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.
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Cons: Time consuming and frustrating
Grades Used: 8th
In theory, ALEKS would work great as a review tool. The system moves at your own pace and each lesson is only a few problems so you can move through the ones you know quickly. However, this is not most people’s experience with ALEKS. There are several major drawbacks that make ALEKS a nightmare for your average student.
1. It takes forever, This is the biggest issue for me and most students. A teacher usually assigns a certain amount of lessons that must be completed by a set date. With Aleks, students will find themselves spending hours each week trying to complete the ALEKS. As somebody who has other classes and does two sports, I dedicate my weekends to doing the ALEKS. It takes me several hours, and some students don’t have the opportunity to do their lessons over the weekend.
2. It will not teach you. This is why I say it’s only good for review. In order to get anywhere during an ALEKS lesson, you need to already know how to do the topic. At the beginning of each lesson, you get a bare-bones explanation of how to do the skill. Once you begin doing the problems, you will be confused as the explanation does not cover all the things you will see in the practice. I often find myself having to look at countless examples before I was able to pass a lesson, and many times I had memorized the answers.
3. It’s picky/can be wrong. There have been several times when I was quite sure I got a problem right only for it to be counted wrong. It’s also very picky, making you round and simplify in very specific ways.
4. The Knowledge checks are pointless. After you complete a certain number of lessons or spend a certain amount of time on ALEKS, you will be given a knowledge check. You can also get these if your teacher has given a certain amount of lessons. Knowledge checks, in theory, allow you to skip lessons you already know. However, they can take up to an hour and getting problems wrong can mean you have to redo an already completed lesson. There is no way to skip the knowledge check, and it can be very annoying when you are trying to work on lessons that have been given as homework only to be interrupted with a knowledge check.
5. Passing a lesson is hard. When you begin doing the lesson, you have a progress bar. To finish a lesson, you have to get three to five problems right in a row. If you get two in a row right, it counts as completing two problems, so for some lessons you only need to get two right. However, if you get a problem wrong it moves you back a spot. This can be infuriating when you get a couple right in a row and lose your progress because you got one wrong. ALEKS also offers no explanation for what you got wrong or how to fix it, so you can make the same mistake several times.
6. Time to take a break. After you get a lesson wrong several times, a message pops up telling you to take a break, and it locks you out of the lesson for a while. If you have lessons to review, it has you do that but it can be horrible if you need to get a certain number of lessons done for homework and you can’t finish the one you need.
I’ve seen some people say that their child loved the program, but it was probably because they were
a) already gifted at math and knew how to do the lessons
b) using it as review
c) homeschooled so they didn’t have the same workload
Aleks is the most annoying thing to deal with when you have to get 40 topics a week and you have to worry about my other 6 classes homework and what not. I also have athletics so i never have time to myself.
Cons: So many to list. If you are weak at Math this program will be a disaster
Grades Used: College
I have read these reviews and can relate to all the bad reviews. It is a beat down. I have a full course load and I spend majority of time on Aleks. All the complaints on here are legitimate. I just had a couple marked wrong that had exact answer they gave. I have gone back to college at 50. I dreaded Algebra in College the first time. Aleks is like a bad recurring daily nightmare.
Absolutely horrible. My child has had the worst of experiences with this website and I would definitely NOT recommend. Not only does it mark questions horribly, but also causes multiple reasons for having NO TIME for my kid to finish their homework!! If I could I’d rate this website 0 stars!
Cons: EVERYTHING
Grades Used: College
I am in tears as I write this. I’m 30 going back to school. Math is already difficult I have a math learning disability and this program has caused me several break downs in the last month of using it. Its new to our math department, so trying to say anything negative to my instructor falls on deaf ears.
I’ve experienced panic attacks because id get the first two problems correct and if i missed that last and final one and the topic became LOCKED after so many attempts i believe its 3 before the “take a break” message pops up.
