2024-10-23

Release notes were designed to give an overview of new, enhanced, & fixed items released to our customers.

New Features

New items represent new features/functionality that have been added to ScholarRx applications.

Qmax Create

Qmax Create empowers faculty to craft custom questions that elevate their curriculum so they can be seamlessly integrated into faculty-created tests using our QMax Management application.

While the question creation feature is not new, this release introduces a new look and feel to the Qmax Create application.

Required Role

As a reminder, customers who would like to create custom questions will need the following role:

• Faculty Qmax Author

This role grants access to the Qmax Create application and grants permission to create custom questions, to be stored in a private question bank.

Job

A ‘Missing Org Questions – Index’ job runs every 5 minutes to index published questions, so they are returned in search results for faculty when using the Qmax Management application. This means that there is a window of time when a faculty-authored question may not be returned in search results until the job has been run.

‘My Questions’ Page

A new ‘My Questions’ page is being introduced in this release. This page provides a method to:

• Search for existing questions created by your organization

• View & manage questions created by your organization

• Create new questions

The following table provides a description for the items on this page.

Item	Description
Menu (left pane)	The menu on the left provides a method for users to jump between the new ‘My Questions’ and the ‘Question Explorer’ (question search) pages.
Create Question button	When clicked, the ‘Create Question’ button displays two options: • Blank Canvas. Create a question by starting with a blank form. • Generate with AI. Create a single or bulk question(s) using AI.
‘Search by topic name’	Search for questions by entering a topic.
ID column	Sort the ID column in ascending or descending order. The default sort is by descending order.
Topic	The ‘topic’ column displays the topic entered when the question was created. This column can also be sorted in ascending or descending order.
Discipline	The ‘discipline’ column displays the discipline selected when the question was created. This column can be sorted in ascending or descending order.
Organ System	The ‘organ system’ column displays the organ system selected when the question was created. This column can be sorted in ascending or descending order.
Competency	The ‘competency’ column displays the competency selected when the question was created. This column can be sorted in ascending or descending order.
Status	The ‘status’ column displays the status of the question. When a question is initially created, whether from a blank canvas or by using the AI Assistant, it defaults to an ‘approved’ state. The following statuses are available: • Approval. Requires a review before publishing. • Published. The question has been activated (published) and can now be used on faculty created test or seen in a brick. • Retired The question has been retired, either because it is no longer wanted, or because a newer version of the question has been created & published.
3-Dot Ellipses	When clicked, the 3-dot ellipses displays the following options, based on the status of the question. • Add Revision. The ‘Add Revision’ option only displays when a question is in a ‘published’ status. When clicked, enter a note into the modal explaining the reason for the revision and click the ‘Create’ button, or click ‘Cancel’ to exit the revision process. • Edit. Only when a question is in an ‘Approval’ status will the ‘Edit’ option display. This provides a method to edit a question before it is published. • Clone. Only when a question is in a ‘Published’ status will the ‘Clone’ option display. This provides a method to create a copy of a question. You may not clone a cloned question. • Preview. When a question is in any status: Published, Approval, or Retired, clicking 'Preview' opens a new tab where the question can be viewed in the USMLE-Rx application from a student's perspective. • View. The ‘View’ option only displays on questions in a ‘Published’ or ‘Retired’ status. When clicked, the question opens so it can be viewed. When the question status is ‘Published’ you may create a new revision, clone or preview the question, or export the question to MS Word. When the questions status is ‘Retired’ you may only preview the question in the USMLE-Rx application or export the question to MS Word.

Create Question from Blank Canvas

The ability to create a single question was released in August of 2024; however, the look & feel of the pages in the Qmax Create application have changed. This section describes how to create a single question, starting with a blank canvas.

To create a single question from a blank canvas, perform the following steps.

1. Login to the Editorial application at: https://editorial.scholarrx.com. The default landing page is displayed.

1. Click the ‘Create Question’ button. The following two options display.

• Blank Canvas

• Generate with AI

1. Select the ‘Blank Canvas’ option. The ‘Add Question’ form is displayed.

For illustration purposes, the ‘Add Question’ form is displayed in two separate images.

[Top of form]

[Bottom of form]

While this form is not new, it has been revised to provide a more cohesive user-experience by matching the look & feel of our other applications.

The following table provides a description for the sections on this form.

