MCC implements test to gauge students math skills
Michael Culpepper
Standardized testing has taken a more complex form at MCC with the emergence of the ALEKS Exam.The Assessment and Learning in Knowledge Spaces Exam, or ALEKS Exam, is a Web-based artificially intelligent learning system that determines what a student does and does not know in a course.
The testing center implemented the ALEKS test to help stifle academic difficulties in the math department.
The new exam is designed to judge potential students’ comprehension of math with greater accuracy and enhance student completion.
The course has been split into two sections. The ALEKS Level I places students into Basic Arithmetic, Introductory Algebra and Intermediate Algebra. The ALEKS Level II places students into Intermediate Algebra, College Mathematics, College Algebra/Functions and above.
Testing center director Kimberley Reely stated she has high hopes for new testing methods.
“The ALEKS exam fixes a lot of problems our previous methods have faced over the years,” Reely said, “students can no longer effectively guess on the exams as they are no longer multiple choices so they are forced to not only show their work, but show that they truly comprehend the material.”
Reely is hopeful that the new exam will help to bring down failure and withdrawal rates within the school’s math program.
Stephanie Dereza, a student at MCC, believes the test worked for her.
“I’m doing very well right now; for me at least, it feels like I’m in the right course,” Dereza said.
