Mu Alpha Theta
Encyclopedia
Mu Alpha Theta is a United States
mathematics honor society
for high schools and two-year colleges. It has over 89,000 student members in more than 1,800 schools worldwide. Its main goals are to inspire keen interest in mathematics, develop strong scholarship in the subject, and promote the enjoyment of mathematics in high school
and two year college
students. The name is a rough transliteration
of math into Greek
(Mu Alpha Theta).
. In Andree's words, Mu Alpha Theta is "an organization dedicated to promoting scholarship in mathematics and establishing math as an integral part of high school and junior college education". The name Mu
Alpha
Theta was constructed from the Greek
lettering for the phoneme
s m, a, and th.
Pi Mu Epsilon
, the National Collegiate Honor Society of Mathematics, contributed funds for the organization's initial expenses; the University of Oklahoma provided space, clerical help and technical assistance. The Mathematical Association of America
, a primary sponsor of the organization since 1958, and the National Council of Teachers
of Mathematics nominated the first officers and Board of Governors. The Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics
became an official sponsor in 1998, followed by The American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges in 2002.
The official journal
of Mu Alpha Theta, The Mathematical Log, was first issued in 1957 on mimeograph and was in printed form starting in 1958. It was published four times during the school year until 2002 and featured articles, reports, news and problems for students.
Several different awards are given by Mu Alpha Theta, including the Kalin Award to outstanding students. The Andree award is awarded to students who plan to become a mathematics teacher. Chapter sponsors are also recognized by the Sister Scholastica and Huneke awards for most dedicated sponsors. The Rubin Award is presented to a chapter doing volunteer work to help others to enjoy mathematics.
Mu Alpha Theta presents numerous scholarships and grants to its members. Information about the organization can be viewed at www.mualphatheta.org.
The first Mu Alpha Theta National Convention was held at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas in 1968. Each year the convention brings together hundreds of teachers and students from across the country for five days of math-related events.
Vestavia Hills High School currently holds the most number of MAO national championships.
The 2012 convention will take place in Boston, MA.
, Pre-calculus, Algebra II, Geometry
, Algebra I, and Statistics
. At state and national competitions, only three levels are used: Theta (Geometry
and Algebra II), Alpha (Pre-Calculus), and Calculus
. There is only a Mu division at the nationals level. Additionally, there are usually Open tests, which can be taken by students from any division, including Statistics
, Number Theory
, and History of Math. Most students start at the level of math that they are currently enrolled in or have last taken and progress to higher levels. A student can begin at another level, but it must be higher. The only exception to this is that students enrolled in either Algebra II or Geometry
can take whichever of the two they want because not all schools offer these courses in the same sequence. If a student competes in a higher level, such as Pre-Calculus, he/she cannot then go back and compete at the Algebra II level. This encourages students to compete with other students who are taking classes of similar mathematical difficulty.
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 is 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 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 score a 120 are considered to place 1st. Due to the large number of students, as compared to a typical high school classroom, who participate in competitions, scantron
s 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. 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".
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. 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.
A "sweepstakes" award is given to the school 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.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
mathematics honor society
Honor society
In the United States, an honor society is a rank organization that recognizes excellence among peers. Numerous societies recognize various fields and circumstances. The Order of the Arrow, for example, is the national honor society of the Boy Scouts of America...
for high schools and two-year colleges. It has over 89,000 student members in more than 1,800 schools worldwide. Its main goals are to inspire keen interest in mathematics, develop strong scholarship in the subject, and promote the enjoyment of mathematics in high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
and two year college
Junior college
The term junior college refers to different educational institutions in different countries.-India:In India, most states provide schooling through 12th grade...
students. The name is a rough transliteration
Transliteration
Transliteration is a subset of the science of hermeneutics. It is a form of translation, and is the practice of converting a text from one script into another...
of math into Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
(Mu Alpha Theta).
History
The Mu Alpha Theta National High School and Two-Year College Mathematics Honor Society was founded in 1957 by Dr. Richard V. Andree and his wife, Josephine Andree, at the University of OklahomaUniversity of Oklahoma
The University of Oklahoma is a coeducational public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two became the state of Oklahoma. the university had 29,931 students enrolled, most located at its...
. In Andree's words, Mu Alpha Theta is "an organization dedicated to promoting scholarship in mathematics and establishing math as an integral part of high school and junior college education". The name Mu
Mu (letter)
Carlos Alberto Vives Restrepo is a Grammy Award and three-time Latin Grammy Award winning-Colombian singer, composer and actor.-Biography:...
Alpha
Alpha (letter)
Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 1. It was derived from the Phoenician letter Aleph...
