Web cookies (also called HTTP cookies, browser cookies, or simply cookies) are small pieces of data that websites store on your device (computer, phone, etc.) through your web browser. They are used to remember information about you and your interactions with the site.
Purpose of Cookies:
Session Management:
Keeping you logged in
Remembering items in a shopping cart
Saving language or theme preferences
Personalization:
Tailoring content or ads based on your previous activity
Tracking & Analytics:
Monitoring browsing behavior for analytics or marketing purposes
Types of Cookies:
Session Cookies:
Temporary; deleted when you close your browser
Used for things like keeping you logged in during a single session
Persistent Cookies:
Stored on your device until they expire or are manually deleted
Used for remembering login credentials, settings, etc.
First-Party Cookies:
Set by the website you're visiting directly
Third-Party Cookies:
Set by other domains (usually advertisers) embedded in the website
Commonly used for tracking across multiple sites
Authentication cookies are a special type of web cookie used to identify and verify a user after they log in to a website or web application.
What They Do:
Once you log in to a site, the server creates an authentication cookie and sends it to your browser. This cookie:
Proves to the website that you're logged in
Prevents you from having to log in again on every page you visit
Can persist across sessions if you select "Remember me"
What's Inside an Authentication Cookie?
Typically, it contains:
A unique session ID (not your actual password)
Optional metadata (e.g., expiration time, security flags)
Analytics cookies are cookies used to collect data about how visitors interact with a website. Their primary purpose is to help website owners understand and improve user experience by analyzing things like:
How users navigate the site
Which pages are most/least visited
How long users stay on each page
What device, browser, or location the user is from
What They Track:
Some examples of data analytics cookies may collect:
Page views and time spent on pages
Click paths (how users move from page to page)
Bounce rate (users who leave without interacting)
User demographics (location, language, device)
Referring websites (how users arrived at the site)
Here’s how you can disable cookies in common browsers:
1. Google Chrome
Open Chrome and click the three vertical dots in the top-right corner.
Go to Settings > Privacy and security > Cookies and other site data.
Choose your preferred option:
Block all cookies (not recommended, can break most websites).
Block third-party cookies (can block ads and tracking cookies).
2. Mozilla Firefox
Open Firefox and click the three horizontal lines in the top-right corner.
Go to Settings > Privacy & Security.
Under the Enhanced Tracking Protection section, choose Strict to block most cookies or Custom to manually choose which cookies to block.
3. Safari
Open Safari and click Safari in the top-left corner of the screen.
Go to Preferences > Privacy.
Check Block all cookies to stop all cookies, or select options to block third-party cookies.
4. Microsoft Edge
Open Edge and click the three horizontal dots in the top-right corner.
Go to Settings > Privacy, search, and services > Cookies and site permissions.
Select your cookie settings from there, including blocking all cookies or blocking third-party cookies.
5. On Mobile (iOS/Android)
For Safari on iOS: Go to Settings > Safari > Privacy & Security > Block All Cookies.
For Chrome on Android: Open the app, tap the three dots, go to Settings > Privacy and security > Cookies.
Be Aware:
Disabling cookies can make your online experience more difficult. Some websites may not load properly, or you may be logged out frequently. Also, certain features may not work as expected.
During the summer of 2013, coordinated efforts with CLAS, ACES, ENGG, and Business to implement Math Placement Assessment (MPA) ALEKS.
Over 4000 students took ALEKS placement test in Fall 2013.
Coordinated efforts with regional campuses on implementation of ALEKS.
Coordinated data integration efforts for evaluation of efficiency of the ALEKS placement test with three large courses Math 1060, Math 1131 and Math 1132.
Analyzed data and presented the finding to the ALEKS steering committee, department and Admissions.
Worked with UITS and Registrar office on implementation of prerequisite in PeopleSoft administration system.
Created a bank of frequently asked questions for students, instructors and administrators in the University.
Data Analysis for Placement using ALEKS
The department of Mathematics at University of Connecticut offers courses each semester in differential and integral calculus to its students. Currently, the students particularly incoming freshmanare not administered a placement test that would place them in the appropriate course. In the past few years it has been seen that these courses have unusually high rates of students getting grades in Ds, Fs and Ws (withdraw). To investigate usually high DFW rates, following steps have been taken. A pretest was designed and administered to all the students in Math 1125 Calculus 1a and Math 1131 (regular calculus).Data was requested from OIR for seven years starting from Fall 2005 to Fall 2011.Demographic data on students with SAT scores, High school GPA, gender, AP score etc is being used to conduct predictive analysis.Linear regression will be used to determine predictors that explain most variation in the data (grades in calculus courses).The analysis will give a base line of student performance over the last three years. This will allow the University and the department of mathematics to evaluate the success of implementing a placement program such as ALEKS.
For more information on the ALEKS placement test at UConn, please visit the Placement Website