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Math Placement Tests

ALEKS Assessment Tool

Students attending Purdue University for the first time for the Fall 2011 semester will complete the ALEKS Math Assessment free of charge before attending STAR or registering for classes.

This assessment will provide you and your advisor with information on your mathematical strengths and weaknesses. At STAR, your advisor will use your ALEKS percentage to help place you in the Math course that gives you the best chance to be successful. In addition, you will be given the opportunity to enroll in a self-guided ALEKS Learning Modules, free of charge, to strengthen your Math skills before the start of the fall semester.

What is ALEKS?

Assessment and Learning in Knowledge Spaces (ALEKS) is a Web-based, artificially intelligent assessment and learning system. ALEKS uses adaptive questioning to determine what you know and do not know in a course.

You may view this video for a quick tour of ALEKS: 2-Minute Video

Who takes ALEKS?

All incoming freshman and transfer students are to have an ALEKS assessment percentage before registering for classes. No matter the major, previous math credit, or advanced credits earned. This assessment will not erase credits or grant them.

What should I study before taking ALEKS?

You do not have to study anything before taking the first assessment. If you are not happy with the results, you can take a second assessment, or enter the free learning module and brush up on some topics before taking another assessment. Your highest ALEKS percentage will be used for placement. You can take the assessment up to five times.

How does ALEKS work?

When you first log into ALEKS, a brief tutorial shows how to use these ALEKS answer input tools. You then begin the ALEKS Assessment.

In a short period of time (about 90 minutes), ALEKS assesses your current Math knowledge by asking a series of free response questions. ALEKS chooses each question on the basis of your answers to the previous questions.

By the time you have completed the assessment, ALEKS has developed a picture of your Math knowledge, knowing which topics you have mastered and which topics you have not mastered adequately. Your knowledge is represented visually by a multicolored pie chart.

What are the costs?

There is no cost to take the assessment. If you are not satisfied with your assessment results, or you wish to brush up your Math skills, you can enroll in the self-guided ALEKS Learning Modules, free of charge, and continue to work in ALEKS. After successfully mastering 20 items or spending 10 hours in the Learning Module, you will automatically be given a new assessment. You can continue this process until you are satisfied with your percentage or feel confident in your skills.

How do I get started in ALEKS?

You can start taking your ALEKS assessment at any time. Your access to the ALEKS system starts after you have officially accepted your admission into Purdue.

  • To find the link to ALEKS log into myPurdue and go to the "New Student Task List."
  • Use your Purdue Career Account to log into the ALEKS system. This is similar to when you log into myPurdue.

Each time you return to ALEKS, you will authenticate through the link in your myPurdue New Student Task List.

Set aside at least 90 minutes to complete the ALEKS assessment. If you stop the assessment for any reason, you have 24 hours to continue from where you left off. After 24 hours, you will have to start the assessment from the beginning.

When should I complete the ALEKS Assessment?

You must have the assessment completed before arriving for STAR. Your advisor needs this information to place you into the appropriate Math course.

How do I interpret my ALEKS results?

For placement, you will be provided with minimum percentages that are strongly recommended for certain courses. You should discuss these with your academic advisor. If you are concerned that you are not as prepared as you would like for your first Math course, please consider using the self-guided ALEKS Learning Modules to review topics.

See the Placement Recommendations for more information about mathematics course placement and ALEKS results

What if my ALEKS acount has expired?

If you see this message, "Sorry, your account ("SPURDUE*********") has expired," then copy and paste the error message into an email and send it to Tim Delworth at delworth@math.purdue.edu. He will use this error message to fix your account and will let you know via e-mail when the account is ready.

How do I get technical support for ALEKS?

For ALEKS customer support please phone or email:

Are there other special features in ALEKS?

Many topics are available in both English and Spanish. Simply click next to "English" in the main menu and pull down to "Espanol."

ALEKS uses no "multiple choice" questions. All questions are algorithmically generated and require a "free response."

Further Questions

Any non-technical questions not addressed by this site can be addressed to Tim Delworth via e-mail to delworth@math.purdue.edu.

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