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CoP Examsoft Liaisons: examsoft.uri@gmail.com
Contents The Basics ................................................................................................................................................ 1 First-time setup ................................................................................................................................. 4 Starting and completing an assessment .................................................................... 6 Downloading assessments ...................................................................................................... 6 Starting your test ............................................................................................................................. 8 Completing your assessment ............................................................................................... 10 Navigation ............................................................................................................................................. 16 Finishing up and uploading .................................................................................................... 17
Problems and troubleshooting ........................................................................................ 20
The Basics •
What is Examsoft? The Examsoft platform will be used to deliver your assessments for some classes during your time here at the College of Pharmacy (CoP): exams for BSPS
students, and exams and quizzes for PharmD students. It’s essentially the backend of the system. You will be asked to install the Examplify software (usually the student-facing frontend software) on your device to complete your assessments. •
Minimum system requirements: o Windows: Windows 10 and 11, 64-bit versions. Windows 10S/11S are not supported. o Macs: Big Sur, Monterey, and Ventura. o iPads: CoP does not purchase licenses for the use of Examplify on iPads, so you will not be able to use the app on iPads. For a more comprehensive list of requirements, please visit this page.
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Who we are: We are TAs assigned specifically to help maintain and administer the Examsoft platform here at CoP, as well as assist students with technical issues related to Examsoft/Examplify. We can be reached at examsoft.uri@gmail.com. We are not
assigned to any single class and will not be able to help you with class/assessment content-related questions during an assessment or outside one- one of us will always be present as a proctor (or on call) for each assessment that is delivered on Examsoft
however, so please feel free to get our attention and we can direct your assessmentrelated question to the class TA or the faculty member in the room.
If your assessment is in room 170, we’re usually found at the back of the room with loaner laptops (see below). In other rooms, we’re usually at the front of the room. In either case, we will be at the room 5-10 minutes before start time. •
Loaner laptops: We have Windows laptops available for use during an assessment, in
case yours does not work for any reason. Please find us before the start of the assessment, and we can lend you one. Please return the laptops to us before you leave. 1
We can let you use a loaner if you have forgotten your own device or if yours is not compatible, but we strongly encourage you to not rely on the loaners for regular use:
please remember to bring your own device or get it updated to the latest Examplifycompatible operating system ASAP.
Loaners are limited in number and are needed for students that have last-minute technical difficulties. •
How assessments work on Examplify: Login to your Examplify > Download your
assessment > Type in the assessment password that is given to you at the start of your assessment by your proctors > Start your assessment. A couple things to keep in mind:
o The order of questions (and answers, for MCQs) will be randomized for each student- you will be getting the same questions as everyone else, just in a different order.
o Each student’s timer is individual: your timer will start when you start your assessment successfully, so don’t panic if your software takes a minute to start. •
Common issues: The most common issue you will face using Examplify is the disappearing download: you download your assessment file in preparation for the assessment (maybe the night before the assessment or the morning of) but it’s disappeared when you’re about to start.
If this happens, don’t panic! This is easily fixable- please come find us in the room before the start of your assessment. •
Students with accommodations: If you are a student that requires accommodation and has had a formal letter from the Office of Disability, Access, and Inclusion (DAI) sent to
CoP, you will take your test in a specific accommodation room at Avedisian Hall, or at
the Academic Testing Center (ATC; room 201/202 Chafee Hall). You will be informed beforehand by your professor or Associate Dean Dr Kelly Orr of where you will be taking your test.
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A few things to keep in mind: o If you’re at the ATC: inform the ATC staff of any issues. A loaner laptop is always kept at the ATC in case your device throws up any issues.
o If you’re in a room at Avedisian: inform the proctor in your room of any issues. If you know beforehand that you will need a loaner laptop, drop us an email and we can plan for a loaner to be handed over to you. Please return the loaner as soon as you are done.
o Extended exam time for students based on documentation from DAI will be adjusted within the system for all assessments.
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Exam etiquette: Please leave the room quietly to avoid disturbing others- in room 170, do not use the rear doors- please use the doors behind the podium up front. You are
also strongly encouraged to show proctors the green splash screen indicating a successful upload before you leave.
Please also avoid gathering outside the room or its doors and speaking loudly or otherwise disturbing students still working on their assessment.
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First-time setup If you’re new to Examsoft/Examplify, this section takes you briefly through the steps of what to expect and how to setup your software and account.
Step 1- We will email you through the URI Examsoft system. The email will have your User ID (your 9-digit URI ID number) and temporary password. Step 2- Follow the instruction on the email by logging into
https://ei.examsoft.com/GKWeb/ login/uri. Use the ‘Student/Exam Taker’ option.
