Using ALEKS for a Math Trial Assessment and Practice

>> FREE, for up to three hours within 48-hours

You can use ALEKS at no charge for up to three hours to assess you math skills and do some math practice. Here’s how:

  1. Go to http://www.aleks.com or http://www.aleks.com/plugin if you are at the library or work.
  2. If this is the first time ever (or first time in many months) that ALEKS has run on this computer, wait about two minutes for the most recent ALEKS plug-in to download and install. If you are at the library or work, and you get an error message, then try http://www.aleks.com/plugin. This website will download a “streaming” plugin and won’t actually download anything permanently on the computer. If the computer has run ALEKS recently, go to step 8.
  3. Click on Free Trial.
  4. Review and check “I have read and agree to the terms of the ALEKS User Agreement” and then click on Continue
  5. In the new window, under Independent Users, click on Begin Trial, click on Try Aleks Now
  6. Enter the required Personal Information:
    • For Independent User Type, choose College or K-12
    • For Choose Your Market, choose Higher Education | Math
    • For Select a Course, choose Basic Math
  7. Click on Continue to Free Trial (and do this as needed throughout the following).
  8. Record your Login Name and Password. (Change your password if you wish). You will need this information.
  9. For textbook, pick Miller, O’Neill, Hyde, Basic Mathematics, 2nd Edition or ALEKS Curriculum or none.
  10. Work through the Tutorial.
  11. Do the Assessment which follows the tutorial, using pencil and paper to figure out the answers. Don’t use a separate calculator; there’s a calculator available, when appropriate, in ALEKS. Enter your answers into ALEKS as shown in the Tutorial. There will be about 30 questions in the Assessment.
  12. Review the Pie Chart at the end of the Assessment.
  13. To upgrade your math skills, pick topics from the Pie to work on, one after another. In each topic, ALEKS will want you to get 3 or 4 answers in a row right, and then it will let you pick another topic. After you’ve done 10 or so topics this way, ALEKS will give you another assessment, to make sure it’s all hanging together – and so on, until you master all the topics in the pie. (It’s unlikely that you’ll be able to master all the topics in your pie in the free trial).
  14. To get a copy of your progress, click on report at the top right. Scroll to the bottom to see your percentage.
  15. If you want to sign up for more time on ALEKS, don’t do another free trial as it will start you from step 1 again. ALEKS costs about $20 a month. Click on New User? Then, click on using ALEKS on your own on the right side. Be sure to email ALEKS and cancel your account when you are done.