Placement Guide
Placement assessments
ALEKS PPL placement assessments cover material ranging from properties of numbers up through trigonometry. You may encounter some topics that you haven’t seen before—that’s OK! These are assessments to determine what you do know, not exams to test you on material that you’re expected to know.
Real numbers
fractions, integers, and percentages
Equations and inequalities
linear equations, linear inequalities, systems of linear equations, and quadratic equations
Linear and quadratic functions
graphs and functions, linear functions, and parabolas
Exponents and polynomials
integer exponents, polynomial arithmetic, factoring, and polynomial equations
Rational and radical expressions
rational equations and functions, higher roots, and rational exponents
Geometry
perimeter, area, volume, and coordinate geometry
Exponentials and logarithms
function compositions and inverse functions, properties of logarithms, and logarithmic equations
Trigonometry
trigonometric functions, identities, and equations
If you’d like to know more about what to expect, you can read the detailed list of ALEKS placement assessment problem types.
Learning Modules
ALEKS PPL Learning Modules provide you with a personalized learning environment where you can recharge and extend your math skills. The three Learning Modules are:
Prep for College Algebra
A streamlined elementary algebra course. No trigonometry, logarithms, or exponential functions.
Topics in Prep for College Algebra
Prep for Precalculus
A streamlined advanced algebra course. No trigonometry, logarithms, or exponential functions.
Topics in Prep for Precalculus
Prep for Calculus
A concise precalculus course that includes the advanced material covered in placement assessments, with a brief review of the basics.
Your first assessment determines your Learning Module
It’s important that you take your initial placement assessment seriously, because ALEKS assigns you a Learning Module based on your performance in that assessment.
If you rush through your initial assessment, skipping over several problems, ALEKS may assign you a Learning Module below your true abilities. That’s not a disaster—you can review more advanced material outside ALEKS—but to get the full benefit of ALEKS’ adaptivity, you should help ALEKS form an accurate model of your current knowledge and skills by solving every problem in your assessment to the best of your ability.
Your placement assessments will cover the full range of ALEKS topics, regardless of your Learning Module.