Search for ‘uri’ in the Institution list- ‘University of Rhode Island College of Pharmacy (uri)’ should appear. Select and hit ‘Continue’. Pick the User Portal login option on the next page, then use your login credentials on the ‘Exam Takers’ section at the top left-hand corner of the browser.
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Step 3- Change your password. The PW sent to you is a randomly-generated one: we
strongly recommend changing it to one you can remember. Do this by hovering on your name on the top right corner of the browser, then clicking ‘My Account’. Update your password and navigate back to the home page below.
Step 4- Complete your download and install by following the instructions on the left of your browser window. Step 5- You should now be able to open Examplify on your device. You should be logged in automatically. If not, use your User ID and new PW to login.
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Starting and completing an assessment Downloading assessments On logging in/opening your Examplify, you should be able to see a ‘My Exams’ bar on the
left of your screen. These are all assessments that are available for you to download and complete currently, as long as you are given the password. Click the arrow next to the assessment name to download.
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These will appear depending on when your professor has set the assessment’s download start time to. If you have a test soon (within the next 24 hours or so) and you don’t see it come up for download: •
hit the ‘Refresh Exam List’ option at the bottom of the sidebar, or the screen below:
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if that doesn’t work, check with others in the class to see if others are encountering the problem too. If no one else can see the assessment, the professor has likely not uploaded it yet- contact your professor.
If you download the test early and find that it’s disappeared when you try to start, come see us at the back/front of the room (or inform your proctor if you’re in the ATC or an accommodation room).
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Starting your test Once you’ve downloaded your assessment file, you should see the screen below. The first step is to enter the assessment password. This will be given to you at the scheduled start time of the assessment by one of your proctors.
Besides giving you a way to access the assessment, this screen gives you some key pieces of information about the settings your professor has set for your test. A quick rundown of possibilities: •
All of your assessments will be set to Secure. This means that you will not be able to use your device for anything other than for Examplify until your assessment is complete. 8
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You will be able to see what the duration of the assessment will be here.
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WiFi off is the default setting: it disconnects your connection to the network for the duration of the assessment. Once you’re done, you may have to reconnect to the WiFi to finish uploading your completed assessment file.
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Backwards navigation is a setting that allows students to leave questions
unanswered and return to them later. The sample exam above has it enabled; the icon below indicates that backwards navigation is not enabled- you will have to answer
each question as you get it, so plan your time management accordingly. You’ll be reminded of this once you start the assessment too:
Whether this is enabled or not is up to the professor- this tends to vary from class to class: please confirm with your professor what kind of navigation setting they will be using for the class before your first assessment. •
You can also see a rundown of other features enabled/disabled for the assessment.
The sample exam has the calculator and highlighting functions enabled. A notes
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function may also be turned on, allowing you to take down some quick notes to assist with answering questions.
You can now enter the password in the field provided and hit ‘Enter’.
Completing your assessment Some assessments might have a pre-assessment notice to give you relevant information. An example is shown below.
Next up will be a warning screen- since you’ve been given the password to the assessment, you’ve been given permission to start anyway, so go ahead and hit ‘Continue’.
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One final confirmation that you’re ready to start- follow the instructions (tick the box and start!).
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Now for a quick rundown of the types of questions you can get: •
Fill in the blanks
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MCQs
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Essays (can double as calculations)
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True/false
While there are other types of questions available on the Examsoft platform, your professors have stuck to these in the past. The bar on the top of your screen gives you a couple of options and details.
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The timer: your timer is your own. It will not start until you start the assessment, so don’t panic if device or software issues hold you up at the start before you begin.
Most of your exams will have a 5-minute alarm that will remind you when you have just 5 minutes left. The timer will turn orange when this happens:
• The ‘Exam Controls’ dropdown: lets you submit the exam (see page 18). • The ‘Tool Kit’: has three options- Tools, Calculator and Notes.
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The Tools tab lets you check on the remaining time, allows you to add a custom alarm, adjust font size and review the pre-assessment notice if you wish to do so.
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The Calculator tab makes two different calculators available to you- a basic one
(Keyboard Friendly; above) or a proper scientific one (Classic; below).
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Clicking on the INV button on the Classic calculator gives you access to more (inverse)
functions. For example, you can see the natural log (ln) button gets replaced by the ex button, its inverse function. Finally, the Notes tab lets you take down any notes that may help you answer the question.
