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Multimedia Critique Paper #3: ALEKS

Overview
Horry County Schools has been blessed with so many opportunities for digital
learning. One such opportunity that students are required to work with every day is the
ALEKS math program. Our requirement is that students spend at least 30 minutes per
day working in ALEKS. This should amount to approximately 2 topics mastered each
day, for a total of at least 10 for the week. Most students surpass this goal due to their
interest in the program.
ALEKS, which stands for Assessment and Learning in Knowledge Spaces, is a
web-based math program used within our district and is intended for students in grades
k-12. Since it is a web-based program, it can be used on any computer/laptop or
handheld device that has access to the internet. In our 5 th grade classroom, students
are able to access the program on their own personal issued iPads.
At the beginning of the year, when students first log in to ALEKS that complete a
pre-assessment that will help to create an individualized path to learning the grade level
standards that student is assigned to. This path is created based on the knowledge the
students have of those particular grade level standards. Students are provided with a
color-coded pie that allows them to see what topics they have mastered as well as the
topics they need to work on. These pie slices are each different strands within the
area of mathematics for that particular set of standards. Within each color-coded slice
is a set of topics that the students seem to be ready to learn. As they complete their
topics, their percentage inside of the pie increases. Once students have completed
85% of their personal pie, they can be promoted to the next higher grade level set of
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standards. Once again, they take a pre-assessment, called a knowledge check, that
will set up their path for learning.

Teachers are able to monitor the progress students are making and use this data
to guide instruction. As an instructor, you have access to each students progress
towards their pie mastery. A variety of reports can be produced that allow the teacher to
see what topics, or standards, students have mastered, how many topics have been
completed, and the amount of time that is spent working on topics. There is also a
report that shows the percent of the class that has mastered each particular grade level
standard. This report is valuable in guiding future instruction, and for planning for small
group instruction in math.
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As students master 85% of grades grade level standards, they are able to move
on to the next set of grade level standards. Students can be moved individually. They
do not have to wait for the class to be promoted on in order to move. Some students
may progress through multiple grade levels in the course of one school year based on
the amount of time they spend on the program as well as their knowledge base in the
mathematical topics.
Multimedia Principles and Learning Theory
ALEKS does a good job at following the theory of discovery learning as defined
by Bruner. Bruner defined discovery as all forms of obtaining knowledge for oneself
by the use of ones own mind (Driscoll, p.234). In ALEKS, when students get on a
certain topic, they get a quick explanation of how to do by showing a worked example,
then they must complete the topic on their own. They discover how to complete each
example given on their own. If they have trouble, they are able to click on a button that
allows them to see another explanation with a worked example.
This leads to multimedia principles that are followed with the ALEKS program.
Segmenting is a design principle that is very prevalent. In segmenting, learning is
presented at the learners pace based on what the learner has mastered. The pace of
the instruction is slowed down which enables essential processing to take place for the
learner (Mayer, p.318). Segmenting is also represented by the fact that topics are
presented in different categories, or strands, based on the grade level standards
(Mayer, p.63).
A violation of multimedia principles is also present in the ALEKS program. The
modality effect states that the presentation of information is more effective when it is
presented in multiple modes such as visual and auditory (Low & Sweller, p.227). In the
case of ALEKS, there are no instances of auditory instruction other that the video
tutorial that explains the program and how it works.
Redesign Suggestion
Personally, I like ALEKS and what it does for our students. I have seen great
gains in student performance in the classroom and on standardized testing. The topics
are so well aligned with the standards that the students are being tested on. Also,
students become self-motivated when they see that they are making progress. The
program gives immediate feedback, and I have found that most students thrive on that.
If I had to redesign the program, it would be on the number of examples that students
get for each topic. They are given 3-5 examples and once they have mastered 3 out of
the 5, they are able to move past that topic. I think it would be beneficial for students to
either get more examples, or to have some of those skills come back around for them to
work on. Another thing that I would change would be the fact that once a student
reaches 85% progress, the program thinks they are ready to move on. That leaves
gaps in the learning.
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Next, as far a multimedia standpoint, I think that students would appreciate some
form of animation when they are made gains in the program, or either have completed a
problem correctly. In the world we live in, students are very used to having animated
praise for completing a task. Also, there is no audio with this program. I feel that it
would be beneficial for the students to be able to hear some of the explanations instead
of just seeing text. They tend to get sidetracked and not read through the wordy
explanations that are given, and will just give up on a topic and move on.

Summary
In summary, I think that ALEKS is a very beneficial program for students
academically. However, I think it works best for those students that are internally
motivated and have self-discipline. It would be easy for them to just waste their 30
minutes of ALEKS time just clicking around in the program if they are not motivated to
learn and progress through the standards. I like the individualized pace that it gives for
the learner. Students feel ownership and can gain that motivation when they can work
at their own pace. Students enjoy seeing that they have accomplished their tasks, but
they are not rushed to do it.
I also like the fact that standards are covered so thoroughly. There are so many
times in class when I am teaching something, or introducing something new, and the
students will light up and say they have done that on ALEKS. Also, the program shows
other algorithms for solving problems, and this gives students another way to work out
problems which is a good tool for them to use to check their work.
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Works Cited

Driscoll, M. (2005). Interactional Theories of Cognitive Development. Psychology of

Learning for Instruction (3rd edition) (pp. 223-263). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

Mayer, R.E. (2014) Cognitive theory of multimedia learning. In R.E. Mayer (Ed.). The

Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning. (43-71). New York: Cambridge.

Mayer, R.E. & Pilegard C. (2014) Principles for managing essential processing in

multimedia learning: segmenting, pre-training, and modality principles. In R.E.

Mayer (Ed.). The Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning. (316-344). New

York: Cambridge.

Low, R. & Sweller, J. The modality principle in multimedia learning. In R. E. Mayer

(Ed.), The Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning. (pp. 227-246). New York:

Cambridge.