ALEKS: Placing students and beyond! S.I.G.M.A Seminar Series

University of Connecticut

By

Amit Savkar

Outline

!   What is ALEKS.

!   Which students need to take ALEKS.

!   FAQ on ALEKS implementation.

!   Instruction change and implementation.

!   Data analysis from Fall 2013.

!   Data collection for Spring 2014.

What is ALEKS?

!   Assessment and LEarning in Knowledge Spaces

!   Artificial intelligence assessment tool.

!   Adaptive questioning to accurately determine strengths and weaknesses of students in mathematical knowledge.

!   Provides options of remediation to get better.

!   Places students based on their prior knowledge.

Who needs to take ALEKS at UConn?

!   All Engineering majors.

!   All degree programs that confer BS degrees to students.

!   Several majors from CLAS !   Biology

!   Chemistry

!   Mathematics etc.

!   List of all majors can be found here ! http://placement.uconn.edu/mathematics-placement

How does the placement work at UConn?

!   Freshmen students take ALEKS before their orientation.

!   The placement score is used to place them in appropriate Math course. !   76% and above place in Math 1131. !   75% and 61% placed in Math 1060.

!   For Math 1131/1151 and Math 1132/Math1152 ALEKS placement score is a required pre-requisite.

!   ALEKS score is recommended for Math1060

What about transfer students, AP, ECE credits?

!   Transfer students who have credit for Math 1131 need to have an ALEKS score to be placed in Math 1132.

!   Students with transferred AP credits and ECE credits also need to take ALEKS placement exam and get a qualifying score to be allowed to enroll in Math 1132.

ALEKS score distribution for Fall 2013

PlacementResult1008 06 04 02 00

Freq

uenc

y

125

100

7 5

5 0

2 5

0

HistogramCatalog: 1131Q

Mean = 81.16 Std. Dev. = 8.216 N = 854

Page 1

PlacementResult1008 06 04 02 0

Freq

uenc

y

4 0

3 0

2 0

1 0

0

HistogramCatalog: 1060Q

Mean = 64.7 Std. Dev. = 11.857 N = 286

Page 1

Key for Instruction is ALKES knowledge slices!

y"="$3.6347x"+"103.7"R²"="0.6223"

y"="$5.8693x"+"100.66"R²"="0.61346"

y"="$6.4691x"+"76.477"R²"="0.61931"

!20$

0$

20$

40$

60$

80$

100$

120$

1$ 2$ 3$ 4$ 5$ 6$ 7$ 8$ 9$ 10$ 11$ 12$

Average"Score"

Knowlege"Slice"

Average"ALEKS"scores"for"each"Knowledge"Slice"

76!100$

61!75$

0!60$

Linear(76!100)$

Linear(61!75)$

Linear(0!60)$

Change in instruction for pre-calculus and Calculus

!   Math 1060 !   More rigorous in terms of pre-calculus material

!   Focus of logs, exponential functions, trigonometry.

!   Assessments in term of written quizzes.

!   Should be able to get qualifying scores in ALEKS.

!   Math 1131 !   More quizzes online and in-class.

!   Worksheets to address specific knowledge gaps.

DATA ANLYSIS MATH 1060

Grades of students in Math 1060 who took ALEKS

Letter Grade in Math 1060

Number of students

Percentage

A 44   16  

B 76   28  

C 80   29  

DFW 74   27  

TOTAL 274 100

16%

28% 29% 27%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

A B C DFW %

of s

tude

nts

Final grade in Math 1060 Q

Grade distribution of students in Math1060 who took ALEKS

A

B

C

DFW

Grades of students in Math 1060 who did not take ALEKS

Letter Grade in Math 1131

Number of students

Percentage

A 25   17  

B 25   17  

C 31   22  

DFW 63   44  

TOTAL 144 100

17% 17% 22%

44%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

A B C DFW %

of s

tude

nts

Final grade in Math 1060 Q

Grade distribution of students in Math1060 who did not take

ALEKS

A

B

C

DFW

Number of student

ALEKS Score Range

Grade Range

17 20 to 40 D to D+

13 41 to 50 D+ to C-

30 51 to 60 C- to C

174 61 to 75 C to C+

40 76 to 100 C+ to B-

274 Total

Average course grade range for a given ALEKS score range for students in Math 1060

