U of I Math Placement through ALEKS

The University of Illinois requires the U of I Math Placement Exam through ALEKS to assess a student's prerequisite knowledge for course placement. ALEKS is a powerful artificial-intelligence based assessment tool that zeros in on the strengths and weaknesses of a student's mathematical knowledge, reports its findings to the student, and then if necessary provides the student with a learning environment for bringing this knowledge up to an appropriate level for course placement.

• All incoming first-year students must complete the ALEKS placement exam between March 25, 2009 and the 5th day of enrollment (August 28, 2009) for the Fall 2009 Semester. One assessment during this period is available to all incoming students free of charge.
  
  
• Every student enrolled in Math 115, 220, 221, or 234 is required to obtain a minimum ALEKS placement score by the 5th day of enrollment of at least :
  
  70% for Math 220 and 221
  50% for Math 115 and 234
  
  
• Failure to meet the minimum score for Math 115, 220, 221, and 234 will result in automatic placement in the prerequisite course.



• A student can take the ALEKS placement exam as often as they wish during the time periods listed below in order to satisfy the minimum ALEKS score.
  
  

Questions and Answers

Q: What is the U of I Math Placement Exam through ALEKS?

Q. Who is required to take the U of I Math Placement Exam through ALEKS?

Q: How do I access the U of I Math Placement Exam through ALEKS?

Q. Do I need to install any plugins prior to taking the U of I Math Placement Exam through ALEKS?

Q. How do I view my score?

Q. What if I do not obtain the required minimum score for Math 115, 220, 221 or 234?

Q: What is the cost of the U of I Math Placement Exam through ALEKS?

Q: How do I get technical support for ALEKS?

Q. How do I get math advising support?

Q: What is the U of I Math Placement Exam through ALEKS?

A: The U of I Math Placement Exam through ALEKS covers a broad spectrum of pre-calculus material. The ALEKS system is fully automated and the ALEKS assessment is adaptive. The first questions asked will be drawn from across the curriculum, and may be too easy or too hard. As the assessment proceeds, your answers will be used to give the system an idea of your knowledge, and it will gradually focus the questioning in an individually appropriate way. By the end of the assessment you should find the questions generally challenging but reasonable for your individual level of knowledge. The length of the assessment runs from 20-35 questions. The exact number of questions will vary due to the adaptive mechanism just described. It is likely that you will be asked questions on material you have not yet learned. On such questions it is appropriate to answer, "I don't know." On any question that you have familiarity with, however, it is important to do your best. "I don't know" is interpreted by ALEKS to mean that you do not know the topic, and this will be reflected in the assessment results. If you do not do your best on the assessment, ALEKS will underestimate your knowledge.

Q. Who is required to take the U of I Math Placement Exam through ALEKS?

A. All incoming first-year students are required to take the U of I Math Placement Exam through ALEKS.

All transfer and returning students enrolling in Math 115, 220, 221, or 234 are required to take the U of I Math Placement Exam through ALEKS.

Q: How do I access the U of I Math Placement Exam through ALEKS?

A: All incoming first-year students must access the placement exam through IStart at www.istart.uiuc.edu (log into the IStart page, then click on the "Complete Placement Testing" option from the menu on the left and access ALEKS via the link provided on that page). Use your NetID and password to login to the Placement Exam.

Returning students must access the placement exam at http://www.aleks.com/uiuc/math .

Q. Do I need to install any plugins prior to taking the U of I Math Placement Exam through ALEKS?

A. Yes.
(i) Go to the main ALEKS web page at: www.aleks.com
(ii) Press the DOWNLOADS link at the upper right. Follow the instructions to install the necessary software on your computer.
(iii) After installation of the ALEKS plug-in, restart (reboot) your computer.

ALEKS is cross-platform accessible. If there is difficulty installing the plugin see: http://www.aleks.com/faqs/technical/.

For troubles related to Next Generation java, see http://www.aleks.com/faqs/technical#Java_Next_Generation

Q. How do I view my score?

A. To view your score you simply log in to the U of I Math Placement Exam and click the assessment button and your score will appear (note: this is the same button used to access the exam). If you assessed via IStart, click here. If you assessed via the Math Department, click here.