ALEKS
ALEKS is a web-based adaptive learning tool, which Carleton is offering to incoming students. ALEKS can help you assess your knowledge of several key quantitative topics and review those areas where you may not be as strong as you might hope. The tool covers a wide range of topics that are encountered prior to calculus, including everything from basic fractions and graphs of functions to logs/exponents and trigonometry.
ALEKS is not a placement exam, and does not replace placement exams offered by any Carleton department. The assessment is designed to test the limits of your knowledge about a subset of quantitative topics, so don’t worry if you get tripped up on some of the questions.
What Carleton students say about ALEKS…
“ALEKS was a helpful reminder of material I hadn't covered in years. I enjoyed the experience and tutorials. The assessments were also very helpful, as they helped me to discern my strengths and weaknesses.”
“The tutorials were engaging and helped bring back much of what I had learned; it was nice to have worked on math problems via ALEKS [rather] than having to start right during class.”
“I found the tutorials very helpful. There were several things I had forgotten, but ALEKS helped me to remember them. I liked that it allowed me to work based on my own schedule, making it easier to incorporate in my life.”
How ALEKS is relevant to your Carleton courses…
Often students log into ALEKS, see the first questions in the Preparation for Calculus module and think that the topics aren’t relevant to the courses they will be taking or to their future interests. While not all topics in ALEKS are relevant for all courses, quantitative skills are used throughout the science and social science curriculum at Carleton, and brushing up on math concepts that might be rusty will help you hit the ground running. Here is what faculty from several different areas had to say about the relevance of quantitative skills, like those reviewed in ALEKS, to courses in various departments.
“Psychology is the science of the mind and behavior. Most of psychology approaches questions scientifically, making data-based, statistical arguments to support theories. Our majors are required to take a statistics course, which assumes a solid understanding of algebra. This course helps them read basic statistics in primary source articles, analyze datasets collected in class and lab, and communicate to different people about what the data analyses show.”
Mija Van Der Wege, Associate Professor of Psychology
“Economics studies human behavior, but the primary language we use to explore that behavior is mathematics. Mathematics certainly clarifies communication … but more than that, the models we build discipline our thinking. The economics student can expect countless epiphanies in which math leads her to a counter-intuitive result which would have been missed but for the discipline provided by the mathematical model. ”
Nathan Grawe, Professor of Economics
“In my writing courses, the use of data comes up every term, starting with challenging weasel words and moving toward making arguments more accurate and authoritative by referencing numbers (percentages, dates, ratios, frequency, and so on). I also require students to import images into their text, and frequently images take the form of graphs or charts that need appropriate labeling and captions.”
Carol Rutz, Director of the Writing Program
“Students in biology courses often have to collect, organize, evaluate, and interpret numerical data in order to understand biological processes and systems. This seems … pretty broad, but the nature of quantitative skill use varies widely according to sub-discipline.”
Sarah Deel, Senior Lecturer in Biology
"In many sub-fields of chemistry, the language that we use to understand and predict the behavior of chemical systems is math. Students need to be comfortable using a variety of mathematical tools so that they can engage with the chemistry happening in the systems they are investigating."
Deborah Gross, Professor of Chemistry
Building your quantitative skills even further…
If you want an opportunity to hone your quantitative skills working with a Carleton faculty member, there may possibly be a 2-credit seminar exploring quantitative skills and their applications in real-world contexts that will be offered this fall. Everyone who completes the ALEKS assessment and spends some time working on the review modules would be able to apply to participate in this seminar. In addition to working closely in a small group with faculty members, students who would be selected to participate in this seminar may be given priority registration for a handful of courses in the sciences and social sciences that make use of quantitative skills.
How to use ALEKS…
Click here and log in using your Carleton username and password. The tool you will be using is called Preparation for Calculus, but the skills covered are relevant for a number of different disciplines. You will be asked to complete an initial assessment, which takes about an hour. Then ALEKS will provide you with additional material, tailored just for you, to review particular topics and brush up on areas where you were weak.
Feeling pressed for time?
With many competing demands on your time, we recognize you may not be able to engage with all of the tutorials and review materials that ALEKS has to offer, but you are strongly encouraged to complete at least the initial assessment. And remember, in order to qualify for the 2-credit seminar, and the possibility of associated priority registration for select courses, you have to at least complete the ALEKS assessment and spend some additional time working on the review modules.