Assessment Center: Study Materials
Reviewing will give you the best opportunity to reach your highest competency level and course placement. Lacking preparation could lead to placement in courses beneath your capabilities.
Preparing for the English Assessment
The English assessment measures your writing abilities in the areas of grammar/usage and rehetorical skills. Grammar and mechanics measure surface-level characteristics, such as punctuation, basic grammar and sentence structure. Rhetorical skill items assess your understanding of the purposes and methods of effective writing in relation to strategy, organization and style of written composition. We recommend the following study resources:
- English Study Guide (sample test items)
- Online Writing Lab at Purdue University (tutorials and exercises)
- The Bedford Handbook - Diana Hacker (online book companion - grammar review)
Preparing for the Reading Assessment
The reading assessment is designed to measure your ability to construct meaning from what is read, focusing on areas such as comprehending material explicitly stated in a reading passage. You will also demonstrate your proficiency at making appropriate inferences, developing a critical understanding of the text and determining the specific meanings of unfamiliar or ambiguous words based on the surrounding context. We recommend the following study resources:
- Reading Study Guide (sample test items)
- Reading Critically (reading and study strategies)
- AVC Learning Center (online reading resources)
Preparing for the English as a Second Language (ESL) Assessment
The ESL assessment consists of three sections: Grammar/Usage, Reading and Listening skills. Each section ranges from beginning to near-native-speaker ability, which provides a profile of a student's English language abilities. We recommend the following study resources:
- ESL Study Guide (sample test items)
- ESL Learning Centre (English Club: English language lessons)
Preparing for the Math Assessment
The math assessment measures your knowledge and skills in arithmetic, algebraic concepts, and trigonometric functions and identities. Students may begin the math assessment in either basic math or introductory algebra. The math assessment is computer-adaptive, meaning your previous answers to questions will determine the difficulty level of subsequent questions. The adaptive feature will also determine if you should branch into lower or higher level content areas. We recommend the following study resources:
- Math Study Guide - (sample test items)
- PAWs BEST! (Math PreAssessment Workshops)
- Khan Academy (free online math video lessons)
- Test Preparation (online practice tests)
- Numerical Skills/PreAlgebra Content Review (review of arithmetic and prealgebra):
- Operations with Integers
- Multiples and factors of integers
- Operations with Fractions
- Operations with Decimals
- Conversions between fractions and decimals
- Exponents, square roots, scientific notation
- Ratios and proportions
- Percentages
- Averages (Means, Medians, and Modes)
- Percent Word Problems
- Number Word Problems
- Algebra
Content Review (beginning algebra review)
- Substituting Values into Algebraic Expressions
- Setting Up Equations for Given Situations
- Basic Operations with Polynomials
- Factoring Polynomials
- Linear Equations in One Variable
- Exponents and Radicals
- Simplifying Rational Expressions
- Adding and Subtracting Rational Expressions
- Multiplying and Dividing Rational Expressions
- Linear Equations in Two Variables
- College Algebra Content Review (review beyond 2nd year algebra proficiency)
- Trigonometry Content Review (review of trigonometric concepts and their application in problem solving)