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How to use this course
You'll be able to: say what score you need, how each lesson works, and how to set up a study session that works with your focus, not against it.
Step 1 of 4The idea
The SLCC Math Placement is a test you take online, from home, through MySLCC (SLCC's placement website is called Mobius). Your score decides which math class you can sign up for.
The score you need. A 300 places you into MATH 1010 (Intermediate Algebra). A 400 places you into MATH 1050 (College Algebra). Your goal is 400 or higher in test week, Monday, December 14.
If you need a retake. 1 retake per semester, a 3-week wait between attempts, and a $20 fee.
SLCC gives a 90-minute limit and says the test takes about 30 minutes. You do it in one sitting, with no notes and no help, and you can't go back to an earlier question.
SLCC does not publish the topic list. So this course covers the algebra that MATH 1010 teaches, which is what College Algebra expects you to know.
How a lesson works
Each lesson is one idea and about 20-25 minutes, in 5 steps: warm-up, the idea, worked examples, practice, wrap-up.
Do each problem on paper, type the answer, and press Check. Missed it twice? Open the worked solution. Then mark Got it or Missed it.
Problems you mark "Missed it" go on the retry list on the course home page. Each unit ends with a checkpoint quiz, and two mock placement tests come at the very end.
Set up for focus
- 25 minutes on, 5 minutes off. This is called the Pomodoro method. Start a timer, work until it rings, then take a real break. After a week, tell your teacher bot whether a shorter or longer block suits you better.
- Phone in another room. Not face down on the desk. In another room.
- Paper and pencil. Math sticks better when your hand writes each step.
- Bad day? Start tiny. Promise yourself only the warm-up. Starting is the hard part, and you are allowed to stop after it.
- Body doubling. Study with someone else nearby, in person or on a video call. They don't have to help. Having them there makes it easier to stay on task.
- One-lesson minimum. On a study day, finish at least one lesson. Anything more is a bonus.
Why warm-ups and a retry list? Pulling an answer out of your own memory (called retrieval) makes it stick far better than rereading. Doing it again a day or more later (called spacing) makes it last until test day.
Why this shows up on the placement test: you can't use notes or go back, so only what you can recall on your own counts, and that is exactly what warm-ups and retries train.
Step 2 of 4Worked example: a 2-hour study day
Example 1: a good day, four focus blocks
- Set up (2 minutes). Phone in another room, water, paper and pencil. Open the course home page.
- Block 1 (25 minutes). First 5 minutes: retry two or three problems from the retry list. Then start the next lesson: warm-up and the idea. Retrying old problems first is spacing at work.
- Break (5 minutes). Stand up, stretch, refill your water. Skip the phone; it rarely stays at 5 minutes.
- Block 2 (25 minutes). Finish the lesson: worked examples and practice. Mark Got it or Missed it on each problem.
- Break (5 minutes).
- Block 3 (25 minutes). One more whole lesson.
- Longer break (10 minutes). Get some food or walk around the block.
- Block 4 (25 minutes). Another lesson, or the checkpoint quiz if you just finished a unit.
- Total: 4 blocks of 25 minutes is 100 minutes of focus, plus 20 minutes of breaks: 2 hours. That is about two or three lessons, which is a strong day.
Example 2: a bad day, one block
- Set a 25-minute timer and open the next lesson. Do only the warm-up.
- If it feels OK, keep going. If not, stop when the timer rings. The one-lesson minimum can wait for tomorrow; showing up still counts.
Step 3 of 4Practice
Five quick questions about the plan. Type your answer and press Check. If you miss twice, open the worked solution. Then mark how it went.
What placement score do you need to place into MATH 1050 (College Algebra)?
A 300 places you into MATH 1010. A score of 400 places you into MATH 1050.
In this course's suggested plan, how many minutes long is one focus block?
One focus block is 25 minutes of work, followed by a 5-minute break. You can adjust it later.
If you need a retake, how many weeks must you wait after your first attempt?
SLCC requires a 3-week wait between math placement attempts (and allows 1 retake per semester, with a $20 fee).
You just finished this lesson. Which page should you open next?
- Mock placement test one
- The Unit 1 checkpoint
- The diagnostic quiz page
- The course glossary page
The diagnostic quiz comes next (c). It shows which units you already know, so you can skim those and save time.
The checkpoint comes at the end of Unit 1, the mock tests at the end of the course, and the glossary is for looking things up any time.
You marked a problem "Missed it" today. When is the best time to retry it?
- Right away, five more times
- One or two days later
- The night before the test
- Never; just skip it forever
One or two days later (b). Coming back after a gap (spacing) and pulling the answer from memory (retrieval) is what makes it stick.
Repeating it right away feels good but fades fast, and one cram session the night before is too late to fix gaps.
Step 4 of 4Wrap-up
You can now name your target (400 for MATH 1050), use each lesson's Check box, worked solutions, and retry list, and set up a 25-minute focus block that you can shrink on a bad day.
Next step: the diagnostic quiz. It takes about 40-50 minutes, so plan two focus blocks with a break in between.
Read next: SLCC Math Placement FAQ (official score table and retake rules). How the test is taken: Welcome to the SLCC Placement Process. SLCC's suggested extra practice: SLCC Placement Preparation.
Also good: CHADD: Time management and ADHD, to-do lists (breaking big tasks into small steps) and The Learning Scientists: Retrieval practice. Look up any word: Glossary.
Something unclear? Ask your teacher bot a follow-up question, for example: "Can you make me a plan for a day when I only have 45 minutes?" It knows this course and can explain things another way.