ALEKS FAQs

The Placement Assessment is used to determine the mathematics course in which you will have the greatest success. Upon completion of the Placement Assessments, your scores are sent to your academic advisor. Your advisor will review your scores and help make appropriate recommendations for course registration.

Optimal times for taking ALEKS are listed below.

Southeastern Louisiana University will only accept scores from proctored assessments for placement into math courses. 

A proctored ALEKS assessment using Respondus Lockdown Browser is required for mathematics placement at Southeastern.

For a proctored assessment to be valid, you must ensure that:

1. You have a working webcam and it is functioning during your entire ALEKS assessment attempt.
2. No one else is in the room with you while you are testing.  Choose a testing environment to ensure this result. 
3. Your face is visible by the webcam for the duration of the assessment.  Set your camera to capture your face (and not the top of your head) when working problems.

The Mathematics Department will review videos of ALEKS assessments; any irregularities may invalidate your ALEKS scores. In the event of irregularities, we reserve the right to require students to have their future ALEKS attempts proctored by our staff. 

You will pay for ALEKS with a credit card before you begin. This includes the initial, unproctored placement assessment, the Prep and Learning Module, and four proctored assessments. The current fee is $25. 

1. One unproctored practice attempt at the ALEKS placement – You should take this practice assessment seriously as your responses determine the learning modules that will help prepare you for the real, proctored attempts.
2. Practice modules – Before taking the first proctored attempt at the ALEKS assessment, students must spend a minimum of 3 hours working math problems in the ALEKS system. These modules are individualized based upon your unproctored attempt. This process will help to refresh your memory on this material.
3. Four proctored attempts at the ALEKS assessment – These are proctored using Respondus software, which requires the use of a webcam. Between each proctored attempt, you’ll need to spend a minimum of 5 hours working on the learning modules.

No. There are no required plug-ins or applets required with your use of ALEKS PPL. As long as you have access to the internet and are using an updated browser, you should not experience difficulties in taking your Placement Assessment. For a list of preferred browsers, please review the ALEKS system requirements on their support site: http://www.aleks.com/support/system_requirements

ALEKS PPL is an online, adaptive system that covers a broad spectrum of mathematics topics. The length of the Placement Assessment will vary, but can be up to 30 questions. You will see some, but not all, of the math you have learned in high school. It is a Placement Assessment, not a preview of math courses at Southeastern Louisiana University. It is designed to identify if you are prepared for a particular course. After you take your first Placement Assessment, you will have the opportunity to review and master additional topics to reassess and improve your placement.

Topics covered:

• Real numbers (including fractions, integers, and percentages)

• Equations and inequalities (including linear equations, linear inequalities, systems of linear equations, and quadratic equations)

• Linear and quadratic functions (including graphs and functions, linear functions, and parabolas), exponents and polynomials (including integer exponents, polynomial arithmetic, factoring, and polynomial equations), rational expressions (including rational equations and rational functions

• Radical expressions (including higher roots and rational exponents)

• Exponentials and logarithms (including function compositions and inverse functions, properties of logarithms, and logarithmic equations)

• Geometry and trigonometry (including perimeter, area, and volume, coordinate geometry, trigonometric functions, and identities and equations)

ALEKS will begin with a brief tutorial to make sure you are comfortable with the math palette tools before your Placement Assessment begins. The tutorial shows you how to enter different types of answers, how to use the ALEKS calculator, and how to graph. If you aren’t sure how to input an answer, or need help while you are taking the ALEKS Placement Assessment, select the Help button below the answer pallet tools. Going to the tutorial during your Placement Assessment will NOT impact your Placement Assessment results.

• You will receive your score immediately upon completion of your Placement Assessment.

• Your ALEKS score can be viewed by re-entering ALEKS using the same access link for which you took the Placement Assessment.

• Your scores will be added to your student profile and will be accessible by your advisor.

Your placement result is valid for up to 12 months.

