(03-08-2019, 02:30 PM)xjarhead1999 Wrote: You will hear different opinions from different people. I thought ALEKS was way too easy for the College Algebra. On the first initial assessment, I scored something like 67 or 68%.  A little later I forced another assessment and ended up scoring something over 70%. At that time I went to ace and added it to my transcript.  I might have spent a total of 2 hours to get those credits.
Of course, I spent the rest of the month trying to get the business statistics credits and never could get over 69%. That one seemed like they ignored everything they knew you were good at and avoided asking questions about it.

(03-08-2019, 03:42 PM)dfrecore Wrote:

(03-08-2019, 02:30 PM)xjarhead1999 Wrote: You will hear different opinions from different people. I thought ALEKS was way too easy for the College Algebra. On the first initial assessment, I scored something like 67 or 68%.  A little later I forced another assessment and ended up scoring something over 70%. At that time I went to ace and added it to my transcript.  I might have spent a total of 2 hours to get those credits.
Of course, I spent the rest of the month trying to get the business statistics credits and never could get over 69%. That one seemed like they ignored everything they knew you were good at and avoided asking questions about it.

I did Beginning Algebra and Intermediate Algebra on ALEKS, back when they were both ACE-approved and TESU accepted both of them.  I thought they were both easy.  Then, I switched to College Algebra and came to a screeching halt.  It took ages to pass.  More than a month of diligent study.  I finally gave up.

It really depends on how you learn, and how quickly you can progress through the program.  I say if you want to spend $20 to give it a shot, then do so.  But if you find yourself struggling with it, then cut your losses and switch to something else.

(03-08-2019, 11:29 AM)Merlin Wrote:

(03-08-2019, 08:42 AM)mepdblue Wrote:

(03-08-2019, 08:39 AM)Supermind Wrote: How about Aleks’ College Algebra?

I am considering ALEKS.  Although I am worried about the required 70% on the ACE knowledge check.  I would prefer a course that averages all scores in determining final grade.  I would hate for one bad test to sink the whole thing.  Thank you for your input!

ALEKS doesn't work like that. It is like a cycle where you start with an initial assessment, followed by a learning section where concepts are introduced and tested, followed by a knowledge check to test your mastery of new concepts followed by the learning section, and then another knowledge check. This cycle continues until you hit 70% on any knowledge check, at which time you have the option to take a semi-proctored "ACE knowledge check" for college credit. If you're just barely hitting 70% and feel that you need more study time, you can always skip the ACE knowledge check and try again later when you think you're ready. If you try the ACE knowledge check and don't hit 70% it just sends you back to the learning section again so you can focus on mastering what you missed.

So there is no "one bad test to sink the whole thing". You either hit 70% on a given knowledge check or you go back to learning and can keep trying until you do. There is no time limit on how long you can spend working through the course.

(04-13-2019, 11:26 PM)sambeaux Wrote:

(03-08-2019, 11:29 AM)Merlin Wrote:

(03-08-2019, 08:42 AM)mepdblue Wrote:

(03-08-2019, 08:39 AM)Supermind Wrote: How about Aleks’ College Algebra?

I am considering ALEKS.  Although I am worried about the required 70% on the ACE knowledge check.  I would prefer a course that averages all scores in determining final grade.  I would hate for one bad test to sink the whole thing.  Thank you for your input!

ALEKS doesn't work like that. It is like a cycle where you start with an initial assessment, followed by a learning section where concepts are introduced and tested, followed by a knowledge check to test your mastery of new concepts followed by the learning section, and then another knowledge check. This cycle continues until you hit 70% on any knowledge check, at which time you have the option to take a semi-proctored "ACE knowledge check" for college credit. If you're just barely hitting 70% and feel that you need more study time, you can always skip the ACE knowledge check and try again later when you think you're ready. If you try the ACE knowledge check and don't hit 70% it just sends you back to the learning section again so you can focus on mastering what you missed.

So there is no "one bad test to sink the whole thing". You either hit 70% on a given knowledge check or you go back to learning and can keep trying until you do. There is no time limit on how long you can spend working through the course.

Just to clarify, if you take and fail the ACE knowledge check you can take it as many times as you like? Does it force you to gain a higher mastery than the initial 70% required to to take the first ACE knowledge check? Currently sitting at 72% and want to take the ACE Check but am unsure what happens if I don't pass it on the first attempt.

(04-14-2019, 12:22 AM)alab21 Wrote:

(04-13-2019, 11:26 PM)sambeaux Wrote: Just to clarify, if you take and fail the ACE knowledge check you can take it as many times as you like? Does it force you to gain a higher mastery than the initial 70% required to to take the first ACE knowledge check? Currently sitting at 72% and want to take the ACE Check but am unsure what happens if I don't pass it on the first attempt.

Yes. Doing poorly on a knowledge check just rolls back the % mastered for any sections in the pie chart you didn’t do well on, and those get added back into the topics to learn/review until the next knowledge check. So the overall % mastered rolls back too, if you don’t know it, but if you’ve mastered the topics you should be ok.