The Algorithmic Gauntlet: The Student Experience of ALEKS. The main complaint that students have about ALEKS arises from its system which does not allow students to redo their work. ALEKS treats wrong answers as complete failure because students need to master all the material before passing. A single missed question leads to the "downward spiral," which results in students needing to complete multiple marketing assignments as required. Students experience treadmill running because they expend great effort to maintain their current progress without making any forward movement. The Knowledge Check system forces students to deal with extreme assessment conditions, which lead to adverse effects on their performance. Students face total academic disaster when they take these surprise assessments because their performance on that day determines whether they pass or fail. The Pie breaks down because it stops functioning as a knowledge assessment tool and turns into a delicate glass object that needs constant protection from breaking. The platform produces its main problems because it maintains strict operational standards. The AI system needs students to use exact syntactical rules, which leads to educators implementing strict rules against any minor formatting mistakes students make while they understand mathematical concepts. The system denies students partial credit, which shows their progress through learning because it values correct answers above logical reasoning used during their assessment work. ALEKS transforms mathematics solutions into a battle between two opposing sides, which continues until one side gives up. The "topics" system eliminates all enjoyment that comes from solving problems because it requires students to complete repetitive data entry tasks. The system forces students to remember information because it succeeds at that task, but it decreases their educational enthusiasm by replacing positive discovery experiences with negative outcomes.