ALEKS Releases
Want the details on what’s new and improved in ALEKS? Review the release notes below!
December 2022
Across Chemistry & Math:
You can now attach files to a Textbook question and ALEKS Topics, include links in your assignments to outside resources, and even create your own resources from scratch to provide alternative explanations, show worked problems, and more!
Time Recommendations for Personalized Modules You can now see the median time it may take a student to complete any topic in ALEKS Learning Mode and the Total Estimated Time for all the topics you’ve added. This will allow you to ensure an appropriate amount of work has been assigned when building your course.
Question Authoring: Student File Upload
Students can now upload a variety of file types to their Homework, Test, and Quiz assignments, allowing you to easily assign group work, have students submit their worked out problems, and more!
Question Authoring: Alternate Answers Accepted
If there’s more than one correct solution to your custom authored question, you can now accept alternative answers to numeric value and formula questions.
“Use Existing” Feature with LMS
The new “Use Existing” feature allows you to easily copy your existing LMS course and keep your Gradebook column customizations intact when pairing an ALEKS class.
Note: This feature can be enabled by ALEKS Customer Support upon request and is only available for institutions with LMS integrations configured with LTI Advantage.
Note: This feature can be enabled by ALEKS Customer Support upon request and is only available for institutions with LMS integrations configured with LTI Advantage.
June 2022
Across Chemistry & Math:
NOTE: As of this June, Objectives in ALEKS are now called Modules throughout ALEKS.
The “My Questions” tool allows you to author your own questions that can be assigned in a Homework, Test, or Quiz alongside other content types and is designed to be easy to use. It also includes customizable folder options so you can stay organized across all your courses and quickly select your questions!
Updates to Class Content CustomizationUpdates to the Class Content Customization process will make it easier to select your content, and the updated Prerequisite Recommendations tool will provide suggestions on where prerequisite topics could be incorporated into your course based on the content you select. You can also now copy Modules or combine multiple Modules into one!
Question Pooling
You can now select a group of questions into a pool, and ALEKS will randomly present questions from that pool on each student’s assignment. The following question types can be pooled: ALEKS topics, textbook questions, and custom authored questions.
Remove a Question From an Active Assignment
Have a question you no longer want in an active Homework, Test, or Quiz assignment? You can now delete the question, even if students are already working.
December 2021
Across Chemistry & Math:
Students can now access their previously completed assignments without impacting their grade, meaning they can use them as study materials and practice tests. NOTE: Turn Review Mode on in your Assignment Settings!
Math Experience
Chem Experience
Combine Content Types in One Assignment
You can now assign questions from ALEKS topics, textbook questions, and videos into a single assignment. By combining sources, you have more flexibility in your assignment builds, and students are able to demonstrate content mastery in fewer assignments.
Math Experience
Chem Experience
Delve Into 3 New Dashboard Tiles & Reports (Pie Progress, Learning Rate, & Activity Time)
The new tiles and corresponding reports are available at the institution level and provide a high-level view of student progress, learning and activity in ALEKS. This on-demand student data allows administrators to identify and report out actionable insights, ensuring no students are being left behind.
Math Experience
Summer 2021
Across Chemistry & Math:
Incorporate even more assignment types into your course design with Video Assignments. Your students can learn material through videos that correlate to your Chapter or Sections from your own textbook as well as other books in Math and you’ll have access to video assignment reporting.
Give Exceptions from the Gradebook
Exceptions (such as edits to due date, time limit, and proctoring) can now be given to multiple students or the entire class right from your Gradebook. The Gradebook Exception badge is also now clickable for all assignments, including Objectives, to provide details about the indicated exception.
Updated Assignment List Functionality and DesignYour Instructor Assignment List has a newly streamlined design and features to improve efficiency including a search bar, the ability to filter by assignment type, and quick access to assignment creation and adjustments such as Copy, Quick Edit, Preview, and Shift Dates.
Improved ebook Experience and AccessibilityThe look and experience of the eBook has been improved and now includes accessibility features such as a read-aloud feature. It also includes embedded videos and interactive widgets to create a modern, intuitive experience.
Assignment Creation UpdatesIntuitive updates to the Assignment Creation process have been made and new options are available, including an “Assign To” option to allocate the assignment to specific students or groups of students and an updated grading scale feature.
Chemistry-Specific:
Virtual Labs is a fully online, realistic lab solution that can be used to bridge the gap between lab and lecture. Assigning Chemistry Virtual Labs in ALEKS means your students can be better prepared for lab, more efficient, and retain more of the fundamental skills necessary for a successful laboratory experience.
