ALEKS FAQs

The Placement Assessment is used to determine the mathematics course in which you will have the greatest success. Upon completion, your scores are sent to the University and used in the construction of your first-semester schedule. Students who have already earned college credit for mathematics, through running start or other programs, may be placed in the next level appropriate for their degree without the use of ALEKS.  Advisors in the Academic Advising & Assistance Office are responsible for determining who needs to take this assessment.  They will communicate via email with students who need to take the ALEKS Assessment.

Student majoring in the following fields are required to take the ALEKS Placement Assessment:

• Biochemistry
• Business (Business Administration and concentrations, and Accounting)
• Chemistry
• Computer Science Degrees
• Economics
• Engineering
• Human Physiology
• Mathematics
• Physics

We cannot complete your first semester registration without your ALEKS Placement results. Please plan to take and complete your first assessment within one week from completing your Enrollment Survey, and no later than the deadline in the email.  Students who wish to retake a second or third time, should plan to do so within a few days of completing their initial assessment.  

If you miss the deadline, please just take the ALEKS Assessment as soon as possible.  We cannot complete your schedule without these results, so the sooner you get this completed, the sooner we will be able to build your class schedule.

ALEKS is an online, adaptive system that covers a broad spectrum of mathematics topics. The length of the placement assessment will vary, but can be up to 30 questions. You will see some, but not all, of the math topics you have learned in high school. It is a placement assessment, not a preview of math courses at Gonzaga. It is designed to identify if you are prepared for a particular course. After you take your first assessment, you will have the opportunity to review and master additional topics to reassess and improve your score and knowledge.

Topics covered:

• Real numbers (including fractions, integers, and percentages)
• Equations and inequalities (including linear equations, linear inequalities, systems of linear equations, and quadratic equations),
• Linear and quadratic functions (including graphs and functions, linear functions, and parabolas), exponents and polynomials (including integer exponents, polynomial arithmetic, factoring, and polynomial equations), rational expressions (including rational equations and rational functions
• Radical expressions (including higher roots and rational exponents)
• Exponentials and logarithms (including function compositions and inverse functions, properties of logarithms, and logarithmic equations)
• Geometry and trigonometry (including perimeter, area, and volume, coordinate geometry, trigonometric functions, and identities and equations).

ALEKS will begin with a brief tutorial to make sure you are comfortable with the math palette tools before your assessment begins. The tutorial shows you how to enter different types of answers, how to use the ALEKS calculator, and how to graph. If you aren’t sure how to input an answer, or need help while you are taking ALEKS, select the Help button. Going to the tutorial during your placement assessment will NOT impact your results.

ALEKS is not a multiple-choice assessment. It is open-response and requires you to work out solutions with a paper and pencil, then enter them into ALEKS. Be sure to have scratch paper with you.

ALEKS will provide an on-screen calculator if you need one to complete a particular problem. Otherwise, you may not use a calculator. Gonzaga University does not allow the use of calculators in their Calculus series courses.

Because ALEKS is adaptive, once you submit an answer, you cannot change it. Be sure to carefully check your answer before submitting your response.

It is possible that you will be asked questions on material you have not yet learned. On such questions it is appropriate to answer, “I don't know”. On any question that you have familiarity with but may not be fully confident in answering, it is important to do your best. “I don't know” is interpreted by ALEKS to mean that you do not know how to solve the topic, and this will be reflected in the results. There is no penalty for incorrectly answering a question: it only helps ALEKS understand what you know and don’t know.

Yes, you have 3 hours to complete an assessment once it has begun.

If you time-out, you will have to restart the assessment.

Find the email our office sent you for login information and directions. If you did not receive an email, we either haven't reviewed your Academic Interest Survey answers, or you had college credit for mathematics, and do not need to take the assessment. When in doubt, please contact us at advise@gonzaga.edu.  Please do not ask other students for the link to the exam, as this costs the University for each student who takes the Assessment. 

You will receive your score immediately upon completion of your assessment. Your ALEKS score can be viewed by re-entering ALEKS using the same access link you were sent to complete the assessment. Your scores are automatically added to your student profile, which is accessible by advisors in the Office of Academic Advising, who will place you in your first semester courses.

This is a perfect opportunity to take advantage of the Prep and Learning Modules offered within ALEKS. An individualized study plan will be created based on your performance on the initial assessment. ALEKS will identify what you know and what you are ready to learn next so you can brush up on lost knowledge.

No, you must achieve the minimum placement result to take each corresponding class.

Yes, you may take up to three placement assessments. However, to make each attempt worthwhile, it is important that you spend time working in your ALEKS Prep and Learning Module so that you can improve your skills. Students who wish to take a second placement, must wait a minimum of 24 hours to do so, and also must spend a minimum of three hours inside the Prep and Learning Module. Students wishing to take the placement a third and final time, must also wait 24 hours to do so from their last exam, but must now spend a minimum of five hours inside the Prep and Learning Module.

You will have one full year (12 months) of access to your Prep and Learning module, starting from the creation of your account. Access to the prep course will not begin until you select start on the top of your screen.

No. You must complete a new placement assessment to change your placement result. Select the placement tab in the upper right corner of the ALEKS page to start a new assessment.

No. You may only use one Prep and Learning Module. If you are unsure which module to select, use the module recommended by ALEKS or consult with your advisor.