FAQs

I am having problems getting the software started (never got an email with my serial number/license, forgot my username, forgot my password).

One of our most common inquiries from students is why they did not receive their license/serial number. We always ask them to do the following:

  • check their SPAM folder for the email
  • check alternate email addresses (we send the license to the address entered when purchasing the software)

If neither of these options gives you the information needed to resolve the issue, please contact us through the License/Password/Login link on the Support page.

Will VUMIE run on iPads, Android tablets, other mobile devices?

Yes, VUMIE Online will work on any web-enabled device through its browser – Mac and PC computers, iPads, Android tablets, and other mobile devices included (though using a Smartphone is not advised or practical). Our older legacy product (VUMIE 2012) was intended for installation on a computer (PC or Mac).  VUMIE 2012 will not run on iPads, Android tablets, or other mobile devices.

How does the software work?

VUMIE Online does not require any download or installation on your device. The software resides on our server to run the simulation, along with the account you create using your VUMIE Online license. Any time you log into the account, you gain access to the lessons, simulation, and other features of VUMIE Online. Any time you quit or log off, the progress you have made is automatically stored in your account. No need to worry about computer crashes.

I teach a conventional wetlab and am curious about how VUMIE can add to what my students do.

There are many ways VUMIE Online can be used to supplement wetlabs and hybrid labs:

  • Some schools use it to provide a means for doing makeup work or online “practicals” for students forced to miss their conventional lab periods.
  • Others use VUMIE Online as a “pre-lab” to help expose students to techniques and biochemical tests they will be doing hands-on in an upcoming “in-person” lab.
  • And some schools use this as a homework resource or as enrichment to reinforce and extend activities conducted in “in-person” labs.
  • But the growing trend we have witnessed is the use of the software as a replacement for much or all of the hands-on lab work at nursing and other allied health professions schools. We were a valued resource when Micro labs went remote during COVID-19 (and we gave away tens of thousands of dollars of software licenses to all schools requesting it during that time period).
  • This journal article from 2021 compared the effectiveness of VUMIE 2012 to traditional in-person microbiology wetlab instruction. We believe VUMIE Online provides even more support, depth, and breadth in coverage of microbiology concepts and basic skills than seen in the version central to that article. Our intention all along was to make VUMIE Online more supportive for delivery of a total microbiology lab experience than simply focusing on aseptic technique and bacterial identification.

Why is the Micro Digital Media 3rd edition (MDM 3/e) not found on this page?

Because it is no longer needed! MDM 3/e was a typical lab manual centered on VUMIE 2012 software use. As a significant upgrade, we built all lessons (and provided much more extensive instruction, review and quizzing) into the VUMIE Online software. So VUMIE Online provides greater teaching and learning opportunities on the same topics as found in MDM 3/e, but with everything integrated into the software package. As a bonus, non-graded worksheets are provided to encourage practice on the topic and graded practical and objective quizzes are auto-graded with results emailed to the student and posted in the Instructor’s gradebook. All this makes the instructional content of VUMIE Online far superior to its predecessor. Here is a comparison of the content from MDM 3/e with that provided in VUMIE Online.

My instructor is not using the Admin Console – does that mean I can’t use VUMIE?

No, VUMIE Online works independently of the Admin Console. There are no features of the student software limited by an instructor not using Admin Console. The major inconvenience will be your having to supply the instructor with lab reports and any other documentation of your work, rather than the instructor automatically having access to that info via the Admin Console.

Instructor resources are another area where VUMIE Online is far superior to VUMIE 2012. The old product required instructors to download and install a separate software package for use in organizing and direct the work done by their students. It is free and easy to use. In VUMIE Online, the Admin Console is built into the package and accessed by toggling a link from the VUMIE Online Lab. An instructor can assign specific unknowns and Case Studies (rather than allowing the software to do so randomly!) to ensure students get to work with the microbes desired by the Instructor – or to ensure all students get their own unique microbes. Instructors can monitor ongoing work via access to the students’ Lab Reports to provide helpful suggestions and correct common mistakes they see students making. Grades are posted to the gradebook found here to simplify their work.

We see Admin Console used more frequently at health professions schools, but many schools choose not to use it and stick with VUMIE Online as a standalone product.

It doesn’t seem like the tests and reagents are the same for all bacteria – what gives?

When you create an unknown, the software automatically loads in all tests and media appropriate to bacteria of that Gram reaction for the microbe assigned. So, the software will have different available tests, media, and reagents for Gram positive cocci than it does for Gram negative bacilli. This is not unlike the difference in the tests one would use in a wet lab for identifying bacteria from these two groups.

I created an unknown microbe for an activity, and the Case Study that is provided doesn’t match up with the activity. What gives?

This is one of the more common quirks of the software reported by instructors and students. I explain the reason this way…

The software has over 200 Case Studies that were written specifically for the various places one of our 124 microbes might be encountered. For instance, Vibrio cholera is a gastrointestinal pathogen. But it also is found in contaminated water supplies. This means Case Studies relevant to either situation (medical or environmental) are equally valid. When an unknown bacterium is created, a Case Study appropriate to that microbe is assigned randomly from our database. There is no guarantee the software will provide a Case Study for the scenario central to the Lab Activity being done. A medical scenario may end up with an environmental Case Study.

Here are ways a match between the activity, microbe, and Case Study can be obtained:

  • A student can repeat creation of that unknown until an appropriate Case Study is supplied.
  • An instructor can provide students with their own Case Study outside the software via an email to the student, asking them to ignore the software’s choice of Case Study and use the one in the email instead.
  • Or, if the instructor is using the Admin Console, they can create unknowns for their students and select the Case Study they want students to use.
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