ALEKS or SL for begining journey

[hicandle]

I have not taken a math course in 40 years, and wasn't the best at it then. I am very new to this and have poured over the forums. Hope i am doing this right and posting in the right place! Which would you recommend i sign up for, looking to move as quickly as possible and biggest bag for my buck. I am going to work towards a BS in business with a concentration in Human Resources. Starting at ground zero. Have enrolled in Excelsior but have yet to take my first CLEP. Thanks in advance.

[ironheadjack]

I have no experience with SL math courses, but ALEKS was designed as a teaching tool for math students. So with 40 years of rust on your math skills I would say ALEKS is a good place to start. Definitely the best bang for your buck at $20/month, if you work quickly you can earn 6-9 credits in a month. (IDK which courses EC accepts)

[J_T]

I took College Algebra through both ALEKS and SL.

ALEKS is based on assessments. There are about 20-30 questions on each assessment and you need to score at least 70% in an assessment to pass the course. I found the questions to be really hard since you have to input the correct answer (there are no multiple choice questions)... so the slightest mistake and your answer is marked wrong. The good thing about ALEKS is the price ($20) and the ability to stop the assessment at any time and go back to where you left off... so if you are stuck on a question you have all the time you want to try to learn the concept in a book or online, etc. Another positive is that no proctoring is required.

SL's College Algebra has 4 non-proctored exams and 1 final proctored exam. Each of the 4 exams are worth 150 points and the final is worth 400 points. You also need 70% (700 out of 1000) to pass. The exams are multiple choice, so you can at least guess the correct answer and have a chance of getting it right. The questions seemed a lot easier and less complex than ALEKS'. On the other hand, there is the final exam, which is proctored, closed-book and weighs 40% of the total grade for the course.

What helped me pass both courses was Udacity's College Algebra course - it's a free video-based interactive course. I also used Mathway when I got stuck on a problem.

[hicandle]

Thanks for your advice. I really appreciate it.