Using ALEKS to Teach on Online PreCalculus Course Dr. Kevin Hopkins Southwest Baptist University

What I did Offered PreCalculus Online in Summer 2011 – Replaced face to face delivery for a class that seldom had enough students sign up for it – Wanted to meet needs of students not quite ready for Calculus or Physics. – Had 4 students enrolled

Opportunities I Saw A way to provide the course to students in a more flexible environment to meet their schedule First online course in the College of Science and Mathematics If it worked, could be expanded to other markets/classes Once course is set up, work load would allow for this to be done on a rotating basis with smaller numbers

Concerns I had Would students be able to pick up on technology quick enough to begin learning the material? Would online learning work for all students? Would students put in the time needed? – Warned students 120 hours (15 hrs per week) would probably be needed. – Compared to on-campus class with 1.5 hrs per day in class, some travel time and HW time, the time commitment is about the same. – It is more flexible for the student as to when they do it (which can allow for more procrastination). Would I know students were doing their own work?

Student View of ALEKS First time students need an ALEKS code (purchased) and a course code (provided by instructor) Have to enable JAVA and install a plug-in Assessment – Initial – Periodic – Tells them what they know (and keeps checking) and what they are now ready to learn – Takes too long to show this particular feature in its entirety Let’s log in as a sample student, one I have prepared in advancelog in

Pie Method of telling students what they know. Helps guide them to what they are ready to learn next. Can be overwhelming to the student to see they only have mastered a few (15-30) of 300 objectives for the course. Does provide motivation as the course progresses and they can see the gap between what they know and what is left shrinking.

Learning Student presented questions over the topic Students can get help on it in a variety of ways On getting enough correct (by entering the answer which could be a graph or mathematical expression), ALEKS marks that objective as learned. If too many missed, it will suggest coming back to that objective later.

Instructor View Has been updated since I finished the class Can set up syllabus to select specific topics to cover Helps cut down the number of objectives students need to accomplish before intermediate deadline Can view all student pies Can view time students have put in Can set up quizzes, and then view (and modify) results. Gradebook now will track such modifications.

Quizzes Prepared by Instructor to allow them to target specific types of questions Questions are again free response Can be set up to do some partial credit Probably want to set up some way for students to submit work for additional partial credit

Communication Teacher can students messages System automatically sends reminders of new quizzes

Other Classes Available ALEKS offers many options of courses ALEKSoptions of courses All have the same basic flow Some come with e-book options Some come with textbook coordination There is some flexibility in topics selected to be covered. Not all classes would draw sufficiently motivated students. You can watch a promotional video at

Other Systems that Sound Similar These are ones I have heard of: ? I’m sure there are others.

Online Homework Systems These are ones I have heard of: I’m sure there are others.

This gives you a feel for what I did and how ALEKS helped me do it I hope it sparks some ideas of things you could do to help students learn mathematics Of the 4 students who took it, only one is currently in my Calculus class Two, I think, are in Physics Would want to study their success more to be able to comment on final results