Do all new students take the on-line RWU Math Placement Test?
No. Only students in majors that have math courses with prerequisites must take the math placement test. These are students wishing
- To major in any area of Business.
- To major in any area of Engineering.
- To major in Architecture, Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Construction Management, Economics, Environmental Science, Marine Biology or Mathematics.
- To continue their high school study of calculus and related subjects.
More information can be found by reviewing the link titled "Math Requirements, by major" at this site or by contacting Patricia Confort, FCAS Placement Coordinator at pconfort@rwu.edu or (401) 254-3430
How do students know what math course to take during their first semester?
At Orientation, students will receive their schedule of fall classes.
Students majoring in areas that have a specific math requirement will be automatically scheduled for that course, if they meet its prerequisites or if this course has no prerequisites. However, some majors require courses into which students are placed on the basis of placement test results. Students in these majors must take an on-line math placement test prior to their arrival for Orientation.
Students majoring in areas that have no specific math requirement may have a course selected for them prior to their arrival for Orientation. They will learn more about that math course and be given an opportunity to speak with a math advisor, if they wish to select a different course or defer their math course until a later semester.
Why do new students take a math placement test?
The objective of math placement testing is to determine where a new student belongs in the RWU math sequence of his/her major.
What kind of math placement test does a new student take?
The RWU Math Placement Test is an on-line test that can accessed from a student’s home computer 24/7 via the Internet. The test uses McGraw-Hill’s ALEKS on-line learning system. Students do not need to know any special software to complete the test. They only use the computer to enter their answers.
How do students take a math placement test on-line?
Students can access these tests via the Internet from their computers at home 24/7. They read the test questions from the computer screen and input their answers into the ALEKS on-line testing system. When the tester has completed his/her test, the results are sent, via the Internet, to Patricia Confort, FCAS Placement Coordinator at RWU. Ms. Confort will then interpret the test results and assign a math placement.
Do students have to pay to take their math placement test on-line?
No. There is no charge for math placement testing.
What is the format of the test?
- The test contains 20-35 questions.
- The questions are free-response, not multiple-choice.
- Students will experience different tests because the adaptive ALEKS on-line testing system is reacting to each student’s unique answers.
- Students may use calculators, but should not use textbooks or notes.
- A coordinate plane is provided for testers to draw graphs. The ALEKS software tutorial provides instruction about graphing.
- Testers may not go back and rework a previous question once they have moved to the next question. If a tester attempts to go back and change an answer, the new answer will not be recorded.
What does it mean to say that the test is “adaptive”?
The test adapts to a tester’s responses.
- If the tester answers the first question correctly, the testing system will conclude that the tester knows all of the concepts that lead up to that correct answer. In this case, the next test question will be about a different concept.
- If the tester answers the first question incorrectly, the testing system will conclude that the tester does not know all of the concepts leading up to that correct answer. In this case, the next test question will be about one of these building-block concepts. The testing system will continue to selection questions in this manner until it knows which concepts the tester does know.
How long does it take to finish the test?
On average, the tutorial takes approximately 20 minutes and a test takes 1-2 hours. However, the tutorials and tests are untimed. Students may need to enter the ALEKS program for more than one session to complete their work. It may take one session to do the tutorial, a second session to do the Practice Test, and a third last session to take the actual placement test.
All testing must be completed by 1pm (Eastern Time), Saturday May 10, 2008.
When do students take their tests?
The RWU Math Placement Test will be available starting April 15. Students who have paid their deposit to RWU may access the ALEKS on-line math placement tests by following the registration directions available at this web-site. All testing must be completed by 1pm (Eastern Time), Saturday May 10, 2008.
What if a student does not complete the math placement test by May 10?
Students who do not test will be placed in the first course of the math sequence required by their major. Such a placement may cause a student to delay progress in their major because many math courses are prerequisites for courses in other majors.
Students who test after the deadline may not have their results processed in time to be used at Orientation. Thus, the course schedule that they receive at Orientation may have to change to accommodate a different math course.
Why is the RWU Math Placement Test taken before students come to RWU for Orientation?
Students test before they come to Orientation so that we have time to process the results and select the course which is most appropriate for their demonstrated level of math skill.
