| Symptom |
Possible Causes |
| None of the students are able to “join” the class session |
a. The professor selected the wrong class when starting the software today.
b. Students registered their keypads incorrectly online. If *all* of them are incorrect, it is possible there was a typo in the course code communicated to the students. |
| In SMA mode, a grid comes on screen that I’ve never seen before. |
You have at least one student in your class using a “Generation One” keypad. Because that student has no way to see if she has answered the question, the system defaults to showing this grid that can (should) be projected for the class to see. It duplicates the information of the LCD clickers of the “Gen-2” clickers. In essence, having even one student use a Gen-1 clicker means that the software will treat the entire class as though they all have Gen-1 clickers. |
| Some individual students cannot answer the particular question. |
a. They probably came late. Students can “join” a TMA session in progress but won’t be allowed to answer the “current” question, if the question was “engaged” before the student finished the process of joining the session.
b. If you’re running in SMA mode, students cannot join after the session is engaged. Late students will have to use an alternative such as taking the test on paper. |
| After I engage the session, an error message comes on screen right away. |
It is possible the receiver is not responding to CPS. The instructor will need to "detect the receiver" before engaging any session. Go to Delivery Options > Receiver > Detect CPS Receiver. After it cycles through, hit "OK" and the instructor should be able to run his/her session. |
| Records are lost in SMA mode when the screen saver comes on. |
Do not allow the computer to enter screensaver or monitor-off mode during SMA testing. You won't get any warnings or errors, but the student responses will not be tallied if the screensaver is engaged. |
| My class roster isn't here in this database. |
If you are trying to run a session in CPS for PowerPoint and your class roster is not showing up in your database, it is possible the instructor has opened up the wrong database. If the user opens up the CPS for PC or CPS for PowerPoint icon on the desktop/tool bar, the program will automatically default to the last database that was opened up. In CPS for PC, user must go to File > Open Database > select database. In CPS for PowerPoint, user must go to Open CPS Database > Open Database > select database. Please make sure you are running your database off the local machine and not off the thumb drive. If the instructor is dragging and dropping his/her database off a thumb drive, do not forget to drag the database back onto the thumb drive after he/she is finished with a session. For FERPA compliance, it is very important the instructor sets a password for his/her database. In CPS for PC, go to Settings > Passwords > create password. |
| I'm not able to create a question slide that is recognized by the clickers. |
Slides that can tally student responses aren't normal slides; they are a special kind: make sure you are creating your questions using the dropdown menu “Insert Question”. Left click the “X” to define the correct answer, and it will turn into a green check mark. Left click the “Green Check” to disable the correct answer. Go to View > Master > Slide Master if you need to configure your PowerPoint layout.
Note that this dropdown menu is not present in the 'normal' PowerPoint software. If the user opens up regular PowerPoint, user will not get the eInstruction toolbar to create CPS integrated questions. In order to create a CPS question using CPS for PowerPoint, user must remember to open up the CPS for PowerPoint icon located on the desktop/toolbar. |
| I'm using the right software but still don't see the toolbar to Insert a Question |
If the user has opened up CPS for PowerPoint and does not see the eInstruction toolbar, it is possible to toolbar has been disabled. To active this toolbar, go to View > Toolbar > Customize > select CPS. |
| I finished a session but I don't see the results online, at eInstruction's website. |
If the instructor forgot to select “Automatically Upload Session Upon Completion” before engaging in a session or does not see the session online, the instructor would need to manually upload the session. Go to Reports and right click on the correct session and select upload CPS Online. |
| How do I get the question to start automatically after I select 'engage'? How do I auto-start the timer? How do I detach the grid to put it on the side of the slide rather than the bottom? How do I get the chart to pop up automatically with results after the question is done? |
Under Delivery Options, the user can select their display options here. The user can rollover any of the options and a description will appear in the right dialogue box. Many configurations beyond these commons ones are possible. |
