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For a variety of reasons, you might be interested in taking a mathematics course beyond the course into which you were placed.
Some students have been away from school for a while and need to brush up, some never quite solidified their understanding
of basic concepts, and some would need to take several semesters to reach the math course they need for their major.
You might find that it would be helpful to study mathematics on your own, at least for a little while. If you can learn some
mathematics independently or refresh your skills, you can re-take the placement test and maybe place into a higher course,
saving yourself a semester of mathematics coursework. Or, you may find it useful to study mathematics in order to do better
in a course you are planning to take soon.
There are a number of ways to study mathematics on your own. You are welcome to come to the Math and Stats Tutoring Center to borrow a mathematics textbook, read it, and work on exercises. In addition to this, or instead of this, you can use a
computer-based system that provides exercises to work on and adjusts the difficulty of the exercises to best help you learn.
ALEKS is one such system. For $30, you can buy a six-week subscription to an online system that will assess what mathematics you
know and work with you to prepare for the mathematics course you would like to be ready to take. After this, you can take
the Mathematics Placement test again.
If you want to place into College Algebra, consider the ALEKS College Algebra Prep course. See the topic list here. Once purchased, the Course code that you will need to access this preparation course is WTQGE-JNDXD.
If you want to place into Precalculus, consider the ALEKS Precalculus Prep course. See the topic list here. Once purchased, the course code that you will need to access this preparation course is FMLCN-LUH63.
If you want to place into Calculus, consider the ALEKS Calculus Prep course. See the topic list here. Once purchased, the course code that you will need to access this preparation course is UTTCE-EYNQD.
You can get a free short trial of ALEKS before you buy. Start by going to: www.aleks.com/plugin Click on FREE TRIAL and follow the instructions. When you are entering Personal Information, choose "Prep for PreCalculus"
or some other such course. Don't enter a password, just click to start the free trial. It will give you some training on how
to use ALEKS, then ask about 15 assessment questions. After that, you see a pie chart showing the relevant topics and how
much of each topic ALEKS thinks you know. In the prep courses, you will be able to select a portion of the pie to work on.
ALEKS will give you exercises to solve, and adjust according to whether you solve them correctly or not. It provides instant
feedback on your work, just like sitting with a tutor beside you.
Starting in the Fall of 2009, ALEKS will be used in Math 95, Intermediate Algebra. Another product, MyMathLab, is being used in Math 1120 and 1220.
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