ALEKS guides
ALEKS help:
how it works and how to get unstuck
From the placement test to your last pie slice — a plain-English guide to ALEKS, and step-by-step help when a topic stops you.
- How ALEKS works, in four moments
- A guide for each stage
- Help with the topics that stop most students
Stuck on an ALEKS problem?
Type it, paste it, or snap a photo of your screen. igni walks you through it one hint at a time — you still do the math.
Type a problem or add a photo first.
- Free to start
- No card needed
- Never just the answer
The shape of it
How ALEKS works, in four moments
ALEKS is McGraw Hill’s adaptive math platform. Instead of giving every student the same worksheet, it works out what you already know and builds a path from there. There are four points where students meet it, each needing a different kind of help — not everyone meets all four. The placement test is something a school runs before a course; the rest happen inside one.
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1
Placement test
Before college, many schools use the ALEKS PPL assessment to decide which math course you start in.
Placement test guide → -
2
Initial Knowledge Check
The first time you open an ALEKS course, an adaptive check maps what you already know.
Knowledge Check guide → -
3
Learning topics
You work through topics one by one to fill your ALEKS pie. This is where most students get stuck.
Get help with a topic → -
4
Progress checks
ALEKS re-tests you along the way to make sure topics stick. Anything you have forgotten goes back into your pie.
How checks work →
Why it is hard
Why ALEKS feels so hard
ALEKS questions are open-ended rather than multiple choice, so you cannot guess your way through one. You have to show understanding as you work, and if a later Knowledge Check finds you have not retained a topic, ALEKS can put it back on your Learning Path.
That is the gap igni fills. Paste or snap the problem you are stuck on, then solve it yourself one step at a time. igni checks each line and tells you where it broke — so the next problem of that type is one you can do on your own.
Looking for an ALEKS answer key? There isn’t one. ALEKS generates questions from your own answers, so a list from somebody else cannot match your version — and copying sends you into topics you are not ready for. Understanding the step you are stuck on is the real shortcut.
By topic
Where students get stuck
Some ALEKS topics trip up far more students than others. Start with a guide, or practice a typical problem right now.
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Trigonometry
Unit circle values, identities, solving trig equations and right-triangle problems.
Solve 2cos x − 1 = 0 on [0, 2π)
ALEKS trigonometry guide → -
Geometry proofs
Filling in statements and reasons, and knowing which property justifies each step.
Given AB ≅ CD, prove AC ≅ BD
ALEKS proofs guide → -
Algebra foundations
Linear equations, fractions, exponents and factoring — the base of almost every ALEKS course.
3(x − 4) + 5 = 2x + 7
Practice this with igni → -
Functions and graphs
Function notation, domain and range, and reading or sketching a graph.
Domain of f(x) = √(x − 4) / (x − 7)
Practice this with igni →
How it works
You do the math. igni watches every step.
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1
Upload your problem
Snap a photo, paste, or type any math problem you're stuck on.
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2
Keep solving
Receive one hint at a time to help you keep solving — never the final answer.
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3
Get it done
Complete the problem yourself and feel ready for the next one.
On screen or on paper. Type your working into igni, or solve the way you would in an exam and photograph each line. Either way igni rules on the step before you build the next one on top of it.
Where it fits
When to use igni (and when not to)
Most of an ALEKS course is learning topics, and that is where a tutor belongs. The assessments either side of them are a different matter.
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Your learning path
Any topic that stops you
This is what igni is for. Bring the topic you are stuck on, solve it yourself, and find out which line broke instead of which answer did.
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Any ALEKS assessment
Unaided, always
A Knowledge Check or a placement assessment is only worth sitting if it measures you. Answer it alone, and follow whatever your instructor or school has said about outside help.
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The week before one
Warm the basics up
Work a few problems from the areas you know are coming, so the result reflects what you can do rather than what you have not touched since last term.
Questions
ALEKS help FAQ
ALEKS (Assessment and LEarning in Knowledge Spaces) is an adaptive online math platform from McGraw Hill. It assesses what you already know, then gives you a personalized set of topics to learn.
No. ALEKS chooses and generates questions from your own previous answers, so what you are asked depends on how you have been answering — and no single list can match everyone’s version.
It is how ALEKS shows your progress: each slice is a group of topics, and the filled part is what you have mastered. It updates as you learn topics and complete Knowledge Checks.
Because they are two different things. The quizzes, tests and homework an instructor assigns are separate from the adaptive Learning Path, and finishing an assignment does not necessarily add to your pie.
The pie moves when you learn topics in the Learning Path and when a Knowledge Check confirms you have kept them. If you are being graded on assignments and on pie progress, they are two separate jobs.
The placement test (ALEKS PPL) is taken before college classes start and decides which math course you take. The Initial Knowledge Check happens inside a course you are already in, and sets your starting point within it.
igni never gives you the final answer — you solve the problem and igni checks your steps, the way a tutor would. Use it for learning topics and homework, not during a Knowledge Check or a placement assessment, and follow your instructor’s rules.
igni works with the math in most ALEKS courses, from prealgebra and algebra through geometry, trigonometry, precalculus and statistics.
Still stuck on something? Talk to us.
Stuck on an ALEKS topic right now?
Not a practice problem — the actual one in front of you. Work it a line at a time and see where it breaks.
- Works in any browser
- No card needed to start
- You still do the math
Not sure where your gaps are? Answer a few questions and igni builds a plan around the course you are in.