What is ALEKS?

ALEKS is a web-based, artificially intelligent assessment and learning system. ALEKS uses adaptive questioning to quickly and accurately determine exactly what you know and don't know in General Chemistry, then instructs you on the topics you are most ready to learn. As you work, it periodically reassesses your progress to ensure that topics learned are also retained.

ALEKS provides the advantages of one-on-one instruction, 24/7, from virtually any web-based computer, for a fraction of the cost of a human tutor. ALEKS is a modern, powerful assessment and learning tool that can make your chances of doing well in this course significantly higher.

Registration

You will need to sign up and pay for an ALEKS subscription. This subscription will give you access to the ALEKS program for 1 year which will cover the ALEKS cost for the entire time you are in general chemistry.

Here is what you need to do to begin using ALEKS.

1. Open a web browser
2. Go to http://www.aleks.com
3. Click on "SIGN UP NOW"
4. In the box provided, enter the code provided by the e-mail or the course syllabus. (Note for the Pre Chem 1A assignment all lecture classes will be using the same code which was e-mailed to you in your U-Mail account).
5. Register, following the instructions. Be sure to correctly enter your UCSB perm number, (enter seven numbers, do NOT include any dashes or spaces). If your perm number is not entered or wrong you will not get credit for the assignments.
6. If you need to edit your account (for instance, to fix your perm number) you can do this by logging into your account. Click on the ≡ icon (3 bars) in the upper left corner of the screen. This will bring up a menu in which you can choose "manage my classes." Click the down arrow next to your name and select "account settings." Click "edit" next to your school. You will then be able to enter you correct perm number.

That's it. You will now receive a brief tutorial on how to enter answers in ALEKS before taking an initial assessment to determine what you have retained from your prior course work.

ALEKs Assessments

You are required to take a preliminary ALEKS assessment before starting to work on the objective. The preliminary assessment will take between one and two hours, will include 20-30 questions, and determines your background in basic math and chemistry.

Don't worry about doing well or poorly, just take the assessment as honestly as possible (do not use external resources such as your textbook or the internet); that way ALEKS will adapt itself to you. Not taking the assessment seriously can lead to LOTS more work during the quarter, because you have to master all the topics by the end of the course.

NEVER! Click the "I don't know" button during any ALEKS assessment unless you really don't have any idea of how to do the problem. Otherwise, ALEKS will think you don't know a topic that you actually do know and take you back and make you "learn" them.

After completing the initial assessments you will enter a pie chart learning mode where you can work to fill any gaps in your knowledge. As you work in the learning mode you will take occasional progress assessments (which looks like the initial assessment) to confirm retention of previous material. These will be very important, because if you've forgotten something important or learned new material, ALEKS will catch this and your pie chart will be adjusted accordingly.

Assessment tips

• Do not use any external help when taking assessments.
• If you are tired or need to stop, simply close the browser and your progress will be saved. When you log into ALEKS the next time you will be exactly where you left off.
• ONLY hit the "I don't know" button if you do not have a clue how to do the problem.
• Hitting this button strongly effect what ALEKS thinks you can and cannot do.

Objectives:

Once you have finished the assessment you can click on "Continue My Path" on the left hand panel and it will take you to a topic currently in your homework assignment. To see other topics, click on the down arrow. Topics with a diamond are the topics that need to be completed for the current homework assignment. Topics with a lock will be unlocked as you progress. You can see the number of topics that need to be completed for the current homework assignment in the upper right hand corner of the screen. The due date of the current homework assignment can be seen below the "Continue My Path" button. You can get back to this button by clicking on the home icon in the upper left corner of the screen when you are working on topics. (For the Pre Chem 1A assignment all topics are in one homework assignment.)

You complete a topic by clicking on a topic and completing three questions correctly in a row. Once you have completed your objective you will be given an assessment. (In addition, during the Pre Chem 1A assignment you will be given assessments after you complete 20 topics.) When you complete a homework assignment before or on the due date you will see 100% in your grade book. Part of your homework grade will come from the scores that you receive on your homeworks and the other part will come from mastering topics in your pie chart (see ALEKS mastery section below).

• You will get the most out of leaning mode if:
• you attempt the problem first without hitting the "explain" button.
• you do not just work on a single topic at one time. This is especially true if you used the "explain" button. If you hit the "explain" button only do one practice question and then go onto another topic and do the other two practice questions later.
• Do ALEKS in ~ 1 hour sessions to avoid getting tired, making mistakes, and getting frustrated.

ALEKS mastery

When you take an assessment your pie chart will be adjusted to reflect what you know. Therefore, in order to prove mastery of all of the topics in the pie chart you will not only have to complete your homework assignments but also complete your pie chart.

For the Pre Chem. 1A assignment there is only one homework assignment. When you complete this assignment your pie chart will appear to be full. You will then be given an assessment. You must take this assessment. Your pie chart will then be adjusted to reflect the material that you retained. Then you must go back and work on the topics that you need to learn and master. You must continue working on ALEKS until you are only able to review topics. For some people when you reach this point your pie might say that you still have a few topics that you need to master, but as long as all you can do is review, you will get 100% on the assignment.

The part of your homework grade that comes from the percent of the pie that you complete does not show up in your grade book. However, if you mastered all the topics in your pie chart and you can only review topics, then you have completed the course and will receive 100% on the assignment. If you are on the wait list to add the class, you must get 100% on the pre-course assignment to be eligible for an add-code.

ALEKS grading

Grading will come from a combination of completing homework assignments by the due dates, and mastering topics (completing the pie).

For the Pre Chem. 1A assignment 100% of your points will come from mastery (completing the pie).

If you are on the wait list for Chem 1A you must master all of the topics in your pie chart to be eligible for an add code.

ALEKS technical support

At any time that you feel your answer to be correct and ALEKS to be incorrect, please do the following procedure exactly.

1. While working on the problem in question, click on the Home icon.
2. Click on the ≡ icon (3 bars)
3. Select: Message Center
4. Click on: Compose
5. Click on: To
6. Select: ALEKS Customer Support
7. Compose a message with your question/problem.

For all other technical problems using ALEKS, please contact ALEKS technical support at http://support.aleks.com/

You can also visit http://www.aleks.com/support to find answers to all common questions. You may also speak with technical support at (800) 258-2374.