Choose and Use a Prep and Learning Module

Choose a Prep and Learning Module

After you complete your initial assessment, ALEKS will ask you to choose a Prep and Learning Module corresponding to the placement level for which you would like to aim. We suggest that you either accept the suggestion made by ALEKS or choose to aim even higher. Once you select a Prep and Learning Module, ALEKS will not let you switch to a different one (though the modules do have significant overlap).

Work in Your Prep and Learning Module

The Prep and Learning Module provides an efficient way to do targeted review of the particular topics just beyond the boundary of your current understanding. You are required to use the Prep and Learning Module for at least three hours prior to retaking the ALEKS assessment. A majority of APU students who have worked with the Prep and Learning Module for 5-10 hours have been able to raise their initial placement by at least one course. We recommend that all students who use ALEKS spend 10-20 hours working in their Prep and Learning Module to prepare for success in their first math class.

Prep and Learning Pie

Your Prep and Learning Pie will help to monitor and guide your learning. Topics are visually grouped into various pie “slices.” Under each slice, ALEKS will give you several topics from which you can choose to continue your learning.

Progress in your Prep and Learning Module does not count for placement purposes, but will very likely help you score higher when you retake the ALEKS assessment.

Knowledge Checks

After you work in your Prep and Learning Module for a certain number of hours, or demonstrate mastery of a certain number of new topics, ALEKS will give you an assessment within Prep and Learning Mode called a “Knowledge Check” or a “Progress Assessment.” This assessment usually contains 20 questions focused on the topics you have recently studied, and does not count for placement purposes; the purpose of this assessment is to solidify the new topics you have learned in your long-term memory.

If you do not confirm mastery of a topic during the Knowledge Check, the topic will be added back into your Prep and Learning Pie so that you will be able to review it again.