ALEK's (update)

[Gary]

Gary,

I'm enrolled in ALEKS for Intro to Stats. I enrolled worked on it a little for a few weeks than quit. Now I have to get back to it and get it done in a month as my goal. But I'm terrified. I thought I wasn't progressing because I hadn't spent enough time on it, but maybe that isn't it all. Maybe it is just a finicky system. I sure hope I don't get as frustrated as you, because I will quit and just take a class! I thought this would quick and fairly easy, but it isn't. I don't care for stats in the first place, nor algebra for that matter, so this is like forcing down medicine, but I have to have it. Please pray for me! I'm glad you are done, but I wish I was too. Thanks for the info!

Marianne, I posted on here on one of the ALEK's threads some websites that have calculators that I found very helpful. I don't know if this will work for you but what I did as I moved further along w/the course, I would just hit explain for about 4-6 straight questions and copied the explanations for reference during the assessments. Granted, I went through about 400-500 pages of notes but having those copies for reference definitely helped me. Especially when you got into questions that asked KEY words such as "More than", "Less than", "Equal to", "Stayed the same", etc. One small word changes the formula slightly. You might know the first problems you did, then the assessments come and now they ask what appears to be the same question BUT now they want something slightly different. To the young whipper snappers on here, this all seems like common sense. But to someone who just wants the credit, it is a foreign language. I was also ticked at myself for going quite awhile before realizing that for problems w/many numbers, you can just highlight the numbers on the screen, hit the sum button on the calculator that ALEK's has and voila, there you have it. This is when I realized I am sorely lacking certain basic fundamentals that everyone in business needs to know. I never had to do that so I took the stupid trail, BUT, now I'm a little more wiser. AND, I definitely will practice w/Excel a LOT more in the future. Remember, you can also figure things like standard deviation "QUICKLY" by utilizing the buttons on the calculator. I think one of my downfalls w/this course was my desire to just finish the course made me work too quickly w/out taking the time to learn the basics. WITHOUT QUESTION, IF I LEARNED ANYTHING FROM THIS COURSE, IT IS THAT I NEED TO GET FAMILIAR W/EXCEL AND UPGRADE CERTAIN BASIC SKILLS TO COMPETE W/THOSE THAT HAVE THEM AS WELL. I have no intention of becoming a Stats expert, that just ain't gonna happen. Anyway, Marianne, if you have any questions during the course, PM me. I'm no expert, actually I am grass roots level guy who may have just enough info to help. One last piece of advice that may help, there is a website called MathHelpForum.com, it may be helpful when you absolutely, positively need the answer overnight. You have to register online to use it. This is a site of math geniuses plain and simple. They helped me w/a couple of questions when all else failed. Don't beg, they don't like that. I swallowed my pride one time, kissed their butt and I got a spanking. They answer w/in the hour OR a bit longer. Just remember, during assessments, after a period of time, ALEK's will change the question on you. What I did a few times when I didn't have the exact notes for that problem is I waited for awhile until the question changed to where I either knew it or had the correct notes. I just did not want to go backward. Maybe I gave you more than you really need to know, but hey, if it helps, so be it. If your hyper like me, pad your tray table or desk, your hands will thank you. Best of luck!