Cons: EVERYTHING
Grades Used: College
It is beyond time consuming, especially for students that have to work 30 hours a week to pay rent and for school. If you keep getting answers wrong on a topic, it will make you work on something else but when you finish and get back to what you were struggling with they don’t explain it differently to help you understand so it’s basically impossible to get through and before you know it the next unit is due and your work just keeps snowballing.
Cons: The whole entire thing
Grades Used: College
The Worst way to ever learn math. Especially if it is something you struggle with already. The system does not thoroughly teach you things. You only get up to 5 times to truly “learn” something. They take away points if you get something wrong which is absolutely RIDICULOUS. So it ends up kicking you off if you get something wrong more than 3 times. Whoever came up with this idea of a website surely wanted it to be used by lazy teachers. A complete waste of my time and money. I can not believe that they actually expect students to learn ANYTHING having to do with math on ALEKS. Not to mention, it’s glitches out all of the time so you could be doing great on something and the whole thing just messes up. You can also get something right and you and multiple other humans (not computers) know it’s right, but the program keeps saying you’re incorrect. If you have a hard time with math and are paying out of pocket for school DO NOT BUY THIS. You will feel the stupidest you ever have in your whole life and not learn anything. It has made me beyond angry and made me want to drop the class I’m in.
Cons: Don't need the 5 hour minimum time between Knowledge Checks - would be nice if that was configurable.
Grades Used: 7, 8, 9
There seems to be a lot of students who find ALEKS frustrating – but our son loves it. Here’s our experience – We use ALEKS as a REVIEW tool, not a primary learning tool. Our son is mildly gifted in math (in 7th grade and just finished 9th Grade Algebra 1a & 1b) and he LOVES using ALEKS to review what he has already learned at the end of each term. He blasts through the ALEKS version of the term’s curriculum over a 6 or 7 day period. It catches many little things he either missed or is rusty on, gives him reinforcement in what he does know. It has very clearly improved his performance on his exams. Considering he’s working 2 years above his age, this extra help is important and I would guess that it improves his exam score by 7 to 8 points. For a kid who is already good in math and want to excel, than the ALEKS pickiness and repetiion that many complain about – is actually an advantage, not a drawback
Cons: The entire system
Grades Used: College
Aleks is the empotime of bad math teaching. It teaches you the most basic equation in the most vague way. The system counts right answers as wrong or glitches out entirely.
Not only this but should you make even one mistake, it takes a point away. Because that’s how math should be taught, by punishing someone for making a mistake. Not by helping them understand where they went wrong (aleks doesn’t), not by showing them the different variations of the equation (aleks doesn’t), and certainly not by actually teaching them.
Aleks is a copout teaching substitute for teachers who think they’re helping by making teaching individualized, when in reality all Aleks does is create more frustration, take up more time, and make less sense.
Cons: Everything
Grades Used: College
ALEKS marks answers to problems as wrong. Then, when the correct answer is given, it is EXACTLY what you entered for the answer that ALEKS marked as wrong. Worst math program ever written and used in the history of the world! Avoid ALEKS at all costs!
Cons: Program is written a bit boxy. I have to go into quizzes and adjust grades. If answers aren't submitted the way the program is written it will count it wrong even thought it's correct. Exp: If the answer is 3+2+2+3 but yours is 2+3+3+2 it will count as wrong.
Grades Used: High School Geometry
My daughter just started in Aleks at the end of last month. She is rapidly progressing and all her knowledge checks show her growing. This program is no more expensive than other good ones are. She seems to like it b/c she does not like much fluff and wasted time. She is good at math and loves it. It seems that one person left multiple bad reviews b/c they really loathe this program. This is not actually helpful to others looking at reviews and very noticeable in how it was written. One program will not work for everyone. So far so good for us. We changed from Teaching Textbooks in Geometry and she was a bit behind where she should have been but catching up quickly.
