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Popular Math Contest Goes Digital with Maplesoft's Maple T.A.; Doubles Number of Contestants
[December 02, 2013]

Popular Math Contest Goes Digital with Maplesoft's Maple T.A.; Doubles Number of Contestants


Waterloo, Canada, Dec 02, 2013 (PRWeb.com via COMTEX) -- The popular math contest Who Wants to Be a Mathematician underwent a makeover this year - the contest that was administered on pen-and-paper moved to a digital format. Maplesoft's testing and assessment tool, Maple T.A. was used to administer the tests online, saving significant time and money for the organizers. The number of students in the contest doubled in 2013, with over 2000 students from over 150 schools participating in the contest this year.



Who Wants to Be a Mathematician is a math contest for high school students, organized by the American Mathematical Society (AMS) as part of its Public Awareness Program. Maplesoft has been a sponsor of the contest for many years. This year, the company increased its sponsorship to a "Technology Sponsor" level, and made its testing and assessment tool, Maple T.A., accessible to every student that participated. The increased sponsorship is part of Maplesoft's year-long activities that support and encourage the use of math amongst high school students and young adults, in celebration of the company's 25th year of incorporation.

Contestants of Who Wants to Be a Mathematician took an online test, supervised by a teacher, and the tests were graded automatically by Maple T.A. Students with 80% and above moved to a second round, also administered by Maple T.A. Ten students, have been chosen for the semifinals, and two will qualify for the finals at the Joint Math Meetings in January 2014.


Custom test questions were created in Maple T.A., which were accessed by students from a server hosted by Maplesoft. The simple and easy to use interface of Maple T.A. enabled the students to take the test without spending time learning the tool. Maple T.A. supports the use of standard mathematical notation in both the question text and student responses. Maple T.A. also allows free-response questions, including questions that have more than one correct answer.

"With the technological advancements around us, it only seemed natural that we should move our contest online," said Michael Breen, host of Who Wants to Be a Mathematician. "In Maplesoft, we found a strong partner, who not only donated its testing platform but also contributed personnel resources to ensure the tests were customized and administered in a timely fashion. The fact that the number of contestants doubled this year is testament to the ease-of-use features that Maple T.A. provides. We are grateful to Maplesoft for helping us reignite the love of math in many students." "Encouraging the study of math amongst youth and young adults, and providing the technology tools to aid in those studies, is a mission we have chosen to highlight in Maplesoft's 25th anniversary year," said Jim Dell, Vice President, Marketing. "Among many other projects we have chosen to support, Who Wants to Be a Mathematician is special because of the number of high school students involved. We are happy with the response Maple T.A. has received from the students and their teachers, and hope to build on this sponsorship in the coming years." For more information about the contest that is currently in progress, please visit the AMS website..

About Maplesoft Maplesoft(TM), a subsidiary of Cybernet Systems Co., Ltd. in Japan, is the leading provider of high-performance software tools for engineering, science, and mathematics. Its product suite reflects the philosophy that given great tools, people can do great things.

Maplesoft's core technologies include the world's most advanced symbolic computation engine and revolutionary physical modeling techniques. Combined together, these technologies enable the creation of cutting-edge tools for design, modeling, and high-performance simulation.

Engineers, scientists, and mathematicians use Maplesoft products to enable them to work better, faster, and smarter. The Maplesoft product suite includes Maple(TM), the technical computing and documentation environment, and MapleSim(TM), the high-performance, multi-domain modeling and simulation tool for physical systems.

Maplesoft also introduced a fundamental shift in technical education through its Clickable Math(TM) and Clickable Engineering(TM) initiatives which deliver powerful mathematics through visual, interactive point-and-click methods. The idea behind this shift is to create technology that will allow students and teachers to focus on the concepts, not the tool.

Maplesoft's customers include Ford, BMW, Bosch, Boeing, NASA, Canadian Space Agency, Canon, Motorola, Microsoft Research, Bloomberg, and DreamWorks, covering sectors such as automotive, aerospace, electronics, defense, energy, financial services, consumer products, and entertainment. Over 90% of advanced research institutions and universities worldwide, including MIT, Stanford, Oxford, the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the U.S. Department of Energy, have adopted Maplesoft solutions to enhance their education and research activities.

Visit http://www.maplesoft.com to learn more.

About Cybernet Systems Co., Ltd.

CYBERNET SYSTEMS in Japan provides world-class solutions and services in the CAE and IT areas. For more information, visit http://www.cybernet.co.jp/english/.

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