D to D+ D+ to C-

C- to C

C to C+

C+ to B-

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

20 to 40 41 to 50 51 to 60 61 to 75 76 to 100

Ave

rage

Gra

de

ALEKS Score range

Average course grade in Math 1060 versus AlEKS score range

20 to 40

41 to 50

51 to 60

61 to 75

76 to 100

Grade distribution of students in Math 1060 with less than qualifying ALEKS score of 61%

Grade Number of Students

Percentage

A 4   7

B 14   23

C 15   25

DFW 27   45

Total 60

7%

23% 25%

45%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

A B C DFW

% o

f stu

dent

s

Final grade in Math 1060 Q

Grade distribution of students in Math1060 with less than qualifying

ALEKS score of 61%

A

B

C

DFW

Grade distribution of students in Math 1060 with recommended qualifying ALEKS score of

61% and above

Grade Number of Students

Percentage

A 40   19

B 62   29

C 65   30

DFW 47   22

Total 214 100

19%

29% 30%

22%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

A B C DFW

% o

f stu

dent

s

Final grade in Math 1060 Q

Grade distribution of students in Math1060 with required qualifying

ALEKS score of 61% and above

A

B

C

DFW

Grades distribution for students in Math 1060 who took ALEKS as pretest (N =172)

Grades in Math 1060

ALEKS Pretest

Percentage

A 24   14

B 37   22

C 58   38

D 53   31

TOTAL 172 100.0

14%  

22%  

34%  31%  

0%  

5%  

10%  

15%  

20%  

25%  

30%  

35%  

40%  

A   B   C   D  

%  of  stude

nts  

Grades  in  Math  1060  

Grade  distribu5on  of  students  in  Math  1060  who  took  ALEKS  only  as  a  Pretest  (N  

=  172)  

A  

B  

C  

D  

Grades distribution for students in Math 1060 who took ALEKS as pretest and post test and

obtained qualifying score of 76% and above in post test. (N = 96)

Grades in Math 1060

ALEKS Pretest and Post test

Percentage

A 19   20

B 38   40

C 20   21

D 19   20

TOTAL 96 100.0

20%  

40%  

21%   20%  

0%  

5%  

10%  

15%  

20%  

25%  

30%  

35%  

40%  

45%  

A   B   C   D  

%  of  stude

nts  

Grades  in  Math  1060  

Grade  distribu5on  of  students  in  Math  1060  who  got  a  qualifying  ALEKS  score  of    76%  and  

above  as  a  PosJest  (N=96)  

A  

B  

C  

D  

Grade distribution of students in Math 1060 who got qualifying score of 76% on ALEKS post

test to qualify for Math 1131.

14

5

18

14

6 7

6 7

4

2

5

8

0 0 0 0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

A A- B B- B+ C C- C+ D D- D+ F I W X

No

of s

tude

nts

Letter Grade in Math 1060

Grade distribution of students in Math 1060 who got qualifying scores on ALEKS post test.

