What makes BrainQuake different from other math resources?

We focus on developing problem-solving and mathematical thinking skills. Yes, our puzzles will build specific, standards-aligned skills, but where we really shine is in supporting students to think mathematically. We hear over and over again from families and teachers that there is very little available that does this well. We do our best to solve that problem for you!

How often do my kids or students need to play to see results?

We’re not fans of excessive screen time, so we’ve designed our work to be effective with a minimum dosage in mind. In as little as 10 minutes three times per week for four weeks, players may develop powerful new problem-solving skills and a new confidence in themselves as mathematically capable learners. You should use our work consistently, but there is no need for hours and hours of screen time in one go.

Is BrainQuake safe for my kids?

BrainQuake was created by, among others, parents and teachers.  We take safety and privacy very seriously.  In fact, as part of our attempt to build more equitable math content, our puzzles do not require us to obtain any personally identifiable information in order to deliver a powerful math experience.  This is because breaking the Symbol Barrier allows learners to engage more directly with the math content and without, or with less, anxiety and stereotype threat.

We do not include links to any other products or advertisements in our apps.  We do not aggregate and sell or share your children’s data, except when required to do so by local or federal law, in which case we will comply with the appropriate legal authorities.

We use a third-party product, PlayFab, to generate a player identification number that you can find in the Settings inside the app. This identification number is connected to your device ID.  Most, but not all, states do not consider the device ID to be PII.  The only reason that BrainQuake gathers the device ID is to support multiple players saving their individual games inside the app.

All of the content in the BrainQuake app has been created by us.  We recognize that algorithms, such as those that drive our adaptive engines and our BrainQuake Score are, like anything else a human produces, subject to reflecting and prioritizing our own implicit biases.  We seek to overcome these biases by focusing on creating interfaces to mathematics that, to the highest degree possible, not only remove our own fingerprints, but reflect the best research available for how to create learning environments that are safe and productive for diverse learners.  We recognize that we have not, and may never, achieve perfection, but we aspire to do so every day.

It is essential that we earn your trust, and we hope to learn that we are worthy of it.

What is the BrainQuake Score?

After completing their first 20 puzzles, we’ll begin to populate your child’s or student’s BrainQuake Score. From there, we’ll continue to calculate the BrainQuake Score based upon the most recent 20 puzzles played. The BrainQuake Score measures: 1) Efficiency, or how close to optimal a given solution was; 2) Persistence, or how often players replay puzzles while improving their Efficiency; and 3) Creativity, a measure of solving our puzzles in innovative ways that, when demonstrated as a trend over time, suggests a player is developing particularly powerful mathematical thinking ability.

What type of content do you offer?

BrainQuake’s puzzles focus on developing problem-solving skills.  Through an intense review process, we’ve selected three critical areas of mathematics and mathematical thinking to include in our puzzles:  number sense, proportional reasoning, and algebraic thinking (the last one presented in  a way that involves spatial reasoning).  In upcoming releases, we will include innovative “math-forward” versions of each puzzle that we’ve designed to explicitly support children’s transference of their abstract learning in the puzzles to concrete understandings of how that knowledge is represented using math’s symbols and syntax.

We also provide measures of your child’s math proficiency that we believe provide more insight and encouragement than binary math assessments that reflect only whether a child obtained the right answer or not.  Just as important, if not more so, we believe that our measures are more equitably derived because they are rooted in an interface that explicitly intends to avoid the implicit oppression of math’s symbols and syntax for certain subgroups of children.

How do I cancel my subscription?

We want you to be 100% satisfied with our work. The moment you aren’t, you can easily cancel your subscription. Simply login to the app, click on the Gears icon to open the Setting menu, and you’ll immediately see an option to manage your account and cancel your subscription. We’re consumers, too, and canceling should be easy.

If you run into trouble, you can also email info@brainquake.com to request a cancelation and we will typically take care of your request in less than 24 hrs.