FAQ
Questions, answered.
What is Alder's Book?
A learning platform for the courses that decide whether students stay in a major. Instead of a fixed problem set, it tracks what you have actually mastered, concept by concept, and gives you the next problem that moves you forward.
Which courses do you cover?
- Exercise Physiology
- Financial AccountingIntroduction to financial accounting principles and practice
- General ChemistryIn previewA comprehensive guide to general chemistry fundamentals
- Introduction to PythonAn introduction to programming with Python — variables, control flow, functions, data structures, and file handling.
- Introductory PsychologyAn introductory, evidence-based survey of psychological science: methods, learning and memory, cognition, motivation and emotion, development, personality, social psychology, disorders, and therapies.
- Organic ChemistryA comprehensive guide to organic chemistry fundamentals
Do I need my professor to be using it?
No. You can work through a course on your own at your own pace. Going solo means buying the textbook, though. Joining a class with your professor's code is the only way to get free access, and it lasts 14 days.
If your professor does use it, your work connects to their class, and their pacing takes precedence over your personal plan for that subject.
How is this different from asking ChatGPT?
A general chatbot answers your question and moves on. It doesn't know which concepts you've already proven, so it can't steer you away from what you've mastered and toward what you haven't. And it isn't tied to your textbook.
Alder's Book grades deterministically and tracks mastery over months. See exactly what the models do and don't do.
Does AI grade my work?
No. Every correctness decision is computed on our servers without a model involved. Here's how that works.
Where does the content come from?
Problems come from our own bank and reach students only after a reviewer approves them.
How does mastery work?
Each concept has a threshold and a decay window. Getting something right once does not mark it mastered; getting it right consistently does.
Mastery decays if you don't touch a concept, so review surfaces before you have actually forgotten it.
Can I try it first?
Yes. The interactive demo takes about 5 minutes and needs no account.
Is my data private?
The governing documents are our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.
Who built this?
Alder's Book was built at Skidmore College, starting with organic chemistry.
It's named for Kurt Alder, who shared the 1950 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the Diels–Alder reaction, which is also where our tutor gets its name.
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