Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Learning Environments ALEKS-which course to choose

I just signed up for the ALEKS free trial but I think I might have made a mistake in the course selection. In the process of signing up, I was supposed to select a course with a pull down screen. I didn't know what to choose for DS8 (not knowing what's their basis of assessment) , so I selected Pre-Algebra which DS is interested in now. He completed the online test and was shown his Full Pie.

Now when I went back to the website, it seems on this page http://www.aleks.com/k12/course_products/recommendations to say that I should have signed him up for his "On Grade Level" instead.... and if he has completed 90% full for that grade, then I should move him up to the next grade.

So how do u decide which course to select?

S-T, when I signed my dd6 up, I had her start at the level she was currently working on in school (3rd grade), and have been moving her up as she completes each level. She hasn't gotten to the middle school level yet, but it looks like the pre-algebra is on that level, maybe towards the end of middle school. I think if your son has mastered a lot of the middle school level, that's probably a good place for him especially considering his interest. If he hasn't mastered much of the middle school math, you might need to move him down to give him a good basis before learning pre-algebra. After taking the assessment, what did ALEKS have to say? You can also email them. In my experience, they are very helpful.

S-T,
If I understand you correctly, your ds8 completed the pre-algebra initial assessment with 100% mastery and you are wondering which level would be best to go to next. Is that right? What a smart kid!

Do you home-school? What is the highest level your child has been introduced to at home or school? Does he study math independently?

If he doesn�t mind, I�d just have him take each higher assessment until he scores below the 90% and has something to learn.

Also, our state (IL) supposedly has the lowest math standards while MA and CA have the highest, so I selected MA state standards on ALEKS for my kids and CA standards for my nephew to ensure they learn everything available for any given level.

After reading delbows post, I went back and re-read the first post. Did your son have the pie all filled in as complete? If that's the case, he should move on to algebra or one of the other high school levels. Sorry, I misunderstood!

I don't know how to answer your question. I've been thinking about this myself. My son is in 3rd grade. When he did the assessment, ALEKS said he should work at 3rd grade level. But, he's doing simple algebraic equations and converting numbers from Celsius to Farenheit at home. If I let him to 3rd grade on ALEKS, then he's even further ahead at school. Maybe I should let him to pre-algebra instead to give him some challenge. Any thoughts?

And, does anybody know how to get to the games through QuickTables? All we've seen are problems and the time limits get shorter and shorter.

squirt - you earn the games after completing certain levels of quicktables - e.g., 60%, 80%, etc. I think the first game or two come earlier than 20%, but don't remember. And if the time is too fast, go into the parent account and then look at quicktables report, click on the little bar graph and it will pull up a detailed page where you can adjust the time limit. Ours was set at 3 seconds automatically. You can also make worksheets and create a keypad (I guess to click on rather than type?).

DS hasn't done anything really other than the assessment or quicktables. It appears on the couple of exercises he did do that it moves rapidly, only requiring a couple of right answers, then a couple to review the same thing next time, and then it moves on. Very different from EPGY where there were a lot of questions on the same thing and it took a long time to get beyond it. (Or so it seemed.)

You can choose to go back and do more than the standard review you just have to follow the screens when you type review and you can go back to almost anything. I just figured this out last week. It may also force more review if the subject isn't shown to be mastered in the next assessment.

Sorry I wasn't very clear in my first post. DS8 completed the Pre-Algebra assessment and his Pie was shown as 70% completed. His gaps were mainly in
Functions & Graphs, Exponents & Polynomials,Proportion,%, Data Probability and
Geometery.

He completed 100% for the rest.

After the "test", I realised that he could only continue to work on the "Pre-Algebra" course (till mastery) before moving on to the another course. Or is it possible to sign up more than one course at the same time?

I think I was kind of disappointed as I thought the initial assessment will help me see what are the gaps for DS in general (without having to select a Course myself). So if he continues to finish the Pre-Algebra, should I move him back to Grade 3? or Grade 5? or ??

May I know what assessment did your DS take? Was it the one he had to do when u sign him up the very first time and when u selected the grade 3 course yourself?

I know what u meant. That was one reason why I didn't choose his current level because DS8 has already attempted and passed the end of year grade assessment in school and I was quite sure he could handle some grade 7/8 stuff. Just not sure what are his gaps. I was hoping ALEKS could do the job for me.

I think I should have a look at the quicktables too?

If he has 70% on pre-alg assessment with gaps, you might want to call them and ask what they suggest. I talked to a higher level(?) person I think, who recommended that DD actually finish the pie completely before I moved her up. Something to consider.

However, she was bored so I did not take the advice and moved her up manually myself, she was at about 95% finished with pie. I then manually sent her an assessment before she even started to make sure she picked up anything she may have missed.

Just for giggles I manually moved up ANOTHER level and delivered her an assessment and discovered there is a ton of overlap between levels. I'm pretty sure pre-alg starts at level 4, but for SURE there is pre-alg at level 5.

I do LOVE that the program is extrememly thorough with regard to material included. I do NOT believe they cover as much at school, no matter what they like to tell me.

One tip I discovered late. DD loves to master things, she's a little pathological about it. I asked her to NOT go on to master, that way it does come up later for review. Otherwise, it doesn't. I find this helpful(not sure she does!) because then when I see her correctly do the problem weeks later, I feel more confident that she does have it down concretely.

I also use the Singapore workbooks to go back and for review and make sure she can correctly complete problems on paper since this is how most testing is still delivered.

HTH
Neato

Thks for sharing everyone!

I have emailed Aleks and still waiting for their reply. Meanwhile, DS8 went ahead eagerly to try to complete the rest of this Pie. Unfortunately, our trial session ran out! I can see why Aleks is popular because it does motivate the kid to want to move along without making them do and re-do topics which they already know. I am hoping that they will extend the trial... still waiting.
Will update here if I hear from them.

Just an update...

We received the email for the one-month extension. Ya! (Thank you to the mom who has shared about it in another thread). However, I made a mistake for waiting too long to register (over a day) and I could not sign in using my 3-hr guest ID anymore to continue with where DS8 has stopped. We are not complaining though. Since he was almost done with Pre-Algebra, I signed him up for Middle School Course I. He breezed through them except for Functions/Graphs under Geometry. This gives me an idea of where he stands. So far, we are very happy with Aleks.