MCNEESE STATE UNIVERISTY
Please contact Lyle Hardee at lhardee@mcneese.edu to schedule your ALEKS test.
ALEKS is an online assessment and learning tool. ALEKS stands for Assessment and Learning in Knowledge Spaces. ALEKS is designed to first determine what you know and don’t know, and then provide explanations and practice problems for concepts you don’t know. At the end of the ALEKS Placement Assessment, you will have a much better sense of your strengths and weaknesses in math. You will then have a chance to work on those weaknesses using the ALEKS “Preparation and Learning Modules.” The most important thing is that you take the assessment seriously and give it an honest effort so that the assessment truly reflects your level of knowledge and math preparedness. The first attempt at the placement assessment is only used as a pre-test to set up the PPL modules. You will have 5 total attempts to earn your highest placement score. The first attempt is not proctored, attempts 2, 3, 4, and 5 must be proctored to be used for placement.
Upon entering ALEKS PPL through the above steps, the student will be directed to complete an initial placement assessment. The placement assessment takes about 90 minutes. ALEKS PPL will automatically report the student’s assessment score to McNeese overnight. After the student completes the assessment, ALEKS PPL presents a report listing the mathematics topics the student has a good command of, and a list of mathematics topics that the student has not yet mastered. You will not be allowed to immediately attempt to re-take the assessment; rather, you should enter the ALEKS Prep and Learning portal (which by then will no longer be dimmed out). The student will have access to the Prep and Learning Module for 12 months starting from the first time he or she enters the module.
In the Prep and Learning Module, in addition to short, easy-to-follow lessons, there is also something called an assessment, which is a practice or “progress” assessment mirroring the assessment for placement. Scores on the progress assessment do not get reported. During the 12-month Prep and Learning Module access period, the Prep and Learning Module and the progress assessment can be accessed without limit. Students should expect to do 2-3 hours’ work on the ALEKS Prep and Learning Module lessons for each 1% increase in ALEKS Math PPL score needed. Once the student has completed at least 5 hours of work or the score on the progress assessment is at the desired level, the student should retake the placement assessment.
Please contact Lyle Hardee at lhardee@mcneese.edu to schedule your ALEKS test.
Ms. Anna Grace Bizzle is an Academic Advisor for the College of Nursing and Health Professions. She earned her Bachelor’s and Master's degrees in Secondary Education from Mississippi State University. Her favorite part of advising at McNeese is being a resource for students as they get used to the expectations of college and helping students pursue their degrees at such a wonderful school.