This is a perfect opportunity to take advantage of the Prep and Learning Modules offered within ALEKS PPL. An individualized study plan will be created based on your performance on the Initial Placement Assessment. ALEKS will identify what you know and what you are ready to learn next so you can brush up on lost knowledge.

No, you must achieve the minimum placement result to take each corresponding class.

Congratulations! Continue to use your Prep and Learning Module to improve your chances for success. The placement result required is the minimum preparation for your course. Take advantage of the individualized review and learning features in ALEKS to get a better grade in your class.

Yes, you may take up to 4 Placement Assessments. However, to make each attempt worthwhile, it is important that you spend time working in your ALEKS Prep and Learning Module between Placement Assessments so that you can improve your skills.

You must wait at least 48 hours between Placement Assessments and work in the Prep Modules must be completed first. There is generally no benefit to re-taking the Placement Assessment immediately after completing a prior attempt. You cannot improve your results by simply re-taking the Placement Assessment without spending time in the Prep and Learning Module to refresh material that you may have forgotten.

You will have six months of access to your Prep and Learning module. Access to the prep course will not begin until you select start on the top of your screen. DO NOT select into the Prep and Learning Module until you are ready to start working.

Access to a Prep and Learning Module is included along with the additional Placement Assessments.

You can retake the Placement assessment up to four additional times to improve your score. (The highest score will be used for math placement). Students are required to work in the Prep and Learning Modules for a specific amount of time prior to each Placement Assessment to increase success.

• 2nd attempt – required to complete 3 hours of work in the Prep and Learning Modules before attempting assessment

• 3rd attempt – required to complete 5 hours of additional work in the Prep and Learning Modules before attempting assessment

• 4th attempt – required to complete 5 hours of additional work in the Prep and Learning Modules before attempting assessment

• 5th attempt – required to complete 5 hours of additional work in the Prep and Learning Modules before attempting assessment

While working in a Prep and Learning Module, you will periodically complete a Knowledge Check to make sure you have mastered the topics you gained in Learning Mode. If you do not show mastery during the Knowledge Check, the topics will be added back into your Learning Pie so you can review them again.

No. You must complete a new Placement Assessment to change your placement result. Select the placement tab in the upper right corner of the ALEKS page to start a new Placement Assessment.

No. You may only use one Prep and Learning Module. If you are unsure which module to select, use the module recommended by ALEKS or consult with your advisor.

ALEKS is not a multiple-choice Placement Assessment. It is open-response and requires you to work out solutions with a paper and pencil, then enter them into ALEKS. Be sure to have scratch paper with you.

ALEKS will provide an on-screen calculator if you need one to complete a particular problem. You should not use your own calculator.  Using a calculator with advanced capabilities will lead to improper placement and potentially course failure.

You may only use a pen or pencil, paper, and the resources provided within ALEKS. You should not receive assistance from friends, family, other websites, textbooks, or any other resource not provided by ALEKS. Using outside resources will lead to improper placement and potentially course failure.

Because ALEKS is adaptive, once you submit an answer, you cannot change it. Be sure to carefully check your answer before submitting your response.

It is likely that you will be asked questions on material you have not yet learned. On such questions it is appropriate to answer, I don’t know. On any question that you have familiarity with, however, it is important to do your best. I don’t know is interpreted by ALEKS to mean that you do not know how to solve the topic, and this will be reflected in the Placement Assessment results. There is no penalty for incorrectly answering a question on the Placement Assessment, it only helps ALEKS understand what you know and don’t know.

Yes, you have up to 3 hours to complete a Placement Assessment once it has begun.

If the Placement Assessment is unproctored, you will have to restart the Placement Assessment. If the incomplete Placement Assessment is proctored and timed, you will be given a placement result, but it will not be a true reflection of your abilities.

https://www.southeastern.edu/admin/testing/tests/aleks/assets/aleks-registration.pdf

Simply close the browser, or log out and log back in. ALEKS will resume the Placement Assessment exactly where you left off, with no loss of your previous answers.

http://www.aleks.com/faqs/technical

http://support.aleks.com/assess_placement