MATH 211 - ALEKS - FALL 2009

Currently being updated!

The course strongly builds on material from College Algebra. Further practice of these skills is developed via an online tutoring program: ALEKS, which is mandatory for all students and lasts 6 weeks. You are given an Initial Assessment to determine your strengths and weaknesses. The program uses artificial intelligence to provide tutoring solely in those topics needed in its Learning Mode.

It is most beneficial to spend time working on ALEKS in the FIRST WEEK or at least the early weeks and not wait till the Midnight Monday October 5 deadline. This will give you the necessary skills early on in the course.

For most students an average of 4 hours per week spent on ALEKS should be adequate.

• USING THE WEB:
  • IF YOU ACCESS VIA A LINK FROM BLACKBOARD MAKE SURE YOU GET A NEW WINDOW.

• Purchase Access Code & Register:

  • Enter your SECTION(click here) such as B2, C3 in the Student id field NOT your Zid.

  • Follow the INSTRUCTIONS (click here) to purchase ALEKS Prep for Calculus (6 weeks) for $30 from McGraw-Hill and to register with Aleks.

  • CAREFULLY enter an e-mail address that you check regularly!
  • If you enter an invalid address then you may miss important announcements.
  • Take careful note of your Login Name and Password for Aleks.
  • If the system prompts to download a plugin, you can deny permission or see the note below.
  • If you use another persons credit/debit card enter their name and address on the McGraw-Hill site (p6 -p7 of the instructions) then your name when you register with Aleks. Use your e-mail address throughout.

• ALEKS Plugin:
  • If you intend using ALEKS on your PERSONAL COMPUTER and are comfortable with installing plugins then you can make ALEKS more efficient:
    • Use http://www.aleks.com to access ALEKS rather than http://www.aleks.com/plugin.
    • When you first login, ALEKS will attempt to install the ALEKS plugin which you should allow.

• Initial Assessment: (To be completed by Midnight Tuesday 1 September or you will receive NO CREDIT FOR ALEKS.)
  • Login to http://www.aleks.com/plugin and take the Initial Assessment to analyze your knowledge of College Algebra. It should take 1 -2 hours but can be completed over several logins. Take it seriously and only answer "I don't know" if you really have no idea! Your score is NOT your final ALEKS score but it will affect the amount of work you need to get a good final score. For example, answering "I don't know" to every question will mean that ALEKS will require you to work many problems from Intermediate Algebra!

• Learning Mode:
  • Login to http://www.aleks.com/plugin . Following the presentation of assessment results, the system will display a pie chart navigation tool ("MyPie"). By placing the mouse pointer over slices of the pie, you can see which concepts you are now most ready to learn. Not all slices will contain concepts at any given time. They may have been mastered already, or work may need to be done in other slices before they become available. The concept you click on becomes your entry into the Learning Mode.
  • As you learn how to solve various problems, they will be TENTATIVELY added to your pie.
  • When several topics have been tentatively learned, you will get a new Progress Assessment to see if you have truly mastered the material. If not, you will be given a second chance for further practice. Failure to work these suggested problems correctly will result in the points being removed from your pie!
  • If you remain logged in to Aleks with minimal progress for extended periods then you may be given a Login Assessment. These should be avoided!

• Final ALEKS score:
  • You should try and get as close to completing a "Goal Assessment" with a perfect 100% as you can. (Offered when Assessment + Learning score reaches 100%.)
  • Your Final score will be the highest percentage of latest assessment and material learned by Midnight Monday 5 October.

• ALEKS bonuses:
  • If you reach a score of 75% by Midnight Monday 14 September you will receive a 10 point bonus.
  • If you complete a "Goal Assessment" with a perfect 100% you will receive a 10 point bonus.

• ALEKS Guide
  • A guide is available for further details: http://www.aleks.com/user_guides/learners-highedmath