Course resets after completion despite resume settings in Player

Jul 24, 2017

Hi, my team is facing an issue in which all our courses, after being completed by students, completely reset.

Our courses all have Restricted menu navigation so that users may not jump ahead, but may return to slides they've already visited.

We have tried both "Always resume" or "Prompt to resume" on restart in the Player settings.

Experiencing the following behaviors:

  • GOOD: If a user is part way through a course, exits it, then returns, the course successfully resumes where the user left off.
  • PROBLEM: If a user completes a course (passed, marked as complete in LMS), exits it, then returns, the course resets - meaning the user is dropped on the first slide of the course rather than last, the menu becomes fully restricted as if the user was just beginning the course for the first time, and all slides set to Resume Previous State must be watched all the way through again. This is preventing use of completed courses for reference material. 

How do we get completed courses to save their menus' fully "unlocked" states?

(Note: We are using Storyline 2.)

62 Replies
Diana Gualda

In this article it states, "Most learning management systems (LMSs) consider a course to be in review mode after the tracking requirement has been met. In review mode, resume data is no longer sent to the LMS, which prevents learners from accidentally changing their course status from complete back to incomplete," and that this is the default behavior.

We DO experience appropriate review mode behavior with Captivate-created courses, and users are able to return to whatever slide they wish in those completed courses. It seems be an issue specifically only with the Storyline-created courses.

Our LMS specialist has checked the configuration.js settings and confirmed they are correct.

Leslie McKerchie

Hello Diana and Peter :)

Looks like you've found the right article.

You may find that the resume feature doesn't work as you'd expect after you've met the completion requirement for your course—either by viewing the required number of slides or by passing a quiz. Most LMSs consider a course to be in review mode after the tracking requirement has been met. In review mode, resume data is no longer sent to the LMS, which prevents learners from accidentally changing their course status back to incomplete. See this article for more information.

Did you modify the output files as instructed in the documentation?

Are you able to replicate the behavior in SCORM Cloud or is this limited to your LMS?

Peter Tiziani

Our issue is that we do not want the course to reset after they have completed it the first time. We want it so that when a learner returns to the course, it does NOT have restricted navigation and is FREE.

Meaning, Leslie, you finish the course...and then you want to go back to a specific section but when you go to the course you just completed, it makes you start from the beginning in a restricted manner even though you ALREADY completed it. It makes our courses non-referential and this frustrates our learners. Please advise. 

Diana Gualda

Hi Leslie, I had already linked and quoted the article you just linked and quoted, and as I also already mentioned, our LMS specialist did check the output files and has confirmed they are correct.

That article applies to the scenario where a user is returned to the wrong slide after completion. That's not our problem. Our users are not able to return at ALL - they are being forced to restart the course if they return to it after completion.

Can you provide any additional information?

Nardiah Higgins

Hi, we are experiencing the same issue with a module we created in Storyline360 and output to SCORM 2004.  The module functions correctly in the LMS and marks the course status as complete, however if we open the completed course again it sets the completion of the course back to Not Attempted and the module is reset and the menu locked down again. This means the learner has to complete the whole course again rather than being able to navigate to any part of the menu they need.  Can you please advise how this issue was / can be resolved? We have tested in SCORM Cloud and experience the same issue.

This is quite urgent now, can you please advise how we can resolve this issue?

Thank you

Leslie McKerchie

Hi Nardiah,

This conversation is a bit dated, but the solutions shared here are still valid.

Take a look at our documentation here on how to resolve this with your LMS.

I see you mention that it's happening in SCORM Cloud as well. Was this after changing the setting mentioned above?

If so, then with your permission, I'd like you to share your project file with our support engineers to investigate what's happening. You can share it privately by uploading it here. It will be deleted when troubleshooting is complete.

Nardiah Higgins

Hi Leslie,

Thank you for getting back to me. The issue is not with the resume saved
state option. It resumes to the saved state / correct screen when you have
not completed the course perfectly. As with the previous people who raised
the issues, it is once the course is completed and you then go back into it
that it resets the completion of the course to not attempted and starts the
course like you have never completed it at all and therefore the menu is
locked down again and they have to complete the full course over again to
find the information.

The resolution you have provided relates to the review mode once they have
completed the course and the fact that it will show what they have
completed and if you do not want this to occur you can amend the js. We
actually want it, essentially, go to the review state so that the menu
would be unlocked, etc, but it is not doing this. It is resetting the
course to not attempted. We did amend the js per the solution provided, but
it did not resolve the issue.

We tested the course in SCORM Cloud and the same issue arises in SCORM
Cloud, therefore confirming it is not an LMS issue.

I have raised a case and sent it off for investigation.

Thank you,
Nardiah

Nicole Sarmiento

Hi, I found this thread while researching about an issue we've just encountered. In our case, the user hasn't even successfully passed the quiz. After exiting the course on the Result slide of their failed attempt, resuming the course would already bring them back to the first slide of the course. They are supposedly allowed to retry the quiz with an unlimited number of attempts.

Nicole Sarmiento

Hi Leslie,

These two are actually different issues. I replied to this thread because the latest issue I encountered is similar to this one. The problem I posted about in the Cornerstone thread is related to a user getting stuck on a random page.

In this case, the user is able to get to the end but even if they have unlimited attempts to retake the final quiz we've set up and they've failed it, exiting the course while on the Result slide refreshes the course and brings them to the beginning once the decide to resume. It doesn't give the user an option to either resume or restart the course.

Crystal Horn

Thanks for those details, Nicole. That behavior might make sense if learners passed the assessment, but I would expect them to return to the results slide with the option to resume after failing and exiting.

With your permission, I'd like to take a look at your .story file to investigate what's happening. You can share it publicly here, or send it to me privately by uploading it here. I'll delete it when I'm done troubleshooting!

Amy Stormcrow

Hi Leslie,

I've just come across this article as we are experiencing the same problems on one of our courses. I have tried the solutions shared however it is still not working. I can see that people have raised cases, is there a solution that I can fix it myself or shall I share the project file?

Thanks,
Amy

Alyssa Gomez

Hey Amy! Sorry you're running into trouble! The cases mentioned earlier in this discussion are about a slightly different issue, so let's start fresh.

It sounds like your learners are completing the course then exiting. Upon resuming, they are brought back to the first slide in the course. Does that sound right?

Are you also seeing this behavior in SCORM Cloud? Testing your output in another LMS environment will help to nail down the cause of the issue.

We'd be happy to help with that testing! If that works for you, send your unpublished Storyline file to us here. We'll delete it when we're done testing. 

Amy Stormcrow

Hi Alyssa! 

Thank you for the reply, yes that is exactly it, once they have completed the course when they launch it again to refresh the course they are sent back to the first page and unable to move freely, having to complete the course each time to get to the page they want. 

I've now tested it in SCORM Cloud and replicated the same behaviour so I have sent the storyline file over for testing. 

Thank you very much for your help! 

Ren Gomez

Hi Marcel,

Sorry to hear you're facing the same issue! Have you tried testing this behavior in SCORM Cloud? Checking your output in another LMS environment will help sort whether this is LMS related.

If this is urgent, feel free to reach out to one of our support engineers, and they can help troubleshoot and find a workaround if possible!

Marcel Steffen

Thank you Ren,

I tested in Scrom Cloud. I face the exakt same issue there as well. I already applied the changes in Configuration.js (var REVIEW_MODE_IS_READ_ONLY = false;)

Further more, when I passed a certain slide in the training and close the window, I get back to exactly that slide when I reopen it. It's a bit strange for me, as this is not happening in our LSM (avendoo).

Lisa Spirko

Hi Articulate staff,

Has there been any resolution to this issue? I'm encountering similar issues to the above folks.

Using SCORM 2004, 4th ed and Bridge LMS. Navigation is set to restricted (locked down on first attempt, free after completion). Prompt to resume is turned on. If the learner completes the course, closes it, and then relaunches it, they are prompted to resume or start from beginning (expected). However, if they opt to start from the beginning, the navigation is locked down again and they are forced to take the course over again. 

This is unacceptable. Once the course has been completed and passed, any further access to the course should be in review mode only. The course should never reset the learner's status to incomplete and lock down the course again unless the LMS admin has manually reset their attempts in the LMS itself. 

I have confirmed that the issue is occurring in SCORM Cloud. See attached screenshot -- completion status was reset to incomplete and navigation was locked down again after I launched the completed course and opted to restart from the beginning. As it is now, I will never be able to use prompt to resume if I also have navigation set to restricted for first pass, and the alternative (always resume) is not good when our internal learners need to review changes in an updated course but not be forced to sit through the entire thing.

I see above that blame is often cast at the LMS, but I do not believe Bridge is the culprit in this instance. Their documentation specifically states that once a learner has completