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ALEKS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for Students

Browse frequently asked questions to better understand how ALEKS works for students.

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What is the ALEKS Learning Path?

In the Learning Path, students practice and learn the remaining topics in the course. Topics students are Ready to Learn are automatically loaded into the Learning Path and sorted from easiest to hardest. For a given topic, once students successfully solve a series of questions related to that topic, ALEKS considers this topic Learned and adds it to the students’ ALEKS Pie and to their Learned category in the Progress bar. Students then move to the next topic in the Learning Path.

As students practice topics in the Learning Path, ALEKS will provide step-by-step explanations for each question, including definitions of key terms. Students also receive immediate feedback for each answer they submit. A progress indicator - located in the upper-right corner of the page - will display progress within the topic.

If students are not able to learn a topic after repeated attempts, ALEKS will provide a new topic to work on. At any time, students can switch to a different topic by selecting the pull-down arrow to bring down the Topic Carousel. Students will not lose any work in partially learned topics by doing this.

 

What is the ALEKS Timeline?

The Timeline graphs progress and growth over time and will help a student understand how to achieve learning goals and reach milestones. The Timeline can be used to view what has been worked on in the past, what’s ahead, and when topics are due next. As topics are learned or lost, the Timeline is updated with real-time information.

 

What is the ALEKS Topic Carousel?

Students use the Topic Carousel in their Learning Path to explore the topics coming up in their path and search for specific topics to learn. After students have selected Start My Path or Continue My Path from their homepage, they can open the Topic Carousel by selecting the down arrow in the upper left corner. Each topic displays in its own card in the Topic Carousel. Students can select any topic’s card to practice it - this does not cause them to lose work in any partially learned topics they navigate away from.

The Filters menu (on the upper-right side of the topic carousel) and the Pie Slice/Objective menu (on the upper-left side of the topic carousel) allow students to filter the topics in the carousel based on certain attributes.

 

Number of Answers Needed to Master an ALEKS Topic

Student progress within a topic is based on a point system. Students are awarded one point for a correct answer, and two points for two correct answers in a row without using the Explanation page. One point is subtracted for an incorrect answer. The number of points will not go below zero. A real-time progress indicator displays students’ progress in the current topic. Once five points are earned within the topic, the progress indicator will be filled in and the topic will be learned.

 

What is the difference between Mastered and Learned ALEKS Topics?

  • Mastered refers to the number of topics a student has demonstrated mastery of in a Knowledge Check.
  • Learned is the number of topics that a student has practiced successfully in the Learning Path but has not yet been assessed on through a Knowledge Check.
  • Remaining is the number of topics the student has left to learn.
  • The number in the middle of the ALEKS Pie is a counter that represents the total number of topics a student has mastered and learned.

 

Why Some ALEKS Topics Are Locked

Topics are locked when students are not yet ready to learn them. They remain locked until the necessary prerequisite topics have been learned. For example, in order to learn addition of two-digit numbers with carry, students must first learn or have mastered addition of two-digit numbers. A lock icon appears in the topic card of the Topic Carousel to identify locked topics. Once all the prerequisite topics for a locked topic are learned, that topic is no longer locked and is now “Ready to Learn.”
 
The Pie may show that 8 out of 10 topics have been learned for a particular pie slice, yet no remaining topics in that slice are available. This means the two remaining topics have prerequisite topics in other slices that must be learned first. Students should continue working in other slices, and eventually the two remaining topics in that slice will unlock. 

 

Why Must I Review an ALEKS Topic I Have Already Mastered?

If students demonstrate mastery of a particular topic in a Knowledge Check, ALEKS expects the students to demonstrate continued mastery of that topic in subsequent Knowledge Checks. So, in addition to assessing the students on topics recently learned in their Learning Path, a Knowledge Check may assess students on topics they’ve demonstrated mastery of in past Knowledge Checks.
 
Should students demonstrate in a Knowledge Check that they haven’t retained recently learned or previously mastered topics, ALEKS will return those topics to the student’s Learning Path for them to practice and re-learn. For this reason, students should try their best on Knowledge Checks and only choose I Don’t Know for problems they truly do not know how to solve.

 

How do I review ALEKS topics I’ve already learned?

Review is a safe environment for students to practice and does not affect their knowledge state or count of Mastered, Learned, or Remaining topics. It is recommended that students regularly review in ALEKS, especially before a Progress Knowledge Check to improve retention.

Students can review topics they’ve recently learned or mastered by selecting Review from the menu in the upper-left corner. In Review mode, a queue of topics recently learned or mastered is provided. As in the Learning Path, students can browse through available Review topics by scrolling left and right on the topic carousel to select any topic they’d like to review. 

The Review option will not be available during a Knowledge Check or while completing an assignment.

A green check mark will display on the review topic if it is reviewed with a correct answer. If another knowledge check is completed, ALEKS will reset the review topics to topics mastered based on the new knowledge check results. In addition, the green check mark resets for topics that showed as previously reviewed correctly. 

At regular intervals, ALEKS gives Progress Knowledge Checks to assess students’ retention of recently learned and previously mastered topics. If students demonstrate in a Knowledge Check that they have not retained a previously learned or mastered topic, ALEKS automatically moves that topic to the queue of topics in the Learning Path to be practiced and learned again. These Progress Knowledge Checks ensure that periodic review is built into the ALEKS experience.

 

How Do I Use Explanations in ALEKS?

When students select Explanation from a question page, the explanation provided will be a step-by-step solution for that particular question. Explanations highlight each step needed to arrive at the solution. Students can compare the steps they took to the steps in the explanation to pinpoint where their mistake or misunderstanding occurred. Students can then continue to a new question with a better understanding of the method used to solve it.

It is not always necessary for students to read an explanation before beginning to work on questions for a new topic. They can if they prefer, but they may have enough knowledge of the new topic to attempt it right away.

When students encounter a topic for the first time, they may first see a Learning Page, which shows an explanation to a sample question of that topic. This is so they can become familiar with the steps to solve the question before practicing on their own. Instructors can enable or disable the Learning Page, so some students may not encounter this and instead go directly to a problem.

Some explanations include links to definitions of key terms and “Quick Notes" that expand on key steps in the solution to the question. 

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