ALEKS is a Web-based, artificially intelligent assessment and learning system. ALEKS uses adaptive questioning to quickly and accurately determine exactly what you know and don't know in General Chemistry, then instructs you on the topics you are most ready to learn. As you work, ALEKS periodically reassesses your progress to ensure that topics learned are also retained.
ALEKS provides the advantages of one-on-one instruction, 24/7, from virtually any Web-based computer, for a fraction of the cost of a human tutor. ALEKS is a modern, powerful assessment and learning tool that can make your chances of doing well significantly higher.
Registration
The charge for ALEKS is $40 for CH101 or $70 for both CH101 and CH102, if purchased online using the link below; ALEKS is more expensive if, instead, it is purchased at the Boston University Bookstore. Here is what you need to do to begin using ALEKS.
- Go to http://www.aleks.com
- Click on "SIGN UP NOW"
- In the box provided, enter AEX3Q-VEFR3.
- Register, following the instructions. Be sure to correctly enter your Boston University nine-character ID number, so that you can receive credit for your work.
That's it. You will now receive a brief tutorial on how to enter answers in ALEKS before taking an initial assessment to determine what you have retained from your prior course work.
Important!
The ALEKS assessment and learning system is very powerful and accurate. You must read and follow the assessment directions that pop up before you begin the assessment. If you fail to do so, you will be improperly assessed, and your learning will be inefficient. The ALEKS system will detect this inefficiency and force you to reassess, a colossal waste of your time. In general:- Do not consult any outside resources, such as Wikipedia, a friend, a textbook, etc., during assessment. There will be time for learning once you enter the learning mode. Assessment is precisely that--assessment of your retention of prior course learning to determine your exact learning needs
- NEVER click on "I don't know" unless you really have no idea of the answer. This will result in you having to spend time "learning" things you already know, and will cost you hours and hours of valuable study time.
ALEKS milestones and grading
Your work with ALEKS is to be done incrementally, in tight coordination with the topics as we cover them in lectures. To keep you on track, you must complete an initial assessment, weekly milestones, and then a final assessment, on the dates specified below. The detailed schedule of lecture topics and ALEKS milestones is here. Milestones are due by the end of the day of the due date.
Your work with ALEKS will be scored on a 160-point scale, and counts for 10% of the course grade. Each milestone is graded as 10 points times the fraction of its topics completed. The final assessment is graded as 30 points times the fraction of the total topics of the course that have been mastered.
| Date | Progress Goal | Points |
| Sept 9 | initial assessment and milestone 1 |
10 |
| Sept 14 | milestone 2 | 10 |
| Sept 21 | milestone 3 | 10 |
| Sept 28 | milestone 4 | 10 |
| Oct 5 | milestone 5 | 10 |
| Oct 13 | milestone 6 | 10 |
| Oct 19 | milestone 7 | 10 |
| Oct 26 | milestone 8 | 10 |
| Nov 2 | milestone 9 | 10 |
| Nov 9 | milestone 10 | 10 |
| Nov 16 | milestone 11 | 10 |
| Nov 23 | milestone 12 | 10 |
| Dec 7 | milestone 13 | 10 |
| Dec 11 | final assessment | 30 |
You will always be able to see below your ALEKS topics pie …
- what you need to be doing,
- when it is due, and
- the number of items needed to complete to meet the milestone.
Also shown is the number of items you are learning per hour, so they you can estimate the time it will take to complete (factoring in some extra time for assessment every twenty items).
ALEKS technical support
For all technical problems using ALEKS, please contact ALEKS technical support at
http://support.aleks.com/
You can also visit http://www.aleks.com/support to find answers to all common questions. You may also speak with technical support at (714) 619-7090.
If you are working at a computer that does not allow downloads, then use
http://www.aleks.com/plugin
instead.