How it works

Write. Check. Correct. Practise.

Most maths tools start from a problem and produce an answer. Roughwork starts from your working, because that's where the learning happens.

Step 1

Write

Start from a problem in your plan, a lesson, or one of your own. Write your working naturally: Apple Pencil on iPad, or paper and a photo on iPhone.

Step 2

Check

Roughwork reads the whole page in context: the problem, every line you wrote, and the answer. If a line is unclear, it asks rather than guessing.

Your working

Solve 3x − (2x − 5) = 4.

1 3x − (2x − 5) = 4

2 3x − 2x − 5 = 4

3 x − 5 = 4

4 x = 9

Line 2. The minus in front of the bracket reaches the 5 too. What is −(−5)?

Illustration of the feedback format: the first wrong step, marked on your own page, and a question instead of the answer.

Step 3

Locate and coach

It marks the first step that went wrong and asks a question that points at it. A hint is one tap away; the worked solution only if you ask.

Step 4

Correct

You rewrite the step and check again. The fix is yours, which is why it sticks.

3x − 2x + 5 = 4
x = −1 ✓

Step 5

Reinforce

A few problems on the same idea follow, and come back after a gap to see if it held.

Practice · Distributing a negative

1Simplify 5 − (3 − x).

2Solve 4x − (x + 6) = 9.

3Expand −2(a − 3b).

Back in three days, then a week, to see if it held.

Step 6

Remember

Every attempt updates where you stand on the skill, with one honest word for it.

Example · one skill over five weeks

Distributing a negative

Proven

2 Oct

Worked three with the method beside you

With the method

5 Oct

Five right with no notes and no hints

On your own

12 Oct

Picked the right method in a mixed set

In new problems

9 Nov

Still right a month later, no warm-up

Proven

On iPad

Write with Apple Pencil on the page. Marks land on the exact line, in the margin, in your own ink.

On iPhone

Work on paper, then snap a photo. You get the verdict and the step that went wrong.

What it won't do

Hand you the answer before you've tried, or call a slip stupid. Mistakes are information, not alarms.