www.aleks.com

GENERAL INFORMATION

What is ALEKS? ALEKS is an adaptive math program that provides each student with a personalized learning path. Using engaging answer tools, immediate feedback, and automatic assessments, ALEKS helps students review and master the skills needed to be successful in their math class.

By now, your student has taken an Initial Knowledge Check that has determined what s/he already knows and doesn’t know in the course I have enrolled them in, and is ready to start learning new topics. You can have your student log in to ALEKS at home by visiting www.aleks.com.

Here’s what you’ll see when your student logs into the program:

• ALEKS Pie: The Pie provides a snapshot of your student’s current knowledge in the class. The color portion is what your student has already learned, while the grey portion is what s/he has left to learn in the class. Your student can select a Pie slice to see progress made for that slice and what is still remaining.
• Timeline: Your student can see his/her progress and growth over time in the Timeline. Your student can also use the Timeline to see how to achieve learning goals and reach milestones in the class, as well as see what s/he worked on previously and plan for what’s ahead.
• Learning Path: The Learning Path is your student’s personalized pathway to success where s/he will be working on the topics s/he is most ready to learn right now. These topics will be accessible via the Learning Mode where your student has access to detailed explanations, immediate feedback, and other learning resources.
• Language Toggle: Your student can toggle between English and Spanish translations of the content and interface with a click of a button.

Finally, here are some tips for making the most out of the at-home learning experience:

• Make sure your student has paper and pencil available to work out a problem. Do not allow him/her to use a calculator, unless it is provided within the program for a specific problem or I have given permission. Please feel free to check with me!
• Please discourage your student from using external help, such as the Internet or a family member providing them with answers. S/he will get the most benefit from working through the problems on his/her own!
• Don’t forget that tools are available in the program to help your student! Tools include:
  • A Dictionary of math terms and concepts
  • An “Explanation” button providing step-by-step instructions for solving a problem.
  • Some topics even include a video explanation.
• Set a regular work schedule. Suggestion
  • Minutes Per Day: 10 - 15
  • Number of Days Per Week: 2 - 3

*This may need to increase to reach their weekly goal.

Motivate your student to work even harder by offering simple rewards, such as a piece of pie for completing a slice of their ALEKS Pie!

KNOWLEDGE CHECKS

"The purpose of Knowledge Checks in ALEKS is to throughout your learning path to confirm that you have retained material previously learned and to provide review and reinforcement when it is needed. New Knowledge Checks occur at regular intervals, typically 20 new topics learned or 10 hours in the system. You can see when your next Knowledge Check is coming up by clicking on the Knowledge Check icon on your Home page, next to the Timeline/ALEKS Pie switch. When it is time for the Knowledge Check, you will see a notification, and you will have 24 hours to begin it. Before beginning the Knowledge Check, you may wish to review by clicking on Review for Knowledge Check; this option appears under the Knowledge Check notification and on your Primary Guidance Menu. It is important to make your best effort on the Knowledge Check! Do not rush or work when tired; remember you can always break off and resume the Knowledge Check later. As always, only use the I don’t know button when you have no idea of the answer; it’s always better to try to respond if you possibly can, since “I don’t know” is counted as “incorrect.” Note that you are likely to get at least a couple of questions that you haven’t learned yet, due to the adaptive nature of the Knowledge Check mechanism. It is also normal to lose some topics from your mastery count on a Knowledge Check. This simply means that those topics need additional reinforcement; in most cases you will add them back quickly. ALEKS will present these topics in the beginning of the Topic Carousel under "Needs More Practice"." - Information copied from the ALEKS Student User Guide. Please find this document at the bottom of this page.

GOAL SETTING

Weekly goals are set based on the percentage of topics that you have completed (learned or mastered) out of the total number of topics in the course. For example, if you have learned or mastered 130 topics and the course has a total of 390 topics then your percentage of topics completed would be 33%.

ALEKS will be worked on most days in class for 10 - 15 minutes. This may not be enough time for you some weeks and you may have to work on ALEKS at home as well. You are responsible for making sure that you know your goal and are working towards that goal.

*Note: When you complete a Knowledge Check, you will still be expected to complete your goal for that week! Check your Timeline after completing the Knowledge Check, as you can "Learn" topics toward the completion of your goal when taking the Knowledge Check!

GRADING

The percentage of your goal that you complete will be divided by ten to determine your score out of 10 points each week. For example, if your goal is 10 topics and you complete 7 then you will have completed 70% of your goal topics. So...

70 / 10 = 7

Your score in ALEKS for that week would be 7 out of 10.

Remember that ALEKS is worth 15% of your overall grade.

ALEKS STUDENT USER GUIDE