64 New Topics extending coverage of General, Organic, and Biochemistry classes.You will be able to assign 64 new topics in ALEKS Objectives, Homework, Tests, and Quizzes. These add healthcare-oriented topics to general chemistry, improve on coverage for organic chemistry and biomolecules, and introduce new coverage of metabolism in 24 new items.
Math-Specific:
The new and updated topics greatly expand coverage of key content areas such as confidence intervals and hypothesis testing, as well as conceptual skills such as identifying bias and understanding how graphs can be misleading. Many new topics include the interactive tools that were released in December (Simulate/Compute Tool, Confidence Interval Tool, Hypothesis Tool) as well as a tool that is new with this release (Multiple Confidence Interval Tool, Box-and-Whisker tool).
Interactive ToolsLet's talk about the Translation Tool, Venn Diagram Tool, and Hypothesis Testing Tool! Unlike traditional homework systems that test concept comprehension with multiple-choice questions, ALEKS allows students to get hands-on and really interact with those concepts. They’re a game-changer, especially for students that have difficulty visualizing concepts.
May 2021
Across Chemistry & Math:
New Gradebook badge indicates assignments not assigned to a student and new student display options allow them to filter out assignments not given to them. These options are especially helpful for students who need unique accommodations or for grouped corequisite classes.
Control over Objectives Sharing Start and End DatesYou now have more control over Objectives with shared start and end dates. They will appear to you and your students as separate assignments and will no longer merge as a single entry in your gradebook.
Assign End-of-Chapter Questions in ALEKS 360Create homework, tests, or quizzes with questions directly aligned to: Overby/Chang: Chemistry, 13e, Sobecki: Math in Our World: A Quantitative Reasoning Approach, 2e, or Sobecki: Math in Our World: A Corequisite Approach, 2e. This option will be available in your usual assignment creation process.
March 2021
Across Chemistry & Math:
New additions to the Item Analysis Report provide a summary of student success and problem areas on Homework, Tests, and Quizzes. The new features include a graphical visual and also summarize questions that took the longest, required the most attempts, and highlight questions students frequently answered incorrectly.
Revise Dependent Multi-Part QuestionsStudents can now go back and revise their answers to dependent multi-part questions on tests and quizzes. These are the questions where the student has to submit an answer in order to open the next part.
December 2020
Across Chemistry & Math:
With the single assignment list for adaptive and nonadaptive assignments you can now view all your assignments, including Objectives, in one spot. The ALEKS single assignment list offers greater visibility into all due dates in the course.
Class CreationNew class creation workflow allowing you the option to choose your textbook before the ALEKS course. The textbook can be different than the ALEKS course you select, providing more choice and flexibility in your course content.
Start Dates, Due Dates and TimesAdd start and due dates and times for Objectives, allowing more time to build in review Objectives or non-adaptive homework, tests or quizzes.
Prerequisite AssignmentsAdditional prerequisite assignment options are now available. Help students prioritize their assignments as you enable prerequisites to homework, quizzes and tests. Now you can require an objective before a non-adaptive assignment with a minimal mastery score.
Progress Knowledge ChecksProgress Knowledge checks have been shortened to more efficiently assess the topics students have recently learners. They are up to 25% shorter with impact on their efficacy.
Failed Topics InsightA new Topics/Students toggle is available in the Failed Topics Insight to allow toggling between two views.
Assignment ReportsHomework, test, and quiz reports are more easily navigable and have been improved with item analysis detail highlighting key insights around time spent, number of attempts, and more.
GradebookAfter Dec 11th, when you copy or create a new course, a new modern design to the ALEKS gradebook will help you do less scrolling and enjoy a more visually appealing menu and intuitive navigation.
Chemistry-Specific:
You now have the option to choose between a Modern View or a Classic View when creating a class. The Modern view offers more customized control over content and pacing.
McGraw Hill ResourcesResources such as solution manuals, lecture PowerPoints, and lecture notes are now available for Higher Education Science instructors in ALEKS 360 classes. (Copyright 2019 and beyond)
The ALEKS Drawing ToolThe Drawing Toll feature supports Haworth and Fischer projections. This intuitive drawing tool mirrors the drawing action of paper and pencil, reduces the time it takes to draw a biochemical molecule, and improves the student user experience.
Chemistry Content85 new topics have been added for the GOB 1 Semester course.
Math-Specific:
You now have more flexibility when building non-adaptive assignments and can add problems from your selected textbook in addition to adding problems from ALEKS topics.
Table of ContentsThe number of topics available in the ALEKS Introduction to Statistics domain has nearly doubled, providing more support for prerequisites and early statistics content, and includes approximately 30 new and updated topics.