A

A-

B

B-

B+

C

C-

C+

D

D-

D+

F

I

W

X

DATA ANLYSIS MATH 1131

Grades of student in Math 1131 who took ALEKS

Letter Grade in Math 1131

Number of students

Percentage

A 231 27.6

B 281 33.6

C 165 19.7

DFW 160 19.1

TOTAL 837 100

27.6

33.6

19.7 19.1

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

A B C DFW %

Gra

des

Letter Grades

Grade distribution for students who took ALEKS

A

B

C

DFW

Grades of students in Math 1131 who did not take ALEKS

Letter Grade in Math 1131

Number of students

Percentage

A 21 11.1

B 38 20.1

C 50 26.5

DFW 80 42.3

TOTAL 189 100

11.1

20.1

26.5

42.3

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

A B C DFW %

Gra

des

Letter Grades

Grade distribution for students who did not take ALEKS

A

B

C

DFW

D to D+

C- to C

C+ to B- C+ to B- B- to B B- to B

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

1 2 3 4 5 6

AV

ER

AG

E G

RA

DE

ALEKS range code

Average grade versus ALEKS score range

1

2

3

4

5

6

Range Code

ALEKS Score Range

Grade Range

1 0 to 60 D to D+

2 61 to 75 C- to C

3 76 to 80 C+ to B-

4 81 to 85 C+ to B-

5 86 to 90 B- to B

6 90 to 100 B- to B

Average course grade range for a given ALEKS score range for students in Math 1131

Grade distribution of students in Math 1131 with less than qualifying ALEKS score of 76%

Grade Number of Students

Percentage

A 5 5.74

B 24 27.58

C 20 22.98

DFW 38 43.67

Total 87

5.75%

27.59%

22.99%

43.68%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

50%

A B C DFW

% o

f stu

dent

s

Final grade in Math 1131 Q

Grade distribution of students with less than 76% ALEKS qualifying score

A

B

C

DFW

Grade distribution of students in Math 1131 with required qualifying ALEKS score of 76%

and above Grade Number of

Students Percentage

A 226 30.13

B 257 34.26

C 145 19.33

DFW 122 16.26

Total 750

30.13%

34.27%

19.33%

16.27%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

A B C DFW

% o

f stu

dent

s

Final grade in Math 1131 Q

Grade distribution of students with greater than 76% ALEKS qualifying

score

A

B

C

DFW

Grade distribution by Majors for students who did not take ALEKS.

Major Number of

students

Percent Average Grade Range

CLAS 89 47.09   D+ to C-

ENGG 8 4.23   D+ to C-

ACES 68 35.98   D+ to C-

BUSS 10 5.29   C+ to B-

AGRI&NR

7 3.70   D to D+

OTHERS

7 3.70   C+ to B-

Total 189 100   D to D+

D+ to C

D+ to C-

D+ to C-

C+ to B- D to D+ C+ to B-

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

50%

1 2 3 4 5 6

% o

f stu

dent

s

MAJORS: 1=CLAS,2=ENGG,3=ACES, 4=BUSS,5=AGRI&NR,6=OTHER

Average grade by majors for student who did not take ALEKS

1

2

3

4

5

6

Grade distribution by Majors for students who took ALEKS.

Major Number of

students

Percent Average Grade Range

CLAS 205   24.49   C+  to  B-­‐  

ENGG 330   39.43   B-­‐  to  B  

ACES 241   28.79   C  to  C+  

BUSS 8   0.96   C+  to  B-­‐  

AGRI&NR 45   5.38   C+  to  B-­‐  

OTHERS 8   0.96   B+  to  A-­‐  

Total 837   100   C+  to  B-­‐  

C+ to B-

B- to B

C to C+

C+ to B-

C+ to B-

B+ to A-

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

1 2 3 4 5 6

% o

f stu

dent

s

MAJORS: 1=CLAS,2=ENGG,3=ACES, 4=BUSS,5=AGRI&NR,6=OTHER

Average grade by majors for student who took ALEKS

1

2

3

4

5

6

Data collection for Spring 2014

!   New data integration portal created.

!   Upload data into a secure site.

! https://qcmath.uits.uconn.edu

!   Works with the wired connection only.

!   Accessing this website from outside use VPN.

Thank You!

!   All the TAs for Math 1060, Math 1131 in Fall 2013

!   Steven Pon for Math 1060 data analysis.

!   Jeff Winston from ACES for data integration and merging.

!   Jonathan Judge for creating the new website.

Questions?