Mathematics Placement Assessment

The Placement Assessment is used to determine the mathematics course in which you will have the greatest success. Upon completion of the Placement Assessments, your scores are sent to the PLNU Office of Records, and they will review your scores and make appropriate recommendations for course registration.

All students entering PLNU. If a student has Advanced Placement credit or college credit for Calculus, they are exempt from taking the test.

Traditional Undergraduate Students: Students will be given an opportunity to take the exam after admission to PLNU and before starting coursework. Students who are entering PLNU in the fall are strongly encouraged to take the test for the first time during the testing periods in late May and early June. Students entering in January will be given the opportunity to take the test in December and early January. The test and Learning Modules will be available for the next 12 months should students wish to take the test more than once, but we strongly recommend completing the placement process as soon as possible.

Adult Undergraduate Students: Students entering PLNU as part of the Adult Undergraduate Program should discuss the timing of the exam with their Success Counselor.

Use of ALEKS is included in your student fees for the first academic year that you are a student at PLNU. After that you will have to make arrangements with the Mathematical, Information and Computer Sciences (MICS) Department to pay for access to the exam.

No. There are no required plug-ins or applets required with your use of ALEKS PPL. As long as you have access to a stable internet connection and are using an updated browser on a computer (not a phone), you should not experience difficulties in taking your Placement Assessment. For a list of preferred browsers, please review the ALEKS system requirements on their support site: http://www.aleks.com/support/system_requirements

ALEKS PPL 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 you have learned in high school. It is a Placement Assessment, not a preview of math courses at PLNU. It is designed to identify if you are prepared for a particular course. After you take your first Placement Assessment, you will have the opportunity to review and master additional topics to reassess and improve your placement.

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 Placement 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 the ALEKS Placement Assessment, select the Help button below the answer pallet tools. Going to the tutorial during your Placement Assessment will NOT impact your Placement Assessment results.

ALEKS is not a multiple-choice Placement 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.

You may only use a pen or pencil, paper, and the resources provided within ALEKS. You should not receive assistance from friends, family, other websites, textbooks, or any other resource not provided by ALEKS. Using outside resources will lead to improper placement and potentially course failure. Using outside resources is also a violation of PLNU’s Academic Honesty policy. 

No. 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 likely 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, however, 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 Placement Assessment results. There is no penalty for incorrectly answering a question on the Placement Assessment, it only helps ALEKS understand what you know and don’t know.

Yes, you have 2 hours to complete a Placement Assessment once it has begun. The test typically takes students 60-90 minutes.

You will be given a placement result based on the portion of the exam that you have completed. 

Students with disabilities who are seeking accommodations for taking the online placement test should contact the PLNU Educational Access Center at (619) 849-2486. Please allow one week to set up a specialized testing arrangement.

For incoming students: You will be sent the link to the test and the relevant password. This information will be sent to your PLNU email address so be sure that is the address that you are checking.

For continuing students: You will need to contact the PLNU MICS Department (stephaniekrahenbuhl@pointloma.edu) to identify a time when you are going to take the test, to pay the necessary fee, and to receive the password.

Your placement result (overall score) is a number between 0 and 100. It represents the percentage of topics ALEKS has identified you have mastered. The tables below show the score needed to start the essential coursework for each major. If the score is not achieved, then additional mathematics coursework will be needed.

Traditional Undergraduate Students: To find the assessment score recommended for your major, please go this table of majors.

Adult Undergraduate Students:

• You will receive your score immediately upon completion of your Placement Assessment.
• Your ALEKS score can be viewed by re-entering ALEKS using the same access link for which you took the Placement Assessment.
• The PLNU Office of Records will receive your scores to assist them in registering you for classes.
• Your scores will also be reviewed by the Mathematical, Information and Computer Sciences Department and added to your PLNU student record in Workday (there can be a up to a 1-2 week time delay for this process).

Your placement result is valid for use at PLNU for up to 4 years.

This is a perfect opportunity to take advantage of the Prep and Learning Modules offered within ALEKS PPL. An individualized study plan will be created based on your performance on the Initial Placement 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.

Mathematics scores allow you to place into mathematics classes and some science classes. To see details for your specific major, please look at the relevant PLNU Catalog: Traditional Undergraduate Catalog or Adult Undergraduate Catalog.

Congratulations! Continue to use your Prep and Learning Module to improve your chances for success. The placement result required is the minimum preparation for your course. Take advantage of the individualized review and learning features in ALEKS to get a better grade in your class.

Yes, you may take up to 3 Placement Assessments. However, to make each attempt worthwhile, it is important that you spend time working in your ALEKS Prep and Learning Module between Placement Assessments so that you can improve your skills (see details below).

You must wait one week between Placement Assessments. There is generally no benefit to re-taking the Placement Assessment immediately after completing a prior attempt. You cannot improve your results by simply re-taking the Placement Assessment without spending time in the Prep and Learning Module to refresh material that you may have forgotten.

You will have 12 months of access to your Prep and Learning module. Access to the prep course will not begin until you select start on the top of your screen. DO NOT select into the Prep and Learning Module until you are ready to start working. 

Access to a Prep and Learning Module is included along with the additional Placement Assessments.

You can retake the Placement assessment two additional times to improve your score. (The highest score will be used for math placement). Students are required to work in the Prep and Learning Modules for a specific amount of time prior to each Placement Assessment to increase success.

• 2nd Attempt: You are required to complete 5 hours of work in the Prep and Learning Modules and wait one week before attempting the assessment for the second time.
• 3rd Attempt: You are required to complete and additional 8 hours of work in the Prep and Learning Modules and wait an additional week before attempting assessment for the third and final time.

While working in a Prep and Learning Module, you will periodically complete a Knowledge Check to make sure you have mastered the topics you gained in Learning Mode. If you do not show mastery during the Knowledge Check, the topics will be added back into your Learning Pie so you can review them again.

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 Placement Assessment.

No. You may only use one Prep and Learning Module. We strongly encourage using the module recommended by ALEKS.

Simply close the browser, or log out and log back in. ALEKS will resume the Placement Assessment exactly where you left off, with no loss of your previous answers. Please note that the clock will keep running even when you are logged out so you need to return to the test as soon as possible.

http://www.aleks.com/faqs/technical

http://support.aleks.com/assess_placement