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+--- Thread: Math placement test for comprehensive review? (/Thread-Math-placement-test-for-comprehensive-review)
Math placement test for comprehensive review? - MNomadic - 11-22-2018
So I've been out of high school for about a decade. In highschool I did algebra 1, 2, geometry, trig and precalculus. I've done some college level math here and there in the military and also did the SDC calc course. Even though I've done well with those, as I continue to progress in my math studies I keep finding "holes" in my knowledge. I want to really make sure I've (re)mastered all the requisite knowledge before I continue to progress to more advanced math.
One option would be going over everything from algebra 1 through calc 1 & 2 to make sure I have it all down, but that would of course take a VERY long time. I'm wondering if there's any way for me to take a sort of placement test so that I can find where I'm weak and focus on reviewing/relearning only what I need to?
Unfortunately, I don't think Khan academy has that feature. I suppose ALEKs could be an option to get me up to precalc for a relatively low price of $20/month. Does anyone else have any ideas?
RE: Math placement test for comprehensive review? - Merlin - 11-22-2018
(11-22-2018, 03:30 PM)MNomadic Wrote: So I've been out of high school for about a decade. In highschool I did algebra 1, 2, geometry, trig and precalculus. I've done some college level math here and there in the military and also did the SDC calc course. Even though I've done well with those, as I continue to progress in my math studies I keep finding "holes" in my knowledge. I want to really make sure I've (re)mastered all the requisite knowledge before I continue to progress to more advanced math.
One option would be going over everything from algebra 1 through calc 1 & 2 to make sure I have it all down, but that would of course take a VERY long time. I'm wondering if there's any way for me to take a sort of placement test so that I can find where I'm weak and focus on reviewing/relearning only what I need to?
Unfortunately, I don't think Khan academy has that feature. I suppose ALEKs could be an option to get me up to precalc for a relatively low price of $20/month. Does anyone else have any ideas?
Khan Academy does have something of a placement test for the math courses that will help figure out where you sit. I remember taking it when I was studying for trig and stats. But ALEKS is designed to test and reinforce areas that are missing, so that might be better if you're okay with the $20/mo.
I can't think of any better options aside from those two.
RE: Math placement test for comprehensive review? - dfrecore - 11-23-2018
Khan does have placement tests (Mastery Tests), which tests to see how far along you are in a course. I signed up for multiple courses, and then tested through them all (taking a test or multiple tests for each course), until there are no more Mastery Tests for the day. Once you get through all of the offered Mastery Tests available for the day for that course, you can switch to another course and take those Mastery Tests. After a few days, you should be fairly well along in each course, and can then start to see your weaknesses. Especially because at some point, there are so many gaps that they don't offer any Mastery Tests and force you to start learning material. And like Study.com, as you progress through one course, any overlapping material in other courses is also completed.
So you could choose Algebra I, II, Geometry, Trig, Precalc, or whatever you want - and you'll see your % for each course go up as you get through. I actually started working through K-8th grade, to give myself more Mastery Tests, and have most of those done - and it also covered all of the other courses (there are 2 columns - 1 is called "Math" and is shown by course, while the other is "Math by Grade" and shows K-8th).
I'm having my son use Khan this year alongside his HS math courses, because I want to make sure there are no gaps before he starts AP Calc AB next year. I'm finding that his Integrated Math series is covering a lot of the Algebra I & II he's already done, but is not covering a lot of the Geometry/Trig/Analytic Geometry/Precalc that he'll need for Calculus. This seems to be the shortest path to get him ready.
Finally - ALEKS is all written, and Khan has videos. Depends on how you like to learn. If you are an auditory learner, ALEKS can be difficult. My son does better with videos, so Khan is the one we will continue with.
RE: Math placement test for comprehensive review? - MNomadic - 11-23-2018
Thanks both to both you for the suggestions. I guess I didn't realize the mastery test could be used as placement. I like the concept of Khan academy but the interface always seems too "busy" to me. I may consider trying the ALEKS trial and if I like it I could probably get through most of what I need in a month or 2.
Also, I found: https://schoolyourself.org/index.html
Which seems promising at first glance.
RE: Math placement test for comprehensive review? - MNomadic - 12-14-2018
(11-23-2018, 12:13 PM)MNomadic Wrote: Thanks both to both you for the suggestions. I guess I didn't realize the mastery test could be used as placement. I like the concept of Khan academy but the interface always seems too "busy" to me. I may consider trying the ALEKS trial and if I like it I could probably get through most of what I need in a month or 2.
Also, I found: https://schoolyourself.org/index.html
Which seems promising at first glance.
So just a quick follow up to this. I have really been enjoying the schoolyourself platform. I think it's a very efficient, intelligent and interactive way to learn or review math and would honestly recommend it to anyone. I especially recommend it to people who don't have the patience or attention span for using a textbook, lecture videos or the relatively short videos on Khan or similar platforms.
The algebra 1 and geometry courses are complete and also available on edx.org.
Unfortunately, it appears their trig, calculus, algebra 2 and stats courses seem incomplete and I'm not sure if they plan to finish them since they were acquired a few years ago and didn't respond to any of my emails.
They also have 3 "interactive" digital textbooks available for free or cheap that appear to be geared for a full school curriculum and they seem rather promising. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to check them out since they are only available on iPads/apple computers and I own neither.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/trigonometry/id519180733
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/hands-on-precalculus/id566503125
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/hands-on-calculus/id585497623
In related news, I finished the CSM course mentioned here: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-3-credits-in-quantitative-reasoning-for-39-ACE
and found that to be a nice and challenging refresher and learned a few valuable things as well.
Going forward: besides continuing with the schoolyourself website, I will also be using 3 courses from ASU's earned admissions program: calculus for engineers(starts in january) and the algebra and precalculus courses which start anytime and are completely self paced. The latter 2 courses use the ALEKS platform so it's a great way to try ALEKS for free before committing.