Rohan Madhok ’27 Turns an Interest in Learning Into Service

The commonalities between a student struggling with a math problem in Trenton and a child sitting in a classroom thousands of miles away in rural India might not be readily apparent.

Rohan Madhok ’27 saw a connection.

In both places, he encountered students whose obstacle wasn’t necessarily math. It was language.

“A student who knows what adding is but doesn’t know the word ‘add’ looks like a student who can’t add,” Madhok said.

Recognizing what can stand between a student and understanding is particularly interesting to Madhok, who is deeply interested in cognitive science and, specifically, how people learn. That interest has increasingly shaped his community service, from tutoring young people through Lawrenceville’s community service program partnership with HomeFront to developing multilingual educational resources for students in Punjab, India.

At HomeFront, Madhok worked with students on writing and math, including a Spanish-speaking student who had difficulty understanding word problems. He found that examples, additional practice, and sometimes explaining ideas in Spanish could unlock material that had seemed beyond her reach.

“After some practice together, she finally got it and she got 100 percent on both her essay and her writing. . . that was a huge success for the both of us,” he said.

The experience connected with Madhok’s longstanding fascination with language. Raised around Gujarati and Hindi and learning Spanish from an early age, he is interested in linguistics as one piece of cognitive science, along with neuroscience and machine learning.

But tutoring allowed him to see those interests at work in a very human way.

“I’m really interested in how learning happens,” he said. His success with the HomeFront student “made a big impression on me,” he explained.

That impression resurfaced during a visit to India, where Madhok learned from his grandmother, a longtime educator, about migrant students in Punjab. Many arrive from Hindi-speaking regions but attend schools where instruction is in Punjabi.

When Madhok visited schools himself, he recognized a version of what he had seen in New Jersey: Students could know a concept yet struggle to demonstrate it because they did not understand the language of the question.

Working with the nonprofit Sanjhi Sikhiya, Madhok developed a picture dictionary connecting basic classroom and mathematics vocabulary in Punjabi, Hindi, and English. The intentionally low-tech resource can be taken home and used without internet access.

He also worked with SLAM Labs to make mathematics lessons available in multiple languages with audio instruction. Rather than simply translating individual lessons, Madhok developed a tool that can translate new material and generate accompanying audio, helping the organization expand the resources it can offer.

His interest in how people learn influenced that work as well. Previous research Madhok conducted on the role of feedback in learning led him to think about ways students could receive frequent reinforcement as they worked through lessons. Audio, short exercises, and immediate feedback became ways to apply ideas he had studied to resources designed for actual students.

The technology may be sophisticated, but Madhok’s motivation is straightforward. As classrooms and communities become increasingly global, he believes language can either become another barrier or a way to help more students participate and learn.

“Being able to use languages to help us with this—making better decisions, helping people be able to learn, helping people participate in the classroom—is very important,” he said. “Students shouldn’t be limited by the language that they grew up speaking. They should be empowered.”

That emphasis on removing barriers runs through Madhok’s service at Lawrenceville as well. In addition to HomeFront, he has participated in other Lawrenceville community service opportunities, including helping senior citizens with technology and taking part in science education activities. He credits Community Service Director Elizabeth Ferguson and Lawrenceville with providing opportunities to discover where his own interests might be useful to someone else.

“I want to thank Lawrenceville for all the amazing teachers and all the opportunities made available that allowed me to find what I like and to find out about this issue in the first place,” he said.

Ferguson explained, “Rohan’s experience reflects the reciprocity inherent in the relationships that are cultivated with our community partners. Our students can inspire and be inspired by the people and projects they engage in.”

Along the way, Madhok has found himself learning from the students he hoped to help.

During his visit to rural Punjab, Madhok was struck by the students’ enthusiasm and curiosity. They wanted to know about America, snow, houses—even what a dollar bill looked like. He remembers one child who did not have shoes or a shirt but remained cheerful and eager to learn. More than anything, Madhok remembers the optimism the students brought to the classroom.

“They’re so happy,” Madhok said. “There was no bitterness or resentment, and they picked up on things quickly.” Their outlook, he said, showed him “the power of being positive and looking for the best in what’s going on.”

The experience also changed the way Madhok thinks about learning itself. He had spent years interested in cognitive skills—how well someone can solve a math problem, read, or process information. His time with the students in Punjab reminded him that learning also depends on qualities that are harder to measure, including optimism, persistence, and the ability to connect with others.

“I think this whole project throughout its entire time has inspired me,” he said. “It’s really built my non-cognitive skills—being able to make a difference, being able to stay positive, being able to help out other people.”

For more information, contact Lisa M. Gillard H'17, director of public relations, at lgillard@lawrenceville.org.