Project Info
This project did not submit a demo video on Devpost.
Inspiration
Aman and Bhargavi spent the winter quarter being teacher assistants for local high school math classes as UCSC Calteach interns. There, they were shocked to find out how many students had a lack of math foundational topics, to the point where they used calculators for basic addition because they did not know how to do it themselves. It was heartbreaking watching the students feel inadequate because they could not learn advance topics due to their lack of foundational skills. The students were not deterred by this challenge, and showed up to class everyday to get a little better. There, Bhargavi and Aman learned that the students picked up math concepts much faster when they were taught a "shortcut" (I.E. 5 times 10 equals 5 following a 0 or 50). Relearning early math concepts that were reinforced by these "shortcuts" ensured they remembered the lessons they learned. That's how our group came up with the app idea "Shortcutz". We built it for the students that were let down in their earlier math education but are determined to continue learning. Having their growth reinforced by the shortcuts and a fun layout is the main goal of our app.
What it does
Shortcutz is an AI-powered math training app that dynamically adjusts difficulty based on student performance. It challenges users with multiplication and division problems, provides instant feedback, and delivers personalized AI-generated hints and encouragement powered by Gemini AI.
How we built it
We built the app using React.js for the frontend, leveraging hooks like useState, useEffect, and useRef to manage the quiz state, user inputs, and adaptive difficulty. The smart feedback loop comes from integrating Gemini AI via the Google Generative Language API, which takes the question and user response context to generate helpful and friendly feedback. The difficulty adjusts in real time using a performance-based algorithm that evaluates accuracy and speed.
Challenges we ran into
API integration: Parsing the Gemini API’s nested response format correctly took a little tinkering. Adaptive difficulty: Balancing the level progression logic to feel fair, yet challenging, was a puzzle of its own. Layout organization: Restructuring the UI to make the app feel clean and intuitive, especially with split panels for questions vs. feedback.
Accomplishments we're proud of
Seamless integration of LLM-based feedback into a math app — a super cool AI/education combo. A smooth user experience that tracks performance and improves dynamically over time. Created a complete tool that is both helpful for learners and satisfying to build!
What we learned
How to connect and manage LLM APIs in a React environment How to craft meaningful, structured prompts that lead to actionable AI responses The power of thoughtful UI/UX when combined with smart algorithms — clarity = confidence in learning!
What's next
Add leaderboards and streaks to gamify practice Integrate voice input and read-aloud questions for accessibility Expand question types to cover fractions, algebra, and word problems Store user history in the cloud for long-term progress tracking Add multi-language support and mobile responsiveness
Getting Started with Create React App
This project was bootstrapped with Create React App.
Available Scripts
In the project directory, you can run:
npm start
Runs the app in the development mode.
Open http://localhost:3000 to view it in your browser.
The page will reload when you make changes.
You may also see any lint errors in the console.
npm test
Launches the test runner in the interactive watch mode.
See the section about running tests for more information.
npm run build
Builds the app for production to the build folder.
It correctly bundles React in production mode and optimizes the build for the best performance.
The build is minified and the filenames include the hashes.
Your app is ready to be deployed!
See the section about deployment for more information.
npm run eject
Note: this is a one-way operation. Once you eject, you can't go back!
If you aren't satisfied with the build tool and configuration choices, you can eject at any time. This command will remove the single build dependency from your project.
Instead, it will copy all the configuration files and the transitive dependencies (webpack, Babel, ESLint, etc) right into your project so you have full control over them. All of the commands except eject will still work, but they will point to the copied scripts so you can tweak them. At this point you're on your own.
You don't have to ever use eject. The curated feature set is suitable for small and middle deployments, and you shouldn't feel obligated to use this feature. However we understand that this tool wouldn't be useful if you couldn't customize it when you are ready for it.
Learn More
You can learn more in the Create React App documentation.
To learn React, check out the React documentation.
Code Splitting
This section has moved here: https://facebook.github.io/create-react-app/docs/code-splitting
Analyzing the Bundle Size
This section has moved here: https://facebook.github.io/create-react-app/docs/analyzing-the-bundle-size
Making a Progressive Web App
This section has moved here: https://facebook.github.io/create-react-app/docs/making-a-progressive-web-app
Advanced Configuration
This section has moved here: https://facebook.github.io/create-react-app/docs/advanced-configuration
Deployment
This section has moved here: https://facebook.github.io/create-react-app/docs/deployment
npm run build fails to minify
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shortcutz
Analysis
View
Metric
- 1
Figures cover GitHub contributors during the hackathon window. A co-authored commit counts in full for each author, so per-member totals add up to more than the whole-team figures.
Technology
- CSSIn code
- HTMLIn code
- JavaScriptIn code
- ReactIn code
- Google GeminiClaimed
4 of 5 appear in the indexed code. 1 claimed on Devpost could not be matched to code, which may simply mean the tool leaves no trace in the repository.
AI coding agents
No AI coding agent signals were found in this repository.
Detected from committed agent config files and commit authorship. Absence of a signal is not proof an agent was unused.
Codebase size
Source size
18 KB
Source files
9
Counts recognized source files only; vendored directories, binaries and lockfiles are excluded, so this is smaller than the repository on disk.
Repository
anyajoshi/shortcutz
18 files · 833 KB · @ 6b25ae4
Structure
Application logic
6 files · 33%Domain rules, services and shared utilities.
Supporting
Layers are inferred from where files sit in the tree, not from reading the code. A project that names its directories unconventionally will read oddly here — open the file browser to check anything the diagram implies.
Languages
- JavaScript68%
- Markdown18%
- HTML9%
- CSS5%
Share of indexed source by file size. Binary and vendored files are excluded.
Dependencies
package.json
npm · 9- @testing-library/dom
- @testing-library/jest-dom
- @testing-library/react
- @testing-library/user-event
- framer-motion
- react
- react-dom
- react-scripts
- web-vitals
Declared in the repository’s manifests at the indexed commit. A declared package is not proof it is used, and runtime dependencies are listed first.
This project’s features have not been analysed yet.
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