红色代表没有完成的学生。

You can see a lot more completing their homework than not.

可以看出完成作业的人数 远高于未完成的人数。

In fact, as our user base has grown,

事实上，随着我们的用户增多，

we found the percentage to be pretty steady, at around 75 percent.

我们发现完成的人数比例 稳定在大约75% 。

So on average, we receive our weekly subscription fee

平均来看，

我们每四周就会收到一次使用费，

once every four weeks,

and the other three weeks, we're rewarding the students.

而在其他三周发放奖励给学生。

Now of course we're leaving some money on the table here,

当然，我们已经赚了一些钱，

但你可能想不到，

but guess what?

与没有奖金回报的学生相比，

It turns out these students

are 70 percent more engaged than students not on the reward program.

获得奖金的学生 参与度高出了70%。

Check.

目标达成！

From a business perspective,

从商业视角来看，

they are less likely to churn

这些学生用户很稳定，

and more likely to refer friends,

也更倾向于把应用推荐给朋友，

so we're hoping to trade off a lower revenue per user

我们希望通过 给单个用户更低的奖赏来

for a bigger and more engaged user base.

换取更大、参与度更高的用户群。

Check and check.

这两项都已经完成。

Now for that final question.

现在，还有最后一个问题。

Would they keep coming back if they were no longer paid?

如果不再付钱给学生， 他们还会继续使用这个应用么？

Mathematics is so much more than just a subject you study at school.

数学绝不仅仅是 在学校学习的一个科目。

It's a human endeavor.

它是人类的事业。

It's what helps us to understand the world around us.

它帮助我们了解周围的世界。

And the more you know, the more you want to know.

当你了解的越多 ， 你就会更加希望深入这个领域。

So yes, we've triggered initial engagement

因此，问题的答案是肯定的， 学生们的兴趣已经

with a financial reward.

被奖励激发出来了。

But in the long run,

而长远来看，

the money won't matter anymore.

钱不再是问题，

因为从长远来看，

Because in the long run,

the wonder of mathematics will be the incentive

数学的奇妙就是最好的激励，

and understanding it

而理解了数学，

will be the reward.

就是最好的回报。

Thank you.

谢谢。

(Applause)

（掌声）