Instructors do not need to create or modify the syllabus in order to use ALEKS. Every subject has a comprehensive default, which will be in effect without any actions on the instructor's part.

In some cases it may be desirable to modify the syllabus used for a particular group of students. Extensive creation and modification of Standards and Syllabi is possible in the ALEKS Advanced Instructor Module, depending on the course product used. Please keep in mind the following points regarding the use of syllabi in ALEKS:

• A syllabus in ALEKS implies the existence of a knowledge state, that is, a possible configuration of a student's knowledge, defined as the goal of the course. As such, all items in this "final" knowledge state of the syllabus must be learnable within the syllabus. This is determined in ALEKS by reference to the ALEKS structure (See above, Sec. 13). If an item is added to the syllabus in ALEKS, all other items which are "below" that item will also be added. If an item is removed, all other items in the syllabus which are "above" that item in the ALEKS structure will also be removed. The Content Editor warns when this is occurring.
• Thus it is possible to modify a syllabus in ALEKS only by "trimming" the tree from its branches, not from its roots.

ALEKS also provides a facility for creating multiple sets of syllabi within a single course (See the Instructor's Manual under "Intermediate Objectives," in the chapter "Advanced Instructor Module: Results & Progress"). The Intermediate Objectives feature makes it possible to prioritize particular sets of items for particular periods of time, by constraining the choices available to the students. When Intermediate Objectives have been set, students will be guided to these items by the shortest possible path. Items that they are ready to learn, but are not on the shortest path to the Intermediate Objectives, with be "grayed out"; they will appear in the students' pie charts, but the students will not be able to choose them.