Section	Description
General	Bank. The ‘Bank’ field defaults to your organization & cannot be changed when creating a new question.
	Type. The ‘Type’ field defaults to ‘Standard Question’. Currently, this is the only question type that may be created.
	Topic. The ‘Topic’ field is required and identifies the topic for which the question covers. This is a free-form text field and is alpha-numeric. There is no maximum character length on this field, but we recommend keeping topics as concise as possible.
	Discipline. The ‘Discipline’ field is required. Select a discipline that best matches your question. This list is prepopulated and cannot be modified.
	Organ System. The ‘Organ System’ field is required. Select an organ system that best matches your question. This list is prepopulated and cannot be modified
	Competency. The ‘Competency’ field is required. Options are prepopulated and cannot be modified.
	Normality. The ‘Normality’ field is required. Options are prepopulated and cannot be modified.
	References (optional). List any references related to the question. Reference ‘types’ include: • Admin • Page Number • Page Number (Admin) • Public. This option is displayed at the bottom of a question and will be visible to students when they review a completed test. Other reference types are not displayed to users anywhere, in any application (or test), where the question is displayed.
	Notes (optional). Add any desired notes related to the question. Notes are not displayed to users anywhere, in any application (or test), where the question is displayed.
Stem	Stem. The stem is the introduction part of a question. The stem section includes a formatting toolbar so users can add an image by clicking on the ‘insert image’ icon or add other media by clicking on the ‘Upload File’ option.
Lead-In	Lead-In. The lead-in section of a question precedes the distractors. The lead-in section includes a formatting toolbar.
	Distractors. The distractors and distractor explanations reflect the answers and answer explanations that are displayed to the end user when taking a test or viewing the question in review mode. The distractor explanation field provides a formatting toolbar and provides the ability to insert a table and/or embed an image. To embed an image, click ‘Upload File’ & select a file from your desktop. Note: A minimum of four distractors, with one being selected as the correct answer, are required to activate (publish) a question. Distractors will be displayed in alphabetical order after the question is published, and in preview and edit modes.
High-Yield Summary	High-Yield Summary. The ‘high-yield summary’ displays on the correct answer when a student is viewing the question. A formatting toolbar is available.
Save	Save. A question can now be saved, even when all of the fields are not completed. Validation of required fields now occurs when the question is activated (published). Until the question is activated (published), it will remain in an ‘approval’ state. Questions in an approval state will not be available to be used on a faculty-created test and will not be returned in search results when searching on question content in the Qmax Management application.
Back	Back. Click the ‘Back’ button to return to the ‘My Questions’ page. If you were in the process of creating or editing a question, a ‘Question Not Saved’ modal will display. Click ‘Discard’ to discard the new question, or to discard the edits when editing an existing question, or click ‘Cancel’ to continue editing the question.

1. Complete all the required fields and then click the ‘Save’ button. The question is saved in an ‘approval’ state.

Note: Questions can now be saved even when all the required fields are not completed.

1. After the question has been saved, slide the activation toggle to the right to activate (publish) the question.

Note: If all the required fields have not been completed, the question will not be activated, and validation errors will display at the top of the question to aid in identifying the missing data points.

1. When all required fields are completed, slide the toggle to the right again to publish the question, then click ‘Activate’ on the ‘Confirm Activate’ modal. The question version field at the top of the question now displays the ‘published’ status and the activation toggle is toggled to the ‘on’ position and displays in green.

1. The question is displayed on the ‘My Questions’ page with a status of published.

⚠️ All users who are associated with the same institution can view, add, edit, activate/deactivate questions, even when a different author creates them.

Generate Question(s) using AI

Need help generating questions? Use our integrated AI Assistant to quickly create up to five questions for review and publication. This time-saving tool enables educators to efficiently craft custom questions to enhance their curriculum without extra effort.

To generate questions using AI, perform the following steps.

1. Login to the Editorial application at: https://editorial.scholarrx.com. The ‘My Questions’ page is displayed.

1. Click the ‘Create Question’ button, then select ‘Generate with AI'.

The ‘Generate Questions’ modal is displayed.

The following table provides a description for the items in this modal.

Item	Description
Single Question radio button	To have AI generate a single question, click this option. When this option is selected, a correct answer may be provided in the ‘Correct Answer’ section if you want AI to generate a question directly related to the answer you provide; otherwise, AI will create a more general question.
Bulk Generate radio button	To have AI generate multiple questions, click this option. When this option is selected, you will have the choice to select how many questions you would like AI to generate, up to five.
Discipline (required)	Select the desired discipline. This list is standardized and cannot be modified.
Organ System (required)	Select the desired organ system. This list is standardized and cannot be modified.
Topic (required)	Enter the desired topic. This is a free form text field and can include alphanumeric characters. While there is no maximum character limit, we recommend keeping topics short and concise.
Correct Answer (optional)	When there is an answer that you are trying to drive students toward, you may fill out the ‘correct answer’ field so AI crafts a single question around the specific answer you specified. When this field is left blank, AI will generate a more generalized question for you to review.
Additional Notes or Instructions (optional)	To help AI generate a more targeted question, add any additional notes or instructions in this section. Note: You can add instructions for more than five distractors when generating a single question. However, for bulk questions, only five distractors will be created, regardless of your request.
Cancel	To cancel the creation process, click the ‘Cancel’ button.
Generate	To create questions, click the ‘Generate’ button.

1. At a minimum, complete the required fields, then click the ‘Generate’ button.

The following modal is displayed.

1. Click the checkbox, then click the ‘Proceed’ button to continue generating questions. The question is displayed for review.

The following table provides a description of the items on the question results page.

