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?
The current version must be installed on a computer (PC or Mac). Our new version, currently in Beta, will run in any device with a browser. Click here to join our waiting list!
How does the software work?
The software is installed on computers that will be used to run the simulation. Install on as many machines as you’d like. The student purchases a serial number and creates an online account that allows them to use any computer with the software. You can even start work on one computer and complete it on another, since your work in the software is stored on our server and not on the computers you work on. So if your computer crashes, no work is lost because you can always access your account from another computer using your login and password.
I teach a conventional wetlab and am curious about how VUMIE can add to what my students do.
There are many ways VUMIE 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 missing their conventional lab periods.
- Others use the software and MDM 3/e activities as a “pre-lab” to help expose students to techniques and biochemical tests they will be doing hands-on in an upcoming lab.
- And some schools use this as a homework resource to reinforce lab lessons.
- 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.
Why is the Micro Digital Media 2nd edition (MDM 2/e) not found on this page?
MDM 2/e was created for an early version of VUMIE. As we refined its content, changes were made that rendered MDM 2/e obsolete for our current version of the software. So, we created a new edition of the lab manual to better reflect the improved version. MDM 3/e matches the content of the software in ways MDM 2/e does not, and provides better guidance for helping students master the software quickly and easily. We find that instructors and students avoid confusion and inconsistencies by sticking with MDM 3/e. And so, for that reason, we have stopped offering MDM 2/e for users.
My instructor is not using the Admin Console – does that mean I can’t use VUMIE?
No, VUMIE works independently of the Admin Console. There are no features of the student software limited by an instructor not using Admin Console.
This is a separate software package that instructors can use to organize and direct the work done by their students. It is free and easy to use. An instructor can assign specific unknowns and Case Studies (not randomly!) to ensure students get to work with specific microbes – or to ensure all students get their own unique microbes. Instructors can monitor ongoing work to provide helpful suggestions and correct common mistakes they see students making. We see it used more frequently at health professions schools, but many schools choose not to use it and stick with VUMIE 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. 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 wetlab for identifying bacteria from these two groups.
I created an unknown microbe for an MDM 3/e lab activity, and the Case Study that is provided doesn’t match 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 ecological) 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 MDM 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.