Mu Alpha Theta - Structure of Competitions

Structure of Competitions

ΜΑΘ is primarily a venue for mathematical competition. Different competitions have varying ways to test the students mathematical knowledge. Each student who chooses to participate in a competition takes an "individual" test that corresponds to his or her level of competition. All competitions include this feature. Most individual tests consist of 30 multiple-choice questions (not including tie-breakers), A-E, where answer choice "E" is "None of the Above", or "None of These Answers"; abbreviated NOTA. Students are typically allotted 1 hour for the entire test. In most states they are graded on the following scale: +4 points for a correct answer, -1 points for an incorrect answer that was chosen, and 0 points if the question was left blank. This scoring system makes guessing statistically neutral. 120 points is considered a perfect score. Some competitions (e.g., Nationals and - as of the 2012/13 season - MAO-favourite Florida) use alternate, but equivalent systems of scoring, such as +5 for a correct answer, 0 for an incorrect answer and +1 for a blank. A perfect score under this system would be 150. Calculators are never allowed to be used in the competitions; the statistics division is the exception to this rule. This is rule is for a couple of reasons. First being that modern calculators are extremely advanced and you can sometimes just plug in an entire question into the calculator and get the correct answer which would mean that students not having the mathematical knowledge but knowing how to use a calculator could unfairly get problems correct. The second reason being so problems can remain arithmetically simple, in other words so that a problem can utilize simple numbers and focus on the concepts without worrying that a calculator would give some sort of an advantage. Statistics is an exception because the field of statistics utilizes calculators and computers tremendously and not allowing calculators would require the students to carry out unavoidable monstrous calculations by hand thus taking away focus from the concepts.

Tie-breakers are only done for students who tie, but did not get a perfect score. They are sometimes used in the case for when money or prizes (e.g., iPads) are being distributed to the winners of the competition, and a tie breaker will be used even if both students have a perfect score. Tie-breakers are conducted according to the "sudden death" method. For example, in a tie-breaker, if student A scored the same as student B, and each missed 1 question, the student who missed question #5 will win over the student who missed question #3; students who start missing questions last are ranked higher, given same scores. If the sudden death method doesn't resolve the tie, in other words both students have exactly the same answers, then a tie-breaker question is made and the person to turn in the correct answer the fastest wins the tie. If both get it wrong or if both turn in the correct answer at the same time then the process is repeated until the tie is resolved. All students that get a perfect score are considered to place 1st. Due to the large number of students, as compared to a typical high school classroom, who participate in competitions, scantrons are used as answer sheets; their main advantage is that they can be graded by a computer. These are similar in type to the answer sheets used in standardized tests such as the SAT and the ACT.

In most competitions the sponsor or "coach" is allowed to select 4 students per division to participate in a "team" test (formally called "Team Bowl".) Each team member sits with the rest of their team and is allowed to communicate and collaborate during the team round. A few competitions do not allow the team members to sit together; rather every member of the division takes the team test alone and without conversing, then the 4 highest scores are averaged together; these 4 people are on team. Some competitions allow each school to have a second team for each division, "Team II". Certain schools (e.g., Buchholz High School) take advantage of this multiple team rule and have had up to four teams in one division's team round. In fact, Buchholz had multiple teams get first place in the 2012 MAO National Gemini competition in both the Theta and Alpha divisions, when - technically - the Gemini round limits a school to one team per division (Mu, Alpha, or Theta) per school.

The grading scale is different for the team round. Questions are given one by one, whereas in the individual round students are given the test in its entirety. There are usually 12 questions(not including tie-breakers), and each team has 4 minutes to answer the question. If they answer the question correctly before the first minute, they receive 16 points, if they answer before the second they receive 12 points, before 3 minutes, 8 points, 4 points before 4 minutes has expired and 0 points for anything, even the correct answer, after 4 minutes. In some competitions, a sliding scale is used. For example, if no team turned in an answer to a particular question in the first minute but another team answered correctly in the second minute, the team will be awarded the full 16 points even though they answered it in the second minute; a third minute-answering team would get twelve minutes; and the fourth minute-answering team would get eight points. The answer is usually written in and the students are not penalized for guessing. The team score from the team round is then summed up with the score of the individuals of the team to acquire the total team score used in rankings. The same calculator rule in the individual round is in effect in the team round; with statistics still the exception to the rule.

For fifteen minutes after the individual round and fifteen minutes after the team round students can file what is known as a "Request to Resolve", aka "RTR". If a student is extremely confident that they arrived at the correct answer and believe that the given answer is incorrect they can fill out a RTR form showing their work and explaining why their answer is the correct one. A resolution committee then reviews all RTRs submitted and either denies them or accepts them. Most RTRs are denied because of some minor error on the student's part, but every once in a while a legitimate RTR is submitted. In this case the official answer is changed and each student/team's score is recalculated using the new answer. Most competitions have an errata sheet and verification forms to provide a central location of accepted and denied RTRs. There is an extremely rare status given to a RTR that is called a "unique interpretation". This occurs when a student interprets a problem in a drastically different, yet completely legitimate, way than the problem intended and thus changes the problem entirely. In this case only that student is given credit for their answer and the original answer remains the same for the rest of the competitors.

"Sweepstakes" awards are given to the top (normally ten) schools whose students average the best performance in each test or division. Sweepstakes points are awarded on a t-score based system, which awards points not only for relative place, but for relative scores. Students or teams who win by a large margin, relative to the standard deviation of the rest of the group, contribute higher t-scores to their teams. T-scores from each test and team round are added to comprise the total sweepstakes score of a school, which is usually adjusted so that it is non-negative. Some tests, such as trivia competitions, may be excluded from sweepstakes calculations. They include the Gemini, Mental Math, and Speed Math competitions available at some States' and the National competitions.