Item	Description
Discard & Exit	When clicked, the question will be discarded, and you will be redirected back to the ‘My Questions’ page.
Save and Exit	When questions are selected, the ‘Save and Exit’ button is enabled. When clicked, the selected questions are saved, and you are redirected back to the ‘My Questions’ page.
Select all checkbox	When clicked, all questions are selected, and you may either discard them and exit or save them and exit.
0/n selected	This indicator displays how many questions have been selected.
Select individual checkboxes	Each question generated by AI, has a checkbox next to it. When clicked, the question is selected, and you can either discard them and exit or save them and exit.
'Copy' icon	The ‘copy’ option provides a method to copy the question content so it can be pasted into another artifact. When a question is copy/pasted, all formatting is retained.
'Regenerate question' icon	The ‘regenerate’ button provides a method to have AI rewrite the question, based on your specifications. When clicked, a ‘Regenerate Question’ modal is displayed. For illustration purposes, we’ve requested that a female patient be referenced in the question instead of a male patient. Click the ‘Regenerate Question’ button and AI will regenerate the question based on your additional notes or instructions.
'Trashcan' icon	Click the trash can to delete a specific question. When clicked, a ‘Discard Question’ modal is displayed. Click ‘Yes, Discard’ to discard the question, or click the ‘Cancel’ button to keep the question.
Down arrow next to each question	When clicked, the down arrow next to each question answer exposes the answer explanations.
High-Yield Summary section	This section provides a summary and is considered the “high yield” information students should take-away from the question.
Rate this output	This section provides users with a method to rate the AI output. This feedback is important and helps train the AI model to become even more efficient over time.

1. When the question contains the desired content, select the question and click the ‘Save and Exit’ button.

The ‘Save Generated Questions’ modal is displayed.

1. Click ‘Yes, Save’ to save the question, or click the ‘Cancel’ button to continue editing the question.

The question is saved in an ‘approval’ status and displays on the ‘My Questions’ page.

Note: To easily spot new questions, an orange bar is displayed. When bulk questions are generated, the orange bar displays next to all questions.

All questions generated by AI contain a note in the note field. This note may be modified or deleted if not needed. The note includes the author’s name and the date on which the question was generated.

9-Dot Menu

A new 9-dot menu has been added to Qmax Create to provide a method for you to quickly jump to other applications you have access to, based on your roles.

Enhancements

Bricks Create

Randomize ‘Matching Question’ Type Answers

Based on customer feedback, answers for the ‘matching question’ type in Bricks are now randomized as follows:

When the question is initially saved, the answer choices are automatically randomized.

• When a student views a matching question in a brick, the answer choices display in a random order, different from the order of the question stems.

• When a student refreshes the page or reattempts the matching question, the answer choices display in a random order, but in a different order from the initial view.

• When Faculty user preview the question before assigning it, the answer choices display in a random order in the preview.

[Question creation order]

[Question / Answer preview order]

[Student view – initial order]

[Student view – subsequent view order]

Qmax Create

Question Explorer

The ability to search for existing questions is not new to this release; however, the look and feel of the page has been updated to provide a more consistent user experience across our applications.

[Original design]

[Updated design]

[View after performing a search]

Hide Product Banks by Role

In preparation for Institutions to be able to hide access to specific product banks (i.e. QMax 1 or QMax 2) by role, we are releasing part of the code to support this option. In a future release, Institutions will be able to request this feature by submitting a request to [e-mail].

Password Policy Update

To enhance security and protect information, we are implementing new password policy requirements. These changes are designed to ensure that all user accounts are safeguarded against unauthorized access. The policy includes the following requirements:

• Minimum length of eight characters

• One non-alpha character required

• One uppercase alpha character required

• One numeric character required

• Between 5-10 invalid login attempts, there is a one-minute timeout

• No password expiration

Note: These changes are not applicable to customers who utilize SSO (single sign-on), or customers who sign in using Apple or Google.

These changes impact the following pages:

• New account registration page

• ‘Forgot Password’ page

• ‘Reset Password’ page

• Registration confirmation form

• Manage Settings -> Update Password tab

• ‘Add New User’ page (internal form only)

• ‘Set Password’ tab (internal only form)

Rx Search

Rx Search has been improved in the following applications:

• USMLE-Rx (web & mobile)

• Qmax Management

USMLE-RX

Imagine a search experience that is more streamlined and efficient, tailored specifically to meet your needs. With the latest enhancements, the search functionality in the USMLE-Rx application (web & mobile) for QMax and Rx Bricks results has been fine-tuned to deliver a more focused and precise experience.

[Previous search results for ‘SCFE’]

[Enhanced search results for ‘SCFE’]

QMax Management

Experience the next level of search efficiency with Qmax Management! Not only has the search been refined to offer a more focused and precise experience, but it now also features type-ahead search functionality. This innovative feature suggests terms as you type, making your search process faster and more intuitive.

[Previous Search Results – without ‘type-ahead’]

[Enhanced Search Results – with ‘type-ahead’]