Cons: absolutely everything
Grades Used: college
It was literally the worst experience of my life, I highly suggest ANY other program, it is time consuming, it has poor explanations, terribly designed, some of the topics are impossible to complete, and you become more stressed out and frustrated than anything else. I would not ever suggest this program to anyone.
Cons: I would love to see Alexs.com offer even more subjects
Grades Used: 4th-11th
I could not be more confused by the negative reviews I see on this website. Aleks.com is a fabulous curriculum for homeschoolers to utilize.
I have used Aleks for three years with a son who struggles with math and we have seen almost unbelievable jumps in his mathematic abilities.
I have used Aleks with another son who is very gifted in math, and seen him soar 2-3 grade levels above his own grade.
My daughter has used Aleks to prepare for SAT and AP Chemistry tests with much success.
Did I mention that Aleks self-corrects, giving constant and continuous feedback in real time to students? This is so valuable to effective learning!
Aleks is very thorough in its coverage of elementary, middle school, and high school subjects. If you need a meaty math curriculum that covers subjects fully, I could not recommend Aleks more.
Cons: Just about everything
Grades Used: 8-11
Literally a downgrade from khan academy. Nothing special about it, explanations are so poor they’re asking for welfare, the most time-consuming topics I’ve ever seen, not even worth making the free account
Cons: Takes too much time, aggravating, badly explained
Grades Used: 8
its just aggravating
Cons: It’s really annoying it gets stuff wrong it won’t let me go on it glitches.
Grades Used: 6,7,8,9.......
It sucks it glitches you have to be on WiFi you can’t do it out in your car or something ele
Cons: Time consuming, poor explanations, takes away points and makes you start over just for getting one answer wrong, even if you got two right and not method flexible
Grades Used: Freshman and softmore year of college year
This system is the worst math system that I have ever used. I can use the same numbers that ALEKS used and get the same answer that it got just by using a different method and it would still get counted wrong because it wasn’t done in the form that ALEKS prefers. VERY POOR explanations. If I didn’t have a professor to ask questions I would never learn my math on this site. The worst thing about it is that it makes you start over if you get one answer wrong!! That takes up so much time and makes me feel like giving up. I would not recommend this site to anyone!
Cons: Can be somewhat time consuming, but
Grades Used: College Algebra
I enjoyed using aleks. I thought that it was real informative. I actually learned some things that I had forgotten and also learned some things that I didn’t grasp in high school.
Cons: Almost everything
Grades Used: 6
It is terrible and I would never recommend it because it has the worst explanations and is not worth it
Cons: time consuming, poor explanations, too expensive
Grades Used: College
I despise the Aleks math program. I was forced by my college to spend $120 on this program as a class requirement, and if I could get my money back I would. It is time consuming because if you miss a question, the program punishes you and takes points away. What is the purpose of that except to waste time? The explanations are poor, and sometimes it will count my correct answers as wrong. Half the time, the calculator doesn’t even work. Don’t waste your money on this horrible product like I was forced to.
Cons: Frustrating, punitive, time-consuming, poor for complex topics.
Grades Used: College
Frustrating and Punitive. Black hole for time. I used Aleks Chemistry in College, hated it, felt like it hindered learning for a complex subject. Aleks might be ok for low level math, but not for any subject requiring multi-step complicated calculations because with a single error, this program not only doesn’t progress, but takes away credit for previous correct answers. Horrible design – for lazy teachers – your child will hate you for using this.
Cons: It is frustrating hard to understand even as a parent and is not for all learning types
Grades Used: 2nd-8th
This program is a huge problem for gifted children, for example, my child is in a gifted group called MOSAICS and he and his other friends in MOSAICS don’t understand why it takes so much time even if you already know it and if you make a single mistake on a knowledge check you have to do it all again.
Cons: Frustrating, Poorly Explained, Price, Repetition, of Things Already Learned, Here for Your Money, Confusing Data
Grades Used: 5th
STAY AWAY AT ALL COSTS
Okay, listen here, whoever made this site is someone who has no regard for the kid in the progress, the entire thing is just a big frustrating jumble of poorly explained math lessons, and ONE mistake in a lesson can make you redo the ENTIRE LESSON! What’s more, every so often, you get something called a knowledge check. This is a thirty question test where ONE SIMPLE MISTAKE can lead to FIVE ENTIRE QUIZZES OF QUESTIONS TO BE GONE! This makes it IMPOSSIBLE to finish ANYTHING. Also, this website, again, cares nothing about the kids and IS JUST HERE FOR YOUR MONEY. This leaves a gaping hole in your wallet that you could do SO MUCH MORE WITH, it’s insane! Also, when you use the app to monitor your children, you can’t even tell what your kids are doing because the data readings are SO CONFUSING, and my child has not learned anything from this. The lessons are hard to understand for my kid, and the explanations do not help. I know that schools give it for free and it sponsors global warming prevention and all that stupid stuff, but really, it’s a careless mess made by a money hoarder.
I personally guarantee that YOU AND YOUR CHILD will HATE THIS.
Cons: can be time consuming + those knowledge checks YIKES!
Grades Used: 9&10
Having parents who understand math gave me a super strong foundation and understanding in math to began with.
I worked hard starting Algebra. Giving up part of my summer to study Algebra 1 for 5weeks in a camp. I than took Algebra 1 that school yr.
I have also studied on IXL and Khan.
ALEKS is wonderful if you have the foundation. Entering HS I started Algebra 2 Honors and my first time on ALEKS
I am currently in 10th and study
College Algebra +Trig and completed the ALEKS – I was able to move into PRE-CALC on ALEKS…
this will allow me AP CALC BC for 11th grade.
No program will be successful if you do not have a good foundation in math. Best of Luck and I recommend the Demystify Math help books.
Cons: Cost ($$$)
Grades Used: 8th grande and 9th grade (current)
O.K. This is a shout out to all of the parents and students out there. DO NOT turn ALEKS down for just what other people “complain” about it. I am a High School Freshman, and I was given the ALEKS account for free because my Middle School had a license for it. I was the only kid to get one hundred percent in my “pie chart”, so I was given a free Geometry account (since that I was doing Algebra 1 a the time. And there has been percentages taken at my old school, and it was proven that if you did the Aleks Program, then you had a better chance to pass the EOC. I, personally, only missed three questions, the highest score in the whole school. IT gave me experience on the way that online classes worked, thus brining me to taking Algebra 2 online using FLVS. You see how far it brought me? Now I understand that the program does cost money, but it is worth it because whether your kid struggles in math, is falling behind in the subject, or just wants to get ahead, this is the right program for you to watch as your student succeeds. Because ALEKS is not a chore, its the abitity to succeed.
Cons: Explanations are sometimes lacking clarity.
Grades Used: College
I personally used this program several years ago as a part of a hybrid math class I was taking (half online/half in the classroom). It was for a college level math course. I absolutely loved Aleks. Now admittedly, I did a lot of work outside of the program to understand and solidify concepts. This program is great as a top notch diagnostic tool and once you understand the concept, the practice and explanations are great. You can’t count on this being your ONLY resource for math. However, I feel that’s true with most any subject, having a few resources to pull from is important and beneficial!
Cons: Everything
Grades Used: 7 and 8
It really boring. You learn nothing unlike what some teaches say. I got to 8th grade because my brain not because of some stupid aleks. i don’t care who reads this
Cons: If you need colorful and playful pictures this is not for you
Grades Used: 4,5,6
My child likes Aleks … He likes seeing his progress and he loves filling in his learning ” pie”. My son is advanced in math and has clearly outrun me. The student is not limited to one grade level! If my son advances a grade level mid semester he can start the next one. He has covered 3 grade levels in one semester. The placement test is good finding gaps and already learned knowledge. It is by far the easiest math curriculum to supervise at home. I do not understand the negative reviews – maybe they are for the college math programs? The Elementary and Middle school version is great and easy to understand for the kids. The best thing is that the kids seem to like it. I know several homeschool families who use it and it works well and is popular with the kids.
Cons: It drains the fun out of my child.
It sucks
I just posted a review using my cell phone. And when I read what was posted, the phone reset my words to its own. It is full of grammatical errors. But nonetheless I am sure everyone will understand what I said. Its an example of what I encounter from young people today when they have graduated from the school system. Because you have used computers to teach your kids, they are now speaking computer languages and their human interactions is at a all time low using normal human feelings towards other people. The ‘we are in the computer age’ is just a lame excuse for teaching the kids general human learning and technique. Its sad, when I hear people been interviewed on tv using ‘omg, lol ‘ etc letters lazily instead of normal words expression with educated normal words.
This system is not for a regular school setting, when this is done the kids are not taught by normal human class interaction teacher-students. Notice I use the students plural. I returning to college and the Alex program is used for math. Its the most frustrating and unrewarding teaching technique I have ever seemed . Your not been taught, but instead tutored.. There are people I the class that are taking it for a second time. I can believe that our schools are using this on our kids and grandkids. No wonder so many scraped by I high schools and ended up in college taking the course more than once. People your kids are not been taught but only tutored. And they leave, barely making it in high school and college. No wonder I see them all over and in jobs and are so illerate and talking crap. They cant write, read or comprehend using their own fingers and brains.
Cons: $
Grades Used: 3rd & 4th
This is my first year homeschooling. Math is not my strong point and I had a hard time selecting a program for my children. After a 2 month free trial, Aleks offered me a 2 for 1 subscription and I accepted. (Otherwise I think it is a bit pricey.)
I love how it shows the child’s progress in a pie chart.. Parents set up their own accounts to view child or children’s individual progress. Aleks also does its own assessment tests or you have the option of doing additional quizzes and tests. You can also print out worksheets.
Aleks is great for my son. He is 4th grade, self-taught and does not need a lot of repetition to learn. He has already completed 4th grade math and is almost complete with 5th grade math.
My daughter who is in 3rd grade has a harder time with it. She likes math but needs lot of repetition and visual aids to help her understand concepts. She is not self-taught. I am considering going another way for math with my daughter.
Grades Used: 4
Love that they give a full two months free! I like the pie chart that shows your child’s progress, improvements, etc. I like that you can print off worksheets if you choose. The quiz that ALEKS generates at your request goes perfectly with what your child has been working on.
Cons: no videos
Grades Used: 8
My son (8th grader) started using ALEKS math last year for pre-algebra and is using it again this year. We travel quite a bit, so it’s nice to take the iPad or laptop with us and not a big, heavy textbook. We (and his teacher) enjoy the print-out which shows how much time he has spent on the different subjects, what he has mastered or needs work on. The only complain I have about ALEKS are there are no videos. It would be helpful to hear or see a person explain a lesson. We usually end up going to youtube or accessing the textbook’s video to explain an area he needs help understanding.
Cons: $$
Grades Used: 3rd and 8th
I signed up for the free 2 month trial and now we’re hooked! My boys really enjoy watching their progress in the pie chart. I like how the program hones in on the areas they need work in and doesn’t waste their or my time by repeating the concepts they know.
Cons: somewhat expensive
Grades Used: 5, 6, 7, 8
My children advanced at a rapid rate when we used Aleks. They especially appreciated being able to see charts and lists representing their progress. There are not that many bells and whistles as far as illustrations go, but the lessons are academic and clear.
Cons: nothing
Grades Used: 4-9
Great program would never go back to any other math programs. This one makes sure your kids are learning math and won’t let them go on if they are struggling. Lets kids work at own pace. We spend 45 – 60 minutes daily on it.
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