Resource Description
ALEKS (Assessment and LEarning in Knowledge Spaces) is a research-based, web-based, artificially intelligent assessment and learning online math program for grades 3-12. ALEKS provides the advantages of one-on-one instruction 24/7 for a fraction of the cost of a human tutor and is accessible from virtually any computer with Internet access. ALEKS uses adaptive questioning to adjust the learning modules presented. A placement assessment is used to determine a student's knowledge in a course, and periodic reassessments help ensure knowledge retention. ALEKS is web-based and accessible on both Windows and Mac systems. ALEKS is a division of McGraw-Hill Education.
Website: ALEKS
(79 Reviews)
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Contributor Reviews
Reviews are solely the opinions of the contributor.
Cons: Penalties for wrong answers, breaks in concentration/workflow for using Aleks DATA, 30 minute inactivity timer, etc.
Grades Used: College
I've used this for two semesters of chemistry, and unlike most of the other students I actually managed to complete all of the required-450-or-so topics.
The only other bigger time sink I've had was WebAssign, an equally garbage "online curriculum" for a mathematics class.
This will test your patience. This will push you to your limits. This will bring you down to the brink of insanity with the only thread of hope that your professor will count all of your completed topics towards your grade.
Also, what's with the penalties and progress checks? Imagine if your teacher ripped out entire pages off your notebook for answering a question wrong... which is exactly what it is.
Protip: You can "game" the system for hard topics by rerolling the "Explanation" button for easier questions. If you actually want to learn, old school paper and penciil all the way (which is how I studied and got A's on my actual tests).
Cons: Literally everything else
Aleks is mostly bad. The biggest problem I have with this is the terrible UI, how time-consuming it is, and the explanations. Not only is it time-consuming, but it's also frustrating. If you mess up, it removes a point or two, so if you don't fully understand a topic, you're screwed unless you learn it irl or search it up. The explanations do NOT work whatsoever, I actually think they only make your experience more frustrating. It makes you think, "I have the explanation but I still don't get it??" They actually do NOTHING. 99.99 repeating% of the time, they don't explain ANYTHING, even though it's called a, well, EXPLANATION? I remember one time, I was doing some topic, and I messed up ONCE. It then lead me to the explanation page and it told me to do something. With no explanation. No explanation of, well, IDK, WHY that works, HOW that works, or ANYTHING like that, it just told me to do something. Bruuuh. It's not teaching you anything, and in fact, it fails miserably at it. The explanations are absolute trash, not to mention the fact that you lose a point or two when you mess up. (I already mentioned this but still.) Mhm. Yup.
Aleks be like: "You don't understand a material? Suffer."
Grades Used: 5
So dissatisfied with this program. No explanation or examples are given to students. Does not align to many state standards but rather to homeschool based learning which has a completely different approach when learning many concepts.This proves to be very confusing and frustrating to many children/students when it comes time to take state tests. These students are being penalized because Aleks taught them to solve and work out math problems in a completely different manner. It is AWFUL very boring and dated. Does not engage students in learning whatsoever. No fun or interesting graphics, no wonder children do not enjoy this but rather dread doing this.
Cons: Aleks pushes a student through topics even if they are failing them.
Grades Used: 3, 4, 5
I put my 10 year old son in 5th grade math through Aleks. It was vastly superior to a) public school b) other online learning systems that either aren't graded, or use multiple choice. With Aleks, there's no multiple choice, a student has to figure out the work and input the right answer. I've never had a bad technical problem with the program - HOWEVER, there is a logistical issue with using Aleks.
Aleks allows students to move through topics, even if they don't understand the material. I'll give an example. Aleks takes a grade of math, like 5th grade, and breaks it into topics (improper fractions, simplifying fractions, decimal multiplication, etc.) If a student is in a topic (i.e. fraction multiplication), and fails to get a correct answer, after some time Aleks will move them to the next topic! If a student happens to get 3 right answers in a row, Aleks moves them to the next topic!
The problem becomes that my son has completed the entire 5th grade curriculum with Aleks, but when I have Aleks test him, his test scores varry widely (D to B+). Specific topics are not mastered or understood.
Aleks would be greatly improved if they held a student in a topic, until they can pass an assessment for that topic (10 point quiz). The passing grade should be definable by the parent/teacher account. That way my son wouldn't move on to Geometric shapes if he's still struggling with a topic on fractions.