Theta was constructed from the Greek
Greek alphabet
The Greek alphabet is the script that has been used to write the Greek language since at least 730 BC . The alphabet in its classical and modern form consists of 24 letters ordered in sequence from alpha to omega...
lettering for the phoneme
Phoneme
In a language or dialect, a phoneme is the smallest segmental unit of sound employed to form meaningful contrasts between utterances....
s m, a, and th.
Pi Mu Epsilon
Pi Mu Epsilon
Pi Mu Epsilon is the U.S. honorary national mathematics society.The society was founded at Syracuse University on May 25, 1914, by Professor Edward Drake Roe, Jr, and currently has chapters at 337 institutions across the nation.-Goals:...
, the National Collegiate Honor Society of Mathematics, contributed funds for the organization's initial expenses; the University of Oklahoma provided space, clerical help and technical assistance. The Mathematical Association of America
Mathematical Association of America
The Mathematical Association of America is a professional society that focuses on mathematics accessible at the undergraduate level. Members include university, college, and high school teachers; graduate and undergraduate students; pure and applied mathematicians; computer scientists;...
, a primary sponsor of the organization since 1958, and the National Council of Teachers
National Council of Teachers
National Council of Teachers may refer to:* National Council of Teachers of English, an education organization* National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, the world's largest organization concerned with mathematics education...
of Mathematics nominated the first officers and Board of Governors. The Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics
Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics
The Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics was founded by a small group of mathematicians from academia and industry who met in Philadelphia in 1951 to start an organization whose members would meet periodically to exchange ideas about the uses of mathematics in industry. This meeting led...
became an official sponsor in 1998, followed by The American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges in 2002.
The official journal
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
of Mu Alpha Theta, The Mathematical Log, was first issued in 1957 on mimeograph and was in printed form starting in 1958. It was published four times during the school year until 2002 and featured articles, reports, news and problems for students.
Several different awards are given by Mu Alpha Theta, including the Kalin Award to outstanding students. The Andree award is awarded to students who plan to become a mathematics teacher. Chapter sponsors are also recognized by the Sister Scholastica and Huneke awards for most dedicated sponsors. The Rubin Award is presented to a chapter doing volunteer work to help others to enjoy mathematics.
Mu Alpha Theta presents numerous scholarships and grants to its members. Information about the organization can be viewed at www.mualphatheta.org.
The first Mu Alpha Theta National Convention was held at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas in 1968. Each year the convention brings together hundreds of teachers and students from across the country for five days of math-related events.
Vestavia Hills High School currently holds the most number of MAO national championships.
Recent national conventions
| Year | Host City | National Champion |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Dallas, TX | Buchholz High School Buchholz High School F. W. Buchholz High School is a high school in Gainesville, Florida. Buchholz is one of seven high schools in Alachua County. Opened in January 1971, it is the largest of the public high schools in Gainesville... |
| 2010 | Washington DC | Buchholz High School |
| 2009 | Knoxville, TN | Buchholz High School |
| 2008 | Sacramento, CA | Buchholz High School |
| 2007 | Tampa, FL | Buchholz High School |
| 2006 | Fort Collins, CO | Vestavia Hills High School Vestavia Hills High School Vestavia Hills High School , founded in 1970, is a public high school in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, a suburb of Birmingham. Part of the Vestavia Hills School System, the high school is known for the success of its band, math, debate, "We the People" Team, Economics Challenge Team, American football,... |
| 2005 | Honolulu, HI | Vestavia Hills High School |
| 2004 | Huntsville, AL | Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School is located in Parkland, Florida. It is a part of the Broward County Public School district, and it is the only public high school in Parkland.... |
| 2003 | Atlanta, GA | Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School |
| 2002 | Starkville, MS | Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School |
| 2001 | Denver, CO | Vestavia Hills High School |
| 2000 | San Diego, CA | Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School |
| 1999 | Gatlinburg, TN | Vestavia Hills High School |
| 1998 | Chicago, IL | Vero Beach High School Vero Beach High School Vero Beach High School is located in Vero Beach, Florida, the county seat of Indian River County. Founded in 1925 , VBHS is a large, comprehensive high school, located on Florida’s east coast. The high school serves 2,675 students in grades 9-12 who reside in the southern portion of Indian River... |
| 1997 | Seattle, WA | Vestavia Hills High School |
| 1996 | Orlando, FL | Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School |
| 1995 | Carrabassett Valley, ME | Vestavia Hills High School |
| 1994 | New Orleans, LA | Vestavia Hills High School |
| 1993 | Honolulu, HI | Vestavia Hills High School |
| 1992 | Princeton, NJ | Vestavia Hills High School |
| 1991 | Huntsville, AL | Vestavia Hills High School http://www.mualphatheta.org/Archives/MathLog%20Archive/log91%20oct.pdf |
The 2012 convention will take place in Boston, MA.