This schedule has the additional benefit of making the orientation experience more pleasant because the students do not have to take a math test during their orientation visit to RWU.
Why can’t a student pick his/her own math class for their first semester?
While students took classes titled Advanced Algebra, Precalculus or Calculus in high school, the topics covered in these classes may not correspond to what we expect students to know when they enter RWU courses. Our math placement test covers the topics that our courses require.
What if a student does well on an AP math (Calculus or Statistics) test?
The AP results are sent to RWU in July. Until then, the results of the student’s on-line placement test will be the only basis for his/her RWU math placement. If a student scores well enough on the AP test, we will adjust his/her placement in July.
RWU course equivalencies for AP scores are as follows:
- 3, 4 or 5 on Calculus AB will earn 4 credits for MATH 213, Calculus I
- 3, 4 or 5 on Calculus BC will earn a total of 8 credits:
4 credits for MATH 213, Calculus I and
4 credits for MATH 214, Calculus II
- 3, 4 or 5 on Statistics will earn 3 credits for either MATH 124, Basic Statistics or MATH 122, QBA II
More information about AP equivalencies can be found in the on-line RWU catalog.
How many math placement tests are there?
There is only one RWU Math Placement Test. We offer a version of this test called the Practice Test for students who would like some experience with the adaptive nature of the actual test.
Please note that the results of the Practice Test will not be used for placement. Only the results of the RWU Math Placement Test will be used for placement.
How should a student prepare to take the on-line math placement test?
Students can prepare by exercising any or all of the three pre-testing options for the on-line math placement test: the Practice Test, the ALEKS software tutorial, and the Sample Problems.
- All students can take the Practice Test. This is an ALEKS on-line math placement test that closely mimics the RWU Math Placement Test. Taking the Practice Test will give students some experience in the level and format of the actual test. While students can do as much or as little of the Practice Test as they wish, they will not experience the adaptive quality of the test unless they answer its questions as if it were the actual test. Scores on the Practice Test will not be used for placement purposes.
- The ALEKS tutorial is available at the beginning of both the Practice Test and the RWU Math Placement Test. The exercises in the tutorial will teach students how to write their answers in the ALEKS software. It will show them how to write fractions, exponents, graphs, and other complicated formats.
- A file of Sample Problems, representing the concepts covered by the RWU Math Placement Test is available as a pdf on this site. Students can download and print this file to review on their own or show to friends, tutors and/or former/current math teachers as they prepare for testing.
Should a student study before taking the RWU Math Placement Test?
We suggest that students study the topics of algebra if they haven’t formally studied algebra in a few years OR if the math courses that they have taken recently were not algebra-intensive.
As mentioned above, the on-line math placement test is adaptive. That is, the questions progress into more advanced areas if a tester continues to answer correctly or the questions examine less advanced areas if the tester does not answer correctly. Since the test begins with questions on algebra, testers need to answer these questions correctly to go on to more advanced topics. We specifically recommend that students review the laws of exponents, operations with fractions, linear systems of equations and graphing linear equations before taking their test.
To supplement a student’s own study materials (notes and/or textbooks from math classes that were taken in high school) we have provided Sample Problems.
How important are the results of the RWU Math Placement Test?
The results of this test will determine where a student starts in the math sequence that is required for his/her major. Thus, it is very important that the test results are indicative of the student’s real ability. The purpose of math placement testing is to place students into the most appropriate math course for their first semester. Students who are in courses that are too easy will be wasting their time and money covering material that they already know. Students who are in courses that are too hard may not have enough of the prerequisite skills and grasp of the fundamental concepts necessary to succeed at that level.
When do students get the results of their testing?
Students are informed of the results of their ALEKS on-line math placement testing at Orientation.
What if students don’t think that the result of their on-line math placement test is not indicative of what they really know?
Occasionally, some students feel as if they did not show their true ability on the placement test that they took in May, prior to coming to their RWU Orientation. For these students, we offer a Retesting option. Information about the re-entering the ALEKS system for the purpose of retesting is provided at Orientation.
Note
We believe that spending time in the Practice Test and the ALEKS software tutorial will improve any student’s test results because he/she will be more familiar with the ALEKS testing system and the expectations of the test. Further review of the topics covered by the Sample Problems should improve a student’s recall specific concepts included in the tests.