Proxams: Computer Based Assessment Platform

Documentation of Features and Usage Guide for Proxams

Introduction

Proxams is an advanced computer based testing platform with rich features for easy administration of tests and assessments online and offline.

Proxams is designed to handle all forms of multiple choice questions including single answer questions and multiple answer questions.

The platform is lightweight and is intended for desktop and mobile users to either take a one-off test or as a practice centre for repetitive tests.

Proxams allows the combination of different subjects that make up a single test and gives the option to choose the maximum number of questions from a particular subject. The subjects are arranged as tabs for easy navigation.

An administrator can create a bank of questions and these questions can be randomly selected for different users.

The order of questions can be shuffled and also the answers if the administrator wants.

You can equally choose to display a user score at the end of test or just show a successful submission page.

Proxams can be used by schools for examination or tests, companies for recruitment aptitude test exercises, test administrators or vendors and individuals as a practice platform.

Schemes, Tests and Categories

To efficiently deploy the features of Proxams, these three terms need to be understood correctly:
1. Scheme: A scheme is name of the program or the exercise you want to carry out e.g. Recruitment Aptitude Tests, Promotional Examinations, Admission Screening Test, First Semester Examinations etc.
2. Tests: A Test is the name of the subject that will contain the questions pertaining to them e.g. Verbal Reasoning, Numerical Reasoning, Spatial Reasoning, Management Science etc.
3. Categories: Categories are the unique groups that will write different test(s) assigned to them. For example, Engineering Category may be writing verbal reasoning and mechanical reasoning tests while Management Department may be writing verbal reasoning and financial analysis tests.
A scheme has to be added, then test(s) and the test has to be assigned to a category.
Under Schemes, you can specify the start and end date of the tests, pass mark, grading (points or percent), show score at the end of test, allow test to be taken more than once, show correct answers, start or pause the scheme. You must always start your scheme when you're done bulding your test.
Under test, you can choose to either shuffle the questions or answers, the maximum number of questions to be chosen for that particular test, the number of questions to be displayed per page, the total time for the test and the marks or points per question.
Under categories, you can choose tests that will feature in that category, choose to shuffle the order of tests, choose to show or hide calculator, choose to number the test questions separately or continuously and pause and re-start a category.

Questions

Proxams provides a flexible interface to load your questions to the platform.
Questions can be added manually or by bulk upload.
Questions can be multiple-optioned or a boolean type question. A maximum of five options is allowed per question.
A text editor is used to format your questions for easy understanding by your users.

Questions with multiple answers are also enabled and the administrator will have to tick the right options from the Correct Answer field.
Images, charts and graphics can be added into your questions.
You can provide explanations for your answer so that your users can see how you arrived at a particular answer. This is most useful for administrators using the platform as practice or mentorship centres for their subscribers.

For bulk upload, your questions and their answers would have to be prepared with a Excel Sheet (Recommended) or a CSV editor. Download Excel format here and CSV format here.
Only these two formats are allowed and questions should be prepared in line with the sample formats above to avoid errors.
Images, charts and graphics are not allowed in the bulk upolad options but uploaded questions can be edited to add those images manually.

Results

Test results and scores in proxams are presented in both tabular and graphical forms.
The tabular form gives a breakdown of the user data, the exam score, the number of right answers and wrong answers, the number of unanswered questions. You can also view the test performance detail and the candidate picture.

Right answered questions have the green check icon.
Wrong answered questions have the red 'X' icon and the correct option for that question is ticked with green check icon.
Unanswered questions have the grey-shaded 'O' icon and the correct option is also given in green check icon.
There is an option to print out your results in PDF. This will prepare the test result of your candidates in a customized form and make it available for printing.

Printed result sheet is prepared with your organization name and logo as a letterhead.

The graphical form of result presentation makes use of two charts: the bar chart and the dough nut charts.
It categorizes the performance by scores of students and groups them using bars and arcs respectively. The range is 0-10, 20-30....90-100.
This gives a visual aid of the average performance of your users.

Users

Proxams makes process of inputting candidates data very easy.
Two options available are: manual input and bulk upload.
The Manual option allows you to input the candidate name, exam no and upload picture.

The bulk upload option is for mass uploading of candidates data well formatted in a Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet. The file must be formatted according to the sample given here.

If users photos are needed, it is important to ensure that the file names of the photos or images correspond to the names in the Image column of the spreadsheet.

The Excel file is selected from your computer and uploaded by clicking the 'Upload Names' button.

The folder containing the photos should be uploaded completely using the 'Choose Photos' button and selecting all the pictures in the folder.

Candidates or users for your exercise can be viewed, edited or deleted as may be needed. Also, the list of candidates can be compiled in PDF and printed.

Its always good to confirm that you're on the right scheme and category.

Verification

The verification feature of Proxams helps to authenticate candidates before granting them access to the examination venue.

This is helpful in situations where candidates would have to converge at a particular venue for the exam and manual verification is needed.
It works in two ways: Manually or with a barcode.

The manual option works by typing the user Exam ID and clicking the verify button.
It will bring out the registered details and picture of the candidate and subject to confirmation by the administrator. This is a measure against impersonation for physical exams.

The barcode option is activated by clicking the 'use Barcode Scanner' checkbox and beaming the scanner on the unique barcode present in the candidate's exam slip.
Once it's a valid barcode generated for the candidate during registration, it will fetch the candidate's details.

All barcode formats and standards (1D,2D) are accepted.

Note: The barcode scanner option assumes that your users Examination or Application IDs are encrypted in barcode format. If not, kindly use the manual option to authenticate.

Pricing and Plans

Proxams is a proprietary product of Exelsor Projects Limited and was initially conceived to serve our clients whom we provide ICT related services in the educational sector.

The software has achieved this goal and the need to reach a greater populace arose. Additional features were added and it is now made available to any organization or individual interested in it.

The price of usage of this platform is based on the number of students or candidates in your exercise and also on other factors that will be made known to you if you indicate interest.

Worthy of note is the flexibility of the price; as we want to make sure you get the maximum value and quality service with the lowest price possible. Subscription could be one-off or recurring depending on the requirements of your project.

Once an agreement is reached and payment made (via Paypal or Bank Transfer), you'll be provided with a login ID to access the admin board and build your test. Our team is always on standby to advice and respond to any challenge(s) you may face in the course of developing your test.

Drop a message for us in the contact area below stating the nature and requirements of your project, and we'll reply speedily to get you started. We reply emails in minutes, but our call lines are always open to hear from you.

Request A Demo

We're confident that Proxams will serve your computer based assessment needs because of its rich features that suit the requirements of varying stakeholders.
We can provide you with login IDs to see how it works to enable you make a decision.

Two login IDs will be given to qualified clients to test two different scenarios of the test environment namely:
1. A one-off test environment
2. A repetitive test environment
The former will not have the score displayed but the latter will display the score and a breakdown of the performance.

To qualify for a demo, we want to ensure that you're serious about doing business with us and we request that you send us an email in the 'Contact' section below with your company email address i.e. yourname@yourcompany.com

We try to protect Proxams from adulterations and abuse from unserious clients with sinister objectives.

We can consider public email addresses if the client can convince us of pious motives and judicious use of the system.

After trial, we expect a feedback containing your questions, remarks and suggestion of features. This we'll consider in subsequent updates.