This is not visible to your grader and is meant purely for your personal convenience. Each question has a new Notes section. Provided your professor has enabled it, you can also highlight important parts of the question. The option to do so (and erase highlighter, as well as change highlighter colors) is right next to the Question number:
The Flag Question option allows you to mark a question for later (remember, you can revisit questions only in assessments where backwards navigation is allowed!).
One final note: there may be times when you need more space for your answer which the question might be taking up on your screen. The little arrow next to the question number
(indicated by the red arrow) allows you to collapse the full question so you can get a little more space on your screen to answer the question.
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Navigation There are multiple ways to navigate your way through your assessment. First, the sidebar on the left-hand side of the screen:
You can click on the question numbers to jump from question to question- take care when doing this in assessments where backwards navigation is not available! You can also see you
can filter using the option at the top, showing you questions you’ve flagged, questions you’ve left unanswered or questions you’ve already answered. Second, there is the ‘Next’ button at the bottom right-hand corner of the screen:
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Finishing up and uploading There are 3 ways to submit your assessment: 1.
If you run out of time during the assessment, you will see the following screen:
Examplify will save whatever answers you’ve given and prepare your assessment file for upload.
2. Clicking the ‘Finish’ button at the bottom right-hand corner of your screen (previously the ‘Next’ button- see page 16):
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3. Clicking the Exam Controls menu on the navigation bar at the top of the screen and clicking on ‘Submit Exam’:
Regardless of which option above ends up happening, you will see the splash screen below:
You must be connected to WiFi for this to work! Three green check marks will appear on this screen, and a window (whether you’re using a Windows or Mac) might flash up on screen repeatedly for a brief time- this is normal.
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If all goes well, you will see the green splash screen below. This is a sign your upload went through successfully! On rare occasions, you might just get directed back to the home screen
(with the My Exams list), and just get a simple popup with a green check mark indicating your upload has taken place successfully. If there is any doubt your upload has not gone through, please come check with one of the Examsoft TAs before you leave the room.
Examplify saves your answers locally on your device, so don’t be worried about an upload not going through!
We ask that you show this screen to a proctor before leaving the room.
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Problems and troubleshooting Issue Forgot your account password
Solution 1. Reset your password using the link on the login screen, or
2. Ask us for your password via email or directly at the start of the assessment
Downloaded exam file disappeared
Email us or meet us before the start of the
assessment
Device not working
Ask for a loaner laptop at the start of the
Examplify stuck on loading
1. Restart your device- do this using the power
after entering password Examplify/device crashes midassessment
assessment button
2. If (1) fails, ask for a loaner Call us over immediately for the Resume Code
OR
Examplify warning pops up requiring a Resume Code to enter the exam
Examplify refuses to upload completed assessment file
Check that you are connected to Wi-Fi: it is very
common for the software to disconnect you from the network while doing an assessment. Once
connected, you may have to try a few times as many students may be connected to the same router and it may be running slow Examplify crashes when trying to upload your assessment OR
The software won’t exit from full screen mode to let you connect to Wi-Fi OR
Examplify refuses to upload multiple
Restart your device using the power button (your exam info is saved on your device, don’t worry!).
Reopen Examplify and it should auto-upload (if not, hit Upload next to the completed assessment file) N.B.: you will not see a green splash screen here,
just a simple message indicating a successful upload
times even when connected to Wi-Fi Examplify application malfunctioning (i.e., cannot download exams, cannot
Use the steps at this link to clear your Examsoft registration and reboot the system
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enter passwords, cannot get exams to load, etc.)
When first installed and opened, an
error involving ARM processors pops up (Windows only)
1.
Start menu > Settings
2. Privacy and Security (on left panel) > 3.
Windows Security > Virus & threat protection Virus & threat protection settings > Manage settings
4. Scroll down to Exclusions > Add or remove
exclusions (hit Yes if it asks you if you're sure you want to make these changes)
5. Add an exclusion > Folder
6. In the popup window that opens, navigate to 7.
the C: drive > ProgramData
Find and select the Examplify folder and click on 'Select folder' (you will see that folder is now on the list)
8. Add an exclusion > Folder (again) 9. C: > Program Files > select Examsoft folder (if not in Program Files, try Program Files (x86))
Restart device and run Examplify. If this fails to work, contact us. When first installed and opened, an
Macs tend to become incompatible with Examplify
error involving Minimum System
after a few years of updates. Check the minimum
Requirements pops up (Macs only)
requirements: you may have to use a loaner for the duration of the semester or consider borrowing or purchasing a compatible device.
- For any other questions or concerns, email us at: examsoft.uri@gmail.com -
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