Partial Credit Assessments

Overview

The Partial Credit Assessments feature allows for partial scoring of an assessment when there are multiple correct answers. This functionality changes the 0 or 100 scoring method used in the standard SkillSoft Course Player configuration. Partial credit grading is used for an assessment if the PARTIAL_CREDIT property is enabled and the assessment has more than one correct answer.

Each choice on a page is queried for correctness. If partial credit applies, the score is calculated by the number of correct answers divided by the total number of choices. If the score is less than 100 but greater than 0, partial credit feedback is displayed.

The partial credit feedback appears after the [Done]/[Evaluate] button is selected and when the calculated score is greater than 0 and less than 100. Incorrect and Correct feedback remain the same and are displayed for scores of 0 and 100 respectively.

Note: An objective is still only considered mastered when its score is 100%. Any value less than 100% is still considered unmastered.

PARTIAL_CREDIT Property

The PARTIAL_CREDIT property value is set to false by default. Partial credit is turned off and the player uses standard scoring (score values of 0 or 100).

Content-Only Web Servers

Partial Credit is implemented by overriding properties in the PagePlayer.properties file. To enable Partial Credit for a content only web server, edit all the PagePlayer.properties files on the server (for Player Applet and Player Application, in all languages). Use the Properties Tool or a text editor to open the files and set this property:

PARTIAL_CREDIT=true

Partial credit is enabled for all courses and all users.

SkillPort

Partial Credit is supported with SkillPort 2.5 and greater. You enable Partial Credit on the SkillPort server using the same procedure as you would use on a content-only web server. However, there are some limitations:

• When you edit the Partial Credit property for the SkillSoft Course Player on the content installation, it takes effect for all SkillPort installations that use that content. Only set the property to true if all installations that use the content support Partial Credit.
• If you use SkillPort 2.5 or greater, and you share content with versions of SkillPort that do not support partial credit, do not enable partial credit for the content installation. If you enable Partial Credit for a SkillPort installation that does not support it, the scores will not be handled properly in the SkillPort database.

Enabling Partial Credit for Multiple SkillPort Installations

If you want to enable partial credit on specific SkillPort installations that share content with other installations, you can enable it using the property customization system. You create a courseinfo.properties file and/or <courseid>.Properties file containing the customized property. These course information files are kept in the default CourseInfo directory (web/content/CourseInfo), or they can be kept in a different directory if you are using a COURSEINFO parameter in the server.ini file.

Partial Credit is set at the course level by setting the PARTIAL_CREDIT property to true for a course (<courseid>.Properties file), or it can be set at the site level by editing the property for the Player Applet and/or Application (courseinfo.properties file). Properties set at the course level override properties at the site level.

PARTIAL_CREDIT=true

Reporting Scores to SkillPort

Objective scores calculated with partial credit are sent to SkillPort normally, but the values can be different.

• For assessments without partial credit enabled, Pre-Test scores are –1 or –101 and mastery scores are 0 or 100, indicating pass or fail.
• For assessments with partial credit enabled, Pre-Test scores are between –1 and -101 and Post-Test scores between 0 and 100. SkillPort still uses the objective scores to calculate an overall score.