In 2008, the iTest continues to evolve. The format changes once again for the 2008 iTest, but this change may prove permanent if successful.
First, the iTest aims to be as inclusive as possible, providing opportunities for a very broad array of students to compete in a national math competition. For this reason, we are expanding the total number of problems, including more problems at the easier end of the spectrum, as well as more at the approximate level of the AMC 10 and AMC 12 exams.
The harder end of the test will remain similar to the recent past, but the proof problems will disappear. Tie breaking will be time-based.
Many of the 100 problems on the 2008 iTest will involve a storyline that will provide various forms of context for many of the problems. We believe this approach will provide a unique opportunity to educate certain types of learners in addition to making the contest more enjoyable.
Additionally, teams from multiple states will be disallowed. We believe the contest to be more beneficial to more students, and more interesting as a competition with MOP dream teams essentially disallowed. This also prevents the need for a red queen race between increasingly more knowledgeable MOSPers and problem writers who often spend 10-12 hours crafting a single problem to challenge the best and brightest students. Added time pressure should also prevent the need for more than a few difficult-to-write olympiad level problems.
We believe the iTest loses nothing, and gains significantly with these changes, and that the 2008 iTest will be the most enjoyable of the iTest competitions to date.
We thank Zach Abel and Adam Hesterberg for their continued contributions to the test-writing process.
We also thank the Southern Company for providing generous support, enabling us to improve and expand the iTest.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
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3 comments:
red two what?
but there's just one thing i'd like to point out
isn't this totally lame to people livin in states like kansas and alaska? like i mean being from NJ, it's no problem finding four other people who went to MOP at one point, but good luck being competitive if you're from a population-wise smaller state.
i'm predicting that the winning team is either going to be carried by one ridiculously smart person or be comprised of cali people. which is a little rigged, and it doesn't really alleviate the problem it set out to fix.
negativity aside, i'm lookin forward to some nice problems come september 10th. props to all the people who write these questions.
People in less populous states are often at a disadvantage on national math competitions, though it should be pointed out that Kansas and Alabama have both won the national MATHCOUNTS championship, and winning the iTest might not be so different.
It's true that the top five students in California could work together, but that's a much smaller advantage than if the top five students at MOSP worked together. This competition will not likely be won before the registration process. But last year, the team that won might have had a greater than 95% chance to win at the point of team selection.
I think it's also likely that some top students [in large states] will stay within their own schools to gather team members, regardless of whether or not they live in a populous state.
Ultimately, these changes may spur strong math students to drag a couple of peers into participating who might not have participated, which is closer to the goal we aim to achieve that searching for some ultimately arbitrary standard of team-selection-perfection.
I think this is a change that must be tested. Overall, there is no perfect solution for team-limitation. But we do try to make this an enjoyable event. Thank you for your comments. We are glad you are looking forward to the problems!
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