Competition Levels
Competition is divided into six levels or divisions, CalculusCalculus
Calculus is a branch of mathematics focused on limits, functions, derivatives, integrals, and infinite series. This subject constitutes a major part of modern mathematics education. It has two major branches, differential calculus and integral calculus, which are related by the fundamental theorem...
, Pre-calculus, Algebra II, Geometry
Geometry
Geometry arose as the field of knowledge dealing with spatial relationships. Geometry was one of the two fields of pre-modern mathematics, the other being the study of numbers ....
, Algebra I, and Statistics
Statistics
Statistics is the study of the collection, organization, analysis, and interpretation of data. It deals with all aspects of this, including the planning of data collection in terms of the design of surveys and experiments....
. At state and national competitions, only three levels are used: Theta (Geometry
Geometry
Geometry arose as the field of knowledge dealing with spatial relationships. Geometry was one of the two fields of pre-modern mathematics, the other being the study of numbers ....
and Algebra II), Alpha (Pre-Calculus), and Calculus
Calculus
Calculus is a branch of mathematics focused on limits, functions, derivatives, integrals, and infinite series. This subject constitutes a major part of modern mathematics education. It has two major branches, differential calculus and integral calculus, which are related by the fundamental theorem...
. There is only a Mu division at the nationals level. Additionally, there are usually Open tests, which can be taken by students from any division, including Statistics
Statistics
Statistics is the study of the collection, organization, analysis, and interpretation of data. It deals with all aspects of this, including the planning of data collection in terms of the design of surveys and experiments....
, Number Theory
Number theory
Number theory is a branch of pure mathematics devoted primarily to the study of the integers. Number theorists study prime numbers as well...
, and History of Math. Most students start at the level of math that they are currently enrolled in or have last taken and progress to higher levels. A student can begin at another level, but it must be higher. The only exception to this is that students enrolled in either Algebra II or Geometry
Geometry
Geometry arose as the field of knowledge dealing with spatial relationships. Geometry was one of the two fields of pre-modern mathematics, the other being the study of numbers ....
can take whichever of the two they want because not all schools offer these courses in the same sequence. If a student competes in a higher level, such as Pre-Calculus, he/she cannot then go back and compete at the Algebra II level. This encourages students to compete with other students who are taking classes of similar mathematical difficulty.
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. 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 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 is 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 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 score a 120 are considered to place 1st. Due to the large number of students, as compared to a typical high school classroom, who participate in competitions, scantron
Scantron
Scantron is an American company based in Eagan, Minnesota, that manufactures and sells machine-readable papers on which students mark answers to academic multiple-choice test questions. To analyze those answers, the machines use image-based data collection software and scanners...
s 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
SAT
The SAT Reasoning Test is a standardized test for college admissions in the United States. The SAT is owned, published, and developed by the College Board, a nonprofit organization in the United States. It was formerly developed, published, and scored by the Educational Testing Service which still...
and the ACT
ACT (examination)
The ACT is a standardized test for high school achievement and college admissions in the United States produced by ACT, Inc. It was first administered in November 1959 by Everett Franklin Lindquist as a competitor to the College Board's Scholastic Aptitude Test, now the SAT Reasoning Test...
.
In most competitions the sponsor or "coach" is allowed to select 4 students per division to participate in a "team" test. 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".
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. 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.
A "sweepstakes" award is given to the school 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.
See also
- Kappa Mu EpsilonKappa Mu EpsilonKappa Mu Epsilon is a mathematics honor society founded in 1930 to focus on the needs of undergraduate mathematics students. There are now over 100 chapters at various American universities and colleges, primarily at mid-sized public universities or smaller private institutions...
- Mu Alpha Theta National Log 1 Contest
- Pi Mu EpsilonPi Mu EpsilonPi Mu Epsilon is the U.S. honorary national mathematics society.The society was founded at Syracuse University on May 25, 1914, by Professor Edward Drake Roe, Jr, and currently has chapters at 337 institutions across the nation.-Goals:...
- FAMATFlorida Association of Mu Alpha ThetaThe Florida Association of Mu Alpha Theta is an official chapter of National Mu Alpha Theta. It organizes competitions in Florida which include three yearly Statewide Competitions, 15 Regionals, a State Convention, and various other mail-in competitions.-Competition levels:Competition is divided...