When I took my first CLEP exam, I felt pretty comfortable with the process and didn’t immediately see any reason to consider other brands like DSST. It wasn’t long before I realized the limits of brand loyalty and soon branched out to add several DSST exams to my scheduled. Continue reading “Compare CLEP vs DSST”
I know many of you are patiently waiting for a CLEP or DSST testing center to reopen, and we have great news!! We have a lead on 40 potential CLEP and DSST testing centers, but there is a catch…. Continue reading “Open Testing Centers”
Continue reading “A great freebie! DSST”
We’re in full social distancing mode, but even with so many businesses closed, earning college credit is still possible for most of our audience! The following list shows you which college credit resources are still alive and well! Continue reading “College Credit & Social Distancing”
Brain Dump: A strategy used by people to pass their CLEP exams.
Kicking off the new year with CLEP or DSST exam plans? There are a zillion ways to prep for a CLEP exam – so let me lead with this: It is my opinion that “CLEP Prep” is easiest AFTER your student finishes a homeschool class (not instead of). Just as you wouldn’t expect an SAT test prep book to teach your son algebra, my opinion is that a CLEP prep product isn’t designed to teach a subject “from scratch” either.
Continue reading “CLEP Prep in 2020”
When I took my first CLEP exam, I felt pretty comfortable with the process and didn’t immediately see any reason to consider other brands like DSST. It wasn’t long before I realized the limits of brand loyalty and soon branched out to add several DSST exams to my scheduled. Continue reading “Compare CLEP vs DSST”
What is the difference between the DSST Math for the Liberal Arts and CLEP College Mathematics exam?
~a question asked by MANY homeschool moms
Continue reading “DSST Math for the Liberal Arts vs. CLEP College Mathematics”
A very common question that parents ask is, “What should we use to study for the CLEP or DSST test?” A great way to find resources is to go directly to the source – the CLEP and DSST websites. That is exactly what I did to find the following resource for the DSST Math for the Liberal Arts test. This is a new test that came out January 2017 so there are no “tried and true” resources recommended by others. In fact, I couldn’t find any recommendations which propelled a search of my own.
A search of the DSST website led me to their Exam Facts Sheets. One of the resources listed on the DSST Math for the Liberal Arts Exam Sheet is Thinking Mathematically, Sixth Edition. The sixth edition (2014) of this book costs over $200 on Amazon. However, the fifth edition (2011) costs less than $10.
OLDER TEXTBOOK EDITIONS
You do not need the most current edition of textbooks. Older editions have much of the same content with generally only minor updates. You will also find more free resources available on the internet with older editions. Search for lectures on YouTube using the textbook title.
ISBN 978-0-321-64585-2
Each chapter is divided into several sections. Each section contains Examples (problems with solutions) and Checkpoints (problems for the student to work out). Answers to all Checkpoints are found in the back of the book. Additionally, there is an inexpensive DVD-Rom available with videos showing the solutions (more on that later).
At the end of each section is an Exercise Set that contains the following:
The answers for all of the odd problems in the Exercise Set are located in the back of the book.
At the end of each chapter is a Chapter Summary, Review, and Test. Answers to all review questions are in the back of the book. Answers and step-by-step solutions for the tests are found on the Blitzer ThinkingMathematically youtube channel.
Answers abound! A cheap, used math textbook is of no value without the answers, but in this situation, answers and solutions are readily available.
Completing a college textbook might seem daunting to your high schooler. But do they need to finish the whole textbook? No! As you can see from the chart below, 4 out of the 15 chapters do not cover content in the DSST exam. You would not need to work through them. In addition, chapters 6-12 cover 75% of the exam’s content so you would want to spend the bulk of your time in those seven chapters.
| DSST Math for the Liberal Arts | Thinking Mathematically chapters |
| 1. Real Number Systems 11%* | 4, 5 |
| 2. Sets and Logic 16% | 2, 3 |
| 3. Metric system, conversions, and geometry 12% | 9, 10 |
| 4. Algebra, graphs, and functions 11% | 6, 7 |
| 5. Linear Systems and Inequalities 8% | 7 |
| 6. Exponents and Logarithms including Financial Literacy 22% | 8 |
| 7. Counting, Probability Theory, and Statistics 20% | 11, 12 |
| * Percentages indicate the approximate amount of the exam devoted to this content area.
The following chapters have content not tested on the DSST: 1 Problem Solving and Critical Thinking 13 Mathematical Systems 14 Voting and Apportionment 15 Graph Theory |
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The total that I paid for the book and DVD was $18.23! When you consider the teaching resources available – answers in the textbook, YouTube videos, and DVD-Rom – this could be a very inexpensive, self-teaching resource for the DSST Math for the Liberal Arts test.
