For Discussion

cmi.completion_status

According to the SCORM 2004 specification, the imsmanifest is permitted to define a SCO-specific value for cmi.completion_threshold. SCORM specifies that if a threshold is defined in the manifest, then the LMS is required to return a different value for cmi.completion_status based on the values of the threshold and another SCO-set value (cmi.progress_measure). There is an entire section of the SCORM 2004 Run Time Environment specification document from ADL (section 4.2.4.1) that describes this interaction. The advertised goal is to allow the SCO to set a progress measure and have the environment set a threshold value, and if the progress measure meets or exceeds the threshold value, then cmi.completion_status is supposed to be set to completed.

The SCORM 2004 RTE fully supports this feature as part of the run-time system's support for cmi.completion_status. This means that the SCO does not have to explicitly set the value of cmi.completion_status - it can set the value of cmi.progress_measure and allow the manifest to set the value of cmi.completion_threshold.

As part of the SCORM 2004 import process, the manifest's <adlcp:completionThreshold> value is copied to the SPCSF file as a new SPCSF field named _completionThreshold. This value is made available to the content as cmi.completion_threshold in accordance with the SCORM specification.

cmi.score.raw

Skillport uses the entire cmi.score data model element to calculate a representative score for the course. This allows the course author to specify a minimum and maximum score and set the raw score to a value in the range (min..raw). The SCORM concept is that if there are only 18 scoring elements in the SCO, the content author can set cmi.score.min to 0, cmi.score.max to 18 and cmi.score.raw to the actual number of elements scored correctly. The calculation of a percentage score is left to the system to decide.

Skillport calculates an actual score value based on those parts of the SCORM model. The Skillport score is calculated using the following rules:

The data element cmi.score.scaled is ignored.
If cmi.score.min is not set by the content, then it is assumed to be zero.
If cmi.score.max is not set by the content, then it is assumed to be 100.
If cmi.score.raw is not set by the content, then it is assumed to be zero.
If the min is not less than the max, then return zero.
Force raw to be in the range of min..max. (If less than min, set it to min. If greater than max, set it to max.)
Calculate score as (100 * ((raw-min)/(max-min)).
This gives a scaled score from 0..100 that matches the value of the raw score in the range of min and max.

Mismatch Between SCORM and Skillport

Given that Skillport allows specification of two independent conditions for completion, it is possible for there to be confusion between the course and Skillport as to whether the course is completed.

Example

An Administrator sets Skillport's Course Completion Criteria so that either a minimal score of 70 or a visitation=complete allows a course to be marked as completed in Skillport. A learner takes a course, and that course posts a score of 80, which surpasses the minimal score. That course is marked as completed regardless of whether the course thinks it is completed (the course could mark cmi.completion_status=“incomplete”, set a score of 80 and Skillport would still mark the course as completed).

If an Administrator requires both a score and a visitation=complete before marking a course as completed in Skillport, some courses may never be able to complete. For instance, a course that never sets a score (passive content) will never be marked complete by Skillport.

A well-behaved course should clearly set score and completion status as appropriate to reflect those two aspects of the learner's progress. Score should reflect learner achievement against measurable tests and completion_status should reflect whether the learner has been through the entire course.
A well-behaved administrator should only set Skillport's Course Completion Criteria after understanding how a course (or course library) is expected to behave.