Difficulties in using ALEKS can very often be resolved by following the suggestions given in this section.

Login Not Successful

First of all, be careful to type your Login Name and Password correctly, with no spaces or punctuation. Then, be sure you have accessed the correct ALEKS website. There is more than one ALEKS website, and only the one at which you registered contains your account. Use the URL provided in this booklet rather than looking for "aleks" via a search engine.

Typed Input Does Not Appear

If you have trouble entering numbers or symbols in the Answer Editor, be sure that you have clicked on a blue box and that the pointer is within the answer area (the rectangle containing the blue boxes).

NOTE. It is not always possible to use the number keys on your keyboard's right-hand "keypad" (check that "Num Lock" has been pressed).

Mixed Number Difficulties

The Answer Editor is easy to use. One warning, however: mixed numbers must be entered using the Mixed Number icon, not by entering the whole part and then using the Fraction icon.

Freezing and Slow Response

If you are logged on to ALEKS and the program is either not responding or taking too long to load a new page, one of the following three actions may help (try them in the order given):

1. click on the small "A" in the upper right-hand corner of the ALEKS window;
2. click on your browser's "Reload" (or "Refresh") button;
3. close the browser and log on again (the system will bring you back to where you left off); if you cannot close the browser use Ctrl-Alt-Delete (PC) or Cmd-Opt-Esc (Macintosh) and end the task (or reboot, if all else fails).

Open applications, other than the web browser that you are using to access ALEKS, are another cause of slowness. Closing these applications may correct the problem. If slowness persists, it is most likely due to a problem in the local network. Bring this to the attention of your instructor.

Lengthy Assessment

It is impossible to know how many questions will be asked in an assessment. The number of questions asked does not reflect your knowledge of the subject matter. It may reflect the consistency of your effort or concentration.

Reduction of Pie chart

You may observe a loss of concepts in your pie chart following an assessment. This is not a malfunction in the system, but results from errors made by you on material you had previously seemed to master. Don't worry: that is the way the system works. In particular, it is not unusual to have a "bad" assessment, one that, for external reasons (bad mood, distractions, etc.), does not reflect your actual knowledge. ALEKS will quickly bring you back to where you belong.

Repeated Final Assessments

You may need to take more than one final assessment even after you have filled in your pie (in the Learning Mode). This is normal, since mastery is determined by the assessment, not by the Learning Mode. The system needs to confirm (in the assessment) that the entire curriculum has been mastered.

Printing Problems

To print ALEKS output (for instance, an Assessment Report) you must press the ALEKS "Print" button (on the ALEKS menu bar). This opens a new browser window containing the contents of the previous window in the form of a "Print Preview." When this page has been printed it should be closed to return to the normal ALEKS interface.