Cons: Everything. Terrible program
Grades Used: College level
Hello I am using this program on a "self paced" class. In my opinion, this is a terrible program and should be avoided at all cost. I follow their "instructions", then enter the answer and ALEKS tells me I am wrong. I print up the "explanation" and see the same answer I entered. I was told the program is "smart based" so when you miss an answer ALEKS makes do the problem over and over again for practice. The problem is ALEKS is not smart enough to realize when you enter correct answers. This program will discourage your student and will make them doubt their ability to think. If I did not need this class for work, I would have dropped it.
Cons: Software confuses students more. Explanations are long and difficult, ALEKS doesn't round or use significant figures correctly. Waste of money, WILL CONFUSE STUDENTS MORE!!
Grades Used: College
ALEKS is terrible. I'm currently using it in a general college chemistry course. I have had several issues of ALEKS marking my right answers wrong, which in turn forces me to redo the problem. (I can't even make this up. It has happened several times and in the explanation literally shows the answer that I put in.) ALEKS has confused me so much on rounding and significant figures- it literally doesn't do them right at all. (Again, I can't even make this up- I have never had trouble with significant figures or rounding until using this product.) Explanations are close to terrible as well. Long, repetitive, and hard to understand the general concept. I honestly recommend using Pearson instead. ALEKS is a waste of time and money and may be the reason I don't pass my chemistry class this semester.
Teachers, if you do decide to use this software for any of your classes, PLEASE test it out first!! So many flaws in this software. At least if you try the software out before assigning lessons to your students, you can warn them or possible flaws or not assign that specific topic on ALEKS.
I am a college student struggling with this software, I can't imagine being any younger and having to fight with this software. Especially if you are currently teaching topics that include significant digits or rounding, you will be setting your students up for failure if you don't at least double check the topics before you assign them.
Cons: ITS THE WORST THING EVER. IT WILL BREAK YOU
Grades Used: 9-10
What happened to the teach part in the word Teacher? Where is it Aleks? Where is it? Oh yeah that's right you killed it and disposed of the body. You cant call the teacher a teacher anymore because they are just there to walk around the room and provide basically mediocre help. The teachers have a third of the responsibilities of before, to a point where they could do practically nothing. OH and the "personalized learning" i gotta draw the line right there, IT IS NOT PERSONALIZED AT ALL. False advertising and it will be the worst thing you will ever experience
Cons: Everything
Grades Used: 5th
Absolutely terrible. ALEKS gives me so much stress. The time limit does not make enough time for students to solve the problem. It gives me nightmares,
Cons: “Self paced” is a lie, line spacing (hard when visually impaired), more problems are given of the same type when you get one wrong. The amount of stress and depression it caused
Grades Used: College level, but remedial college. In reality, that makes it high school level as my best guess.
I’m a different case, I did not use ALEKS in a homeschool setting, yet still am traumatized by it. I went to public elementary, middle, and high school, and a state college. I was in remedial math in college, the two remedial classes my college offered. One was ALEKS, one was classic instruction. I failed both. I have Cerebral Palsy and a Vision Impairment, with those complications math and science is hard. In both of those classes and math overall, I struggled hard. In both college classes, I drew in a notebook to pass time because I didn’t grasp the material. In the ALEKS based class, held in a computer lab, I used my laptop with my zoom software for my vision. The teacher was okay wifh that. The teacher just sat there unless anyone needed help. He just sat there.
Knowing what I did, I tried my best. The ALEKS program is “self paced”, this is such a lie. At the end of the semester, you have a final exam. This is typical of any subject. The ALEKS final however, takes both pie charts of information, customized information at that, based on the placement test you take at the beginning of the semester. I completed one pie chart by time the final rolls around.
I go to the final only to get points for attendance, I know I’m failing the class already, I attempt the final, half of the info which I didn’t even get to due to only finishing one pie chart of custom info. In the end, the five minute walk from my dorm room to the math building I drank 3 bottles of water to keep myself from hyperventilating. Once there, I sign in for attendance , boot up my computer, attempt the final for ten minutes hyperventilating the whole time. I leave the room to refill my water bottle, come back, shut down my laptop, and leave mid-final. I was failing the class even if I passed the final which I wouldn’t have done anyway as I only got to one pie chart being finished before the final.
I now have a college degree from a different school, but had to go through the state of Texas’s equivalency test to skip remedial math classes. I passed on the third try, then had a college level non-ALEKS math class to do. I passed it with an A, but I bet it was an A for effort.
In the end, I think the ALEKS program gave me PTSD, I was in college from fall 2016-spring 2021, the remedial math was in the 2016-2018 years. I had a problem that had the right answer, but ALEKS counted it as wrong, just because of an accidental space bar press. The ALEKS program gives more problems of the same type when you get one wrong, how is this helpful to anyone? It isn’t. If you get one wrong, and it gives you more of that same type, logic says you’ll get those new ones wrong too. It is an endless cycle.
The ALEKS program is not worth it. Never. Not now, not in the future, not in the past. Homeschooling any grade, or college, do not take this. Save your time, save your money. I went to college on a scholarship, but even still, don’t take this class. I only took it as I had only two remedial options. In the end I took, and failed, both options.
Cons: We haven't found any, it's been terrific.
Grades Used: 9-12
I subscribed to ALEKS for my homeschooled teenage son, after struggling with math topics for years using books. We have found it incredibly effective at moving him through high-school math subjects at a remarkable pace. His ACT score in math improved from 19 to 25 in six months. You read that right. He's been able to mostly teach himself in Algebra I, Algrebra II and Geometry, with 90%+ scores in each topic. When he hits a snag and is having difficulty, I've been able to help him work through it, entirely by studying the ALEKS teaching resource with him. Having read some other negative review, I can only conclude that ALEKS is GREAT for my son, but perhaps not for everyone. Important - disciplined time management so that he completes about 10 topics every day.
Cons: Frustrating, confusing, annoying, terrible, and 20 others I can think of
Grades Used: 6th
It is frustating and confusing. This might be even worse than I ready. In quick tables, it only gives you like two seconds to answer the question and if you do a typo even if you didn't submit it, it will say you did it wrong.
Cons: none
Grades Used: College
ALEKS is amazing. If I had access to it in high school, I may have learned to love math as a kid. I've just gone back to school online for my B.S. and am using ALEKS for my math courses. You have the option to study topics with either a video, or by reading the provided notes, depending on what works for you. You are then able to practice topics with immediate feedback, either positive feedback or, when necessary, explanations. I never considered myself to be particularly good at math but with this software, I wonder if I just never had the access to a teaching style that was better suited to me as a person.
I wouldn't suggest ALEKS as a blanket recommendation for every single student ever, because some students truly benefit from live instruction. However, I see why ALEKS has won awards. It has helped me to an exceptional degree.
Cons: Everything involved with the word ALEKS
Grades Used: College
ALEKS is absolutely terrible. It is such a waste of time (and if you pay, money). ALEKS teaches students nothing, expects students to magically understand everything & pass, but then for no reason the software changes answers & explanations in the middle of a topic. I would not recommend this to any homeschool parents or students, even if they were my worst enemy! Extremely frustrating.
Cons: Everything
Grades Used: College
Aleks is probably the worst online school website I have ever used in my life and it truly isn’t close
Cons: The websites existance
Grades Used: 7-8
All ALEKS does is make you stressed out, and makes you waste your time on random topics that we haven't even learned yet. It only helps you find calculators for different subjects. Would not recommend it to any school.
Cons: everything
Grades Used: 9-10
everyone in my class complains because it takes so long and it gives you the dumbest topics. literally nobody likes this
Cons: It glitches A LOT! Sometimes it says the answer you put is incorrect but when it gives you the answer it's literally what you put! Other times it doesn't even count the topics you did on your timeline! It doesn't give you ANY help whatsoever, and the way the website works, it can take FOREVER to do one topic.
Grades Used: 6-8
This website is HORRIBLE! All it teaches you is how to find different calculators for different things! It glitches a lot, and it just makes you feel bad! It takes me 30 minutes just to do 1 topic!
Cons: its so stressful the color red makes me stressed
Grades Used: 4-7
its super hard and stfressful
Grades Used: College
This is a solid, well-constructed learning platform. It was mandated by my school for remedial algebra (required for Math 111), and I was skeptical that it would be as helpful to me as a teacher. I was pleasantly surprised.
In each lesson, you get a walk-through of how to work a problem. Any terms are highlighted in blue, and when clicked you get a pop-up that explains the term in-depth. Also, if there is more than one way to approach a problem, there's a button you can click to see a pop-up with the other way(s) to work the problem.
There's no drilling. Once you master a concept (usually by working 2-3 problems), it moves you on to the next concept. If you can't get it, it will move you on to another concept and loop back around to the one you had trouble with.
I tried to get my middle school kiddo into this program, but the online school we go through wouldn't allow it for credit. Bummer. It works so well!
Cons: Garbage as a tools for learning new materials, waste of time and too many other
Grades Used: College
My Chemistry professor choose this as the platform we would partly use for homework this semester. I have to say but I never hated a program to this extend but Aleks.
The program had now consumed almost the entirety of my study time, is a source of untold anger and annoyance. Some of the question lacked clarification causing mistake and the mistake was never followed up with more detailed explain other than that it just wrong. Every mistakes no matter how tiny redacted your progress and lengthen what would have been a 20-30 mins work to over an hour. Not to mention I had to date received only a few works out of many that actually do have something to do about Chemistry. I get where they are coming from but I am in here to study Chemistry specifically not to dabble in other subjects. Worst part is you can't even skip their annoying assessment tests and those other subjects because then you can't advance work that the class you are in requires.
I am ready to quit this class because of Aleks alone and hope that there are another Chem class that don't requires this garbage of a program to be a part of.
Cons: Everything
Grades Used: College
There is no explanation and by far the loosest definition of "AI" present in the world its cause and effect if then statements totaling probably 5 lines in excel would complete their "AI". They are selling a buzz word.
There is nothing to support any "Explanation" the only way to learn is to self teach with YouTube or something or bludgeon the program by identifying cause / effect from their chemistry or math problems. NO TEACHING AT ALL its a skills quantification do not expect any help form ALEKS.
Absolute garbage.
Cons: way too many.
Grades Used: 12
this is the worst website i have used for math. i’m currently a senior in high school trying to get my credit and this program has not helped one bit. i have to keep looking up answers in order to complete topics. i’m so stressed and i just want to be done with this. don’t recommend at all.
Cons: Everything
Grades Used: College Chemistry
This program is absolutely atrocious. This is not a student fresh out of high school speaking to this, but a 30 year-old full-time student that has no social life and no children. This program only teaches in the learning style for a person that is visual or read/write. There are no videos to assist with learning and the program itself is difficult to navigate. I have sat hours working on an assignment so I could just be done with this course for the day for it to come back to the home page and say there was additional work to be done. The information itself would not be that difficult to grasp if the textbook that goes hand in hand with Aleks actually taught everything that is in the homework. However, it does not and you spend hours trying to grasp a concept via other means on the internet. The only positive thing I can say about this program is you revisit the information you have already gone over, but it creates that much more homework.
Cons: Pricey, teaches nothing, explanations are all in unreadable, uncomprehendable technical jargon
Grades Used: 10
There are no helpful tutorials or videos within this course. I would have been better off just getting a textbook for my daughter and letting her fend for her self with just that and youtube-- and I would have saved myself from paying such unjustifiably high subscription fees. How do you expect a child with no prior subject matter knowledge to be able to read through all of the jargon and highly technical explanations without any actual teaching through the course? This course was supposed to teach the subject; however all it really does is provide exercises and test independent knowledge. I will not be renewing my subscription, and I want you to know how disappointing and useless this course was for my child.
Cons: Difficult to progress, very pricy, and it outsources teaching done by actual teachers to a garbage program.
Grades Used: 11
The majority of reviews that one will find on ALEKS are reviews that come from the perspective of a parent of a child from grades 2 through 8. I am a high school chemistry student, and I have to use ALEKS as a large portion of my grade. From my experience with this program, I can safely say that this is the absolute worst school work I have ever had to do. On a regular basis, I will find myself scratching my head, unable to understand the terrible and long-winded instructions that come with every topic. All ALEKS does is give me more homework, adding on to the extreme amount of homework that I already have. I chose chemistry and not AP chemistry for a reason. I never thought that a class like this would give as much if not more homework than an actual AP class. It's just so awful. I really hate ALEKS.