The Worldwide Online Olympiad Training (WOOT) program was established in 2005 by Art of Problem Solving, with sponsorship from Google

Google

Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...

 and quantitative hedge fund giant D. E. Shaw & Co., in order to meet the needs of the world's top high school math

Mathematics

Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...

 students. Sponsorship allowed free enrollment for students of the prestigious Mathematical Olympiad Program

Mathematical Olympiad Program

The Mathematical Olympiad Program or MOP is an intensive summer program held at University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The main purpose of MOP, held since 1974, is to select and train the six members of the U.S. team for the International Mathematical Olympiad . Students qualify for the program by taking...

 (MOP). D.E. Shaw continues to sponsor enrollment of those students for the 2006-2007 year of WOOT.

Program

The focus on the WOOT program is taking already excellent pre-college students deeper into their studies of elementary mathematics, with a focus on proof-writing.

• Numerous exams are given over the course of the program and graded by undergraduates at MIT and Harvard. Feedback on proofs is returned to students electronically within days of exam submission. These tests are styled after the American Invitational Mathematics Examination
  American Invitational Mathematics Examination
  The American Invitational Mathematics Examination is a 15-question 3-hour test given since 1983 to those who rank in the top 5% on the AMC 12 high school mathematics contest , and starting in 2010, those who rank in the top 2.5% on the AMC 10.The AIME is the second of two tests used to determine...
  
   (AIME) and the International Mathematics Olympiad (IMO)
• Online classes are given throughout the school year on topics such as bridging ideas between different areas of math (using algebraic tactics on 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...
  
   problems), combinatorial geometry, inequalities (such as the Cauchy inequality), invariants
  Invariant (mathematics)
  In mathematics, an invariant is a property of a class of mathematical objects that remains unchanged when transformations of a certain type are applied to the objects. The particular class of objects and type of transformations are usually indicated by the context in which the term is used...
  
  , and proof writing.
• Problem sets are given out on a private LaTeX
  LaTeX
  LaTeX is a document markup language and document preparation system for the TeX typesetting program. Within the typesetting system, its name is styled as . The term LaTeX refers only to the language in which documents are written, not to the editor used to write those documents. In order to...
  
  -enabled WOOT phpbb message board where students post proofs, discuss problem solving tactics, and review each other's solutions.
• A private, LaTeX
  LaTeX
  LaTeX is a document markup language and document preparation system for the TeX typesetting program. Within the typesetting system, its name is styled as . The term LaTeX refers only to the language in which documents are written, not to the editor used to write those documents. In order to...
  
  -enabled chatroom allows students to discuss problems at any time.

Students

During the first year (2005–2006) of the WOOT program, a little over 100 students participated, over 90% of whom were among the fewer than 500 qualifiers for the 2006 United States of America Mathematics Olympiad (USAMO), including most of the competition's 12 "winners." Several participants from the United States and other countries won medals at the 2006 IMO held in Slovenia

Slovenia

Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...

.

Instructors

WOOT students (WOOTers) are guided by veterans of national and international mathematics competitions such as IMO medalists, winners of the USAMO, a former Westinghouse competition winner, a Canadian Math Olympiad winner, perfect scorers on the AIME, perfect scorers on the American High School Mathematics Examination (now the American Mathematics Competitions

American Mathematics Competitions

The American Mathematics Competitions are the first of a series of competitions in high school mathematics that determine the United States team for the International Mathematical Olympiad . This team, consisting of six high school students, competes in the IMO and has traditionally performed well...

), and a perfect scorer at the national MathCounts

MathCounts

Mathcounts is a middle school mathematics competition held in the United States. Its founding sponsors include the CNA Foundation, the National Society of Professional Engineers, and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. The competition is designed for sixth, seventh, and eighth...

competition.

External links

• WOOT information -- with references to much of the information above.