ALEKS -- Is College Algebra a lot harder than Intermediate Algebra

[Daithi]

I'm currently working my way through Intermediate Algebra right now. It has been over 25 years since I last took algebra and I have forgotten a lot. My initial assessment was only around 35%, and over the weekend I've worked my way up to 55% (about 16 hours). It's not really that hard, but I need the computer to show me how to do pretty much most of the problems to jog my memory, and then I proceed to make stupid mistakes as I work through the problems (I don't know how many times I've forgotten a negative sign or forgotten to type in the number in a radical sign for cube roots and higher). I figure another week or two and I'll be done.

Once I'm done with Intermediate Algebra I have two options -- take College Algebra or take the CLEP for College Algebra. Has anyone taken ALEKS Intermediate Algebra then taken ALEKS College Algebra? If so, was College Algebra much harder? How long did it take you to pass it? I think passing the CLEP College Algebra would be pretty easy after I've passed ALEKS Intermediate Algebra. However, ALEKS is cheap, convenient, and I feel like I'm learning more than I do studying for a CLEP.

[Ace_King]

You will definitely learn more with ALEKS, in my opinion than taking a CLEP. Honestly.. I took College Algebra with Straighterline, and passed it with an A, but took Intermediate Algebra with ALEKS and passed it but the models were much harder. But my math skills improved solely on ALEKS models.

Why not try Straighterlines College Algebra? You can try taking the CLEP, but if you aren't that good in math I recommend Straighterline. Not the best choice, but you should consider it bud.

[HorseManiac]

I just finished up with ALEKS in October. I started with Int. Algebra and then went to College Algebra. For me personally, College Algebra seemed like a repeat of Int. Algebra with a few more topics added to it. I didn't think it was much harder. I had it done in 2 weeks with about 6-7 hours per weekday. When you finish up with Int. Algebra and if you still have time in your subscription try the assessment and see what you think. I didn't think it was that much worse though!

Hope this helps!

[leakywaders]

I have a friend who's taken some CLEP math tests and all or almost all of the ALEKS math courses, and he recommends that if ALEKS offers a class you're interested in, take it instead of a CLEP test. I've done ALEKS college algebra, and it was just as good as intermediate algebra; it involved a lot of trig concepts, which were all entirely new to me. (Actually, ALEKS college algebra had almost total overlap with Pre-Calc.) Good luck!

[Daithi]

I finished the Intermediate Algebra yesterday, so only 4 days to get over 70%. I waited until ACE acknowledged my credit and then I took the College Algebra assessment and got a 45%. Hopefully I should be able to finish it fairly quickly too.

[g-force]

I'm in the same boat as your initial post minus 10 years.

how did you satisfy your College Algebra?

Thanks for any insight.

michael

[Gooberman11]

Definitely go for Col Alg with ALEKS! Yah, it is work, but I think it is a good follow up to Int. Alg. Kinda just keeps building on what you know, plus you end of retaining it more than CLEP, plus it is cheaper if you finish in a reasonable amount of time, plus I think it is less stressful than CLEP Col. Alg. Anyway, my 2 cents!

[Daithi]

Since this thread has come back up again, I can give an update. After finishing Intermediate Algebra at ALEKS I went on to do College Algebra at ALEKS. For the most part, the questions were really similar. However, there was probably enough differences that you might miss a question during the assessment, which would then require working through a bunch more pie sections that were very similar to the ones you did on Intermediate Algebra. The focus of the questions may be a little different (e.g. more logarithms) but it is basically just more algebra questions.

After completing College Algebra, I took Statistics at ALEKS. The math for this course did use algebra, but it was quite a bit different than the algebra courses. Nevertheless, it wasn't too difficult. I'm also sure that it was a lot easier than a traditional Statistics course. After finishing that course, I took Precalculus at ALEKS. This course was primarily a lot more algebra. There was almost nothing in regards to even simple calculus. There was some trigonometry, but it was really basic. Maybe it gets harder after 70%, but I stopped after hitting that point. If I had it to do over again, I'd take trigonometry instead of precalculus. There was just too many pie slices/questions in precalc that took forever to finish. I probably would have been better served to have spent more time doing Trig instead (I could use some practice doing identities).

Lastly, I took the CLEP College Mathematics exam. This was pretty easy after doing all the ALEKS courses. In total I ended up with 18 credits in math on my degree. At some point I plan to take more math classes for my own personal satisfaction. I'm currently working on my Capstone and it is on a math subject.

[Drakemoore]

How would you rate the ALEKs system in terms of learning the material / assessing where you need to improve?
I've been using a mixture of Khan and book study but Khan simply does not have many actual work problems to solve. Many of the topics only have a handful or so of questions before they become very redundant.

I'm primarily looking at it for self assessment and remedial learning. Though I'd have courses completed >= 70% evaluated by ACE in case I ever had need of the credit. I'm mostly studying up for CLEP exams and to prep myself to learn Calculus in the future.

Sadly the 2 month trial is only available to current homeschoolers.

[Peter123456789]

What's the fastest way to finish a pie chart? Should I keep requesting new assessments in the master account?

Is there a thread with these answers?

Thanks! :willynilly: