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
(81 Reviews)
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Contributor Reviews
Reviews are solely the opinions of the contributor.
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.
Cons: Cannot teach you new concepts w/o external aid
Grades Used: College
I'm using ALEKS in my first semester of college, and it has not helped me learn anything new. If I had used this as review for when I was still in highschool (I've been homeschooled my whole life,) I would have learned so much better - but on its own, I have failed to learn a single concept. In fact, the only concepts that have stuck with me so far are the ones I went to YouTube to understand. ALEKS teaches little and reprimands you for being wrong (even when you're likely right.)
Many have already mentioned their ills with the program, so I'll stick to the major one for me: the "Explanations."
Perhaps they're different for different courses, but for mine, the instructions for each topic only "detail" the steps they're taking to answer the problem, rather than HOW they are answering it. What a YouTube video could explain with rationale in less than 10 minutes with different perspectives, ALEKS's instructions take ages to crack to see the formulas underneath. It throws the same explanations at you even after multiple wrong attempts; it punishes you for being wrong, when it's truly at fault for not being able to teach the concept properly. This gets especially frustrating when you reach complex word problems in Algebra 2 and beyond that require a genuine human to explain/write the instructions.
For reviewing what you already know though, I'm sure this would be great! Randomized questions that you can use to endlessly sharpen your skills on, in addition to a few other actually neat techniques, make it effective in going over what you've previously learned. But, on it's own, it only induces anxiety for your scheduled time when you've gotten 2 or 3 questions wrong in a row and still have no understanding as to why, even after it lambasts you with the same minimalist white screen with text attempting to explain why you're wrong, and failing.
It's crippled my motivation to push forward in math, and with hundreds of dollars on the line, I am severely dissapointed in ALEKS as a learning program.
(Oh, and my personal cherry on top? My syllabus for my math course said I'm not allowed to use ANY outside matieral to learn. Maybe I misunderstood, but if that includes YouTube, I can't see how they can, with full knowledge of how ALEKS "teaches," expect students to succeed. Lazy gits.)
Cons: Everything that matters
Grades Used: Pre-College Algebra
Terrible experience. As far as the graphic design of the program, it’s user friendly. But other than that unimportant aspect, it’s terrible. I had 430 topics assigned to me in one semester. Each topic, you were to only do 3-5 problems, before moving you to a whole other concept altogether. I felt like I was being bounced around from square roots, to factoring, to fractions, there was no organization. It was hard to actually retain anything longer than 15 minutes considering you barely grasp it before you do something completely different. By the time 3 months rolled around and I had to think about the final test, I forgot the majority of things. They don’t throw any past learned topics back in as a refresher or anything to help retain the knowledge learned. I felt like I was being herded through the program.
Cons: So many cons.
Grades Used: 9
My dd's charter school chose to use Aleks this year while school is held online and not in person. The private school she attended for 1st-8th used Saxon. Aleks is horrible. DD has spent hours on this math program without any significant progress and lots of tears. We are now homeschooling with Saxon.
Cons of Aleks:
1- It doesn't actually teach anything. Some topics have videos; others do not. Often the explanation in the videos doesn't actually match the type of problem in the practice portion.
2- If a student gets stuck, there isn't much help available. It simply moves you on to a different type of problem.
3 - It is mastery based which sounds like a good thing except if you master a problem you still have to continue to do the same problem several times. If you don't master a problem, you are just stuck without any options for help. So many hours spent in an endless loop.
4- Topics seem pretty random. There doesn't seem to be any sort of thought given to the presentation of the problems -- I can't figure out if there is a sequence or a spiral.
Again, there isn't any actual teaching here. It is a program to review concepts and practice problems. It's also a great way for schools to save money because they can stick a whole bunch of kids on Aleks, claim they are getting math instruction, and not have to hire actual teachers. Look elsewhere if you want your kid to actually learn math.
Cons: Essentially everything about it... :(
Whoever created Aleks is responsible for wasting countless hours of students' time and causing an incredible amount of unnecessary stress. As a student of a professor who required Aleks as a study tool, I can testify to the fact that Aleks DOES NOT help students to learn, but rather encourages students to look up answers and find short cuts in order to obtain correct answers and move forward. It can take hours to complete assignments since it you need to fill a certain number of bars before moving onto the next topics, and it removes bars every time you get an answer wrong. The answers must match the Aleks answers exactly, so if you miss a question by even a decimal point, you are automatically pushed backwards. This is incredible aggravating. My peers and I feel that we ended up wasting a ton of time doing assignments we did not learn from on this program-- I would even go as far as to say it actually takes a ton of time away from the time I would have spent studying for the class because it would take so long to do. I'm always brain-dead after finishing it and I honestly don't get anything out of it. This is definitely a tool that should no longer be used in the classroom, because if you ask any student who has had to use it, I can almost guarantee that they have nothing positive to say about it.
Cons: Too many to even count
Grades Used: 9
This learning program is garbage. It only sets your child up with stress and unhealthy frustration. I have used ALEKS and it has made cry because of the amount of frustration I've experianced, as well as lacking sleep because I am stressed that I won't finish my topics on time. I have learned nothing from this program- absoluetly nothing. What would actually be nice is a program that can TEACH me how to do math, with the right curriculum and carefully - as if it were teaching regular students and not some Harvard grade college student. I do not reccomend this unless you want your student or child to sit through painful hours of tears and anxiety.
Cons: It is set up for students that are not struggling and leaves behind the ones that are!
Grades Used: 9th
This "learning" system is garbage. My child struggles with learning disabilities and this program does NOT help one bit! I can't tell you how many hours he spends just trying to complete his assignments. What used to take an hour or two now takes him five hours on a good day! I had to spend money on this junk website due to COVID and school work going online and I really want my money back! This program doesn't even let the student review for quizzes or tests! Instead, it says "section already completed" and the reviews that do exist are random, and makes the student REPEAT whole entire pie sections AGAIN if ONE question is answered wrong on the random "review". Worse, if one question is answered incorrectly, rather than giving that same question again, another one is generated and completely different from the last! And the ABSOLUTE WORST part about it all is it locks students out of other assignments if other parts aren't completed. I am so SICK of ALEKS and watching my child get left behind because some garbage program can't teach jack. I will be bringing it up to the school board. Don't trust the "positive" reviews, most of those reviews have been paid for!
Cons: TOO MANY TO EVEN LIST
ALEKS is by far THE WORST website I have ever used in my entire life. I am getting so mad just by writing this review. If you get a question wrong it SENDS YOU BACKWARDS AND YOU LOSE YOUR PROGRESS!!! This is the most aggravating thing ever. There are also random knowledge checks that just take up even more of my time when i'm trying to do my precalc homework. I DO NOT HAVE TIME FOR A KNOWLEDGE CHECK. THANK YOU.
Cons: No authenticity in learning experiences
Grades Used: 7-12
I don’t think it offers student an authentic learning experience and does not allow them to create.
Cons: EVERYTHING
Grades Used: QR101 College
Absolutely terrible, this is the worst program I have EVER used in my life. The creators of MANY of these problems can't even round in there solutions so you never know if you actually get it correct because of their poor rounding. I would NEVER recommend this to my worst enemy. Something else that is terrible about this program is it TAKES AWAY your progress if you get one wrong. I spent 4 hours trying to get through a section and could due to the poor rounding and poor entering of the answers. NEVER USE THIS PROGRAM!
Cons: Tremendous amount of time and effort, unhealthy in certain situations, no spare time, not a great learning tool, inconsistent
Grades Used: 10
I am a dual-credit student who attends a difficult high school. As of right now, I am enrolled in a Pre-calc/Trigonometry Class in college. The class uses ALEKS as a way to "teach" students how to do different topics in the class. We are assigned 70-50 topics with only about a week to complete it. It is a daunting task as I and several of my peers would be stuck on a lesson for hours on end. When we would be close to finishing a question, we get it wrong and have to answer two more questions. Granted that we answer those questions correctly, we would finish and get stuck on another lesson. Another problem I have with the program is whenever I answer the question wrong after two attempts, it would automatically give the explanation. Problem being that the explanations are very confusing for someone trying to learn the topic and the videos can be confusing at times. The explanations also do not show your answer, so we cannot compare the right answer to our answer in order to see what we did wrong. Because we attend a difficult high school, our workload is large and puts an immense amount of stress on ourselves, causing us to lose sleep needed for the next day. At times, my peers and I would get so discouraged and crestfallen that we would throw fits of rage. Driven by the fact that this for our grade, we push through the late nights and early mornings in hopes to complete it on time. The topic order is also inconsistent most of the time. At one point we would be doing basic topics in Algebra II, then right after that I would be thrown into trig with little to no explanation needed to do the lesson. Math should be fun and intuitive, not mind-numbingly frustrating and confusing. This program requires a tremendous amount of time, time that we do not have. I can see children who are homeschooled and children who are mildly to highly gifted in mathematics have no problem with this, but as a student who attends high school and college simultaneously, it is a serious drawback to our learning and health.
Cons: Just about to much to list
If I ever meet ALEKS in person I'm going to junk punch him! I program and no problems doing math until I met this joke of AI. I literally just sit in class and mess the AI part. at least I'm learning something...To mess with AI. I used to tutor Algebra and Calculus and this thing garbage.
Cons: Some more difficult topics should have a video presented
Grades Used: 3rd, 4th and 6th
I decided to try the Aleks online math for my third and sixth-grade homeschool students. My third grader tested very high in the third-grade math so it only took her a week to complete the subjects that her placement test detected she needed to learn, she was then put into the fourth grade Aleks math and also tested very high and completed the fourth grade in only a few months! I decided at that point to slow down a bit and ordered her some fourth-grade workbooks so that she could get really good at her multiplication tables and division.
My sixth grader tested and basically used the year to work through all the standards required for grade 6. Both of my girls LOVED Aleks math. They had been doing the Singapore Math and both of them really did not like it, perhaps because we did not start them from grade 1 and the jargon was not learned early. But they loved Aleks so much. Watching the pie chart fill in with all the color as they mastered each topic or lesson was so much fun for all of us. I love how they weave in and review repeatedly so that it is a sure thing that your students know what they need to know before moving to the next topic. The knowledge checks I think are necessary, but can be annoying when you want to work ahead 🙂 But such is life! I love knowing that she gets tested and cannot move on until she relearns the topics that she did not answer correctly in the Knowledge check. I do feel for school children who already have a very padded homework load, but math is such an important skill and the confidence once you have mastered a math topic is so rewarding and that confidence will grow and help our children through lifes "problems" whether they are math problems or real life problems. The art of being presented with a problem that you have no idea in the beginning where to even start to solve it and then you just start taking steps to figure out what it will take to solve it is a beautiful art and math is such a great excersise for everyone in learning how to break things down. My sixth grader gained a confidence this last year using Aleks that she did not have before and I am so grateful to have found a math that works for her. She did so amazing and I am so looking forward to watching her grow and learn more with Aleks math in the seventh grade. I understand why there were children that were frustrated, but I think if you cannot figure out how to do the math with Aleks explanations then you can google it, check Khan Academy or other online sources. That may be part of the learning process sometimes which is just what you sometimes have to do in math and in life to get to the answers you need 🙂 My daughter is also lucky to have me to help her get through the really tough lessons that seemingly don't make sense and I understand and feel for the kids who do not have a parent at home to help them with some of the tougher subjects. But, we really loved Aleks math and we will use them again next year for both of my girls!
Cons: Requires a dedicated and responsible student
Grades Used: High School/College
ALEKS is great. I was always a poor math student who struggled with math. ALEKS has taught me how to check my work and actually learn and understand what I am doing as I solve a problem. It has allowed me to become a strong math student and eliminated my fear of math. Any student complaining about ALEKS likely lacks the motivation to actually learn the material and is frustrated that ALEKS does not allow for coasting by on poor comprehension of a topic. ALEKS teaches in a well-structured way that builds on prior topics and the review function is extremely helpful and accurate. I love ALEKS and when I get stuck I'm not so lazy that I can't go look up a lecture somewhere to help and then come back. The makers of ALEKS understand that math is learned by doing, which is why so many give it up. Math is for the stubborn, not the easily frustrated! I am not gifted in math, but I am a motivated student and this platform has exponentially increased my skills and confidence. I LOVE ALEKS.
Cons: Too many to mention
Grades Used: College
If you browse through all the reviews on here you will notice that the positive ones share a common theme: they all involve a student who is already "gifted" in mathematics.
If you are not gifted at mathematics, then this program is a disaster. I've encountered all the same issues as everyone else. Answers that were graded incorrect when they were in fact correct. Being stuck on the same topic for over an hour because it does not explain thoroughly why you are incorrect.
Cons: Literally everything about it.
Grades Used: 5th-7th
ALEKS is just a poor way to teach children math. ALEKS should do something better in their life, such as-- ANYTHING ELSE. The way it is built is just plain dumb. I really don't recommend using this site for teaching. If you need a website to go to, try Xtra Math. That is what our school uses. As a teacher, I think it would be best if no one uses ALEKS.
Cons: EVERYTHING ABOUT IT.
Grades Used: middle, high, and college math
Im a student that uses Aleks. Your guess is... I HATE IT!! It causes me so much stress to get it done by each quater. I don't have time to do it and when I learn the things in school, my teacher has to explain it all over again. Instruters like it because they don't have to do anything to set it up and this sounds werid, but... THEY CAN FRICKEN STALK WHAT YOUR DOING!! I would NOT recamend this website to anyone. It causes stress to get your goals done and to keep failing at everything on it. I just losed fate in myself while using it.
Cons: Bad interface
Grades Used: math
Absolutely terrible platform never use this for any reason whatsoever! the user interface is clunk and unusable. the course I take makes me use this platform. I consistently get questions wrong on homework because of the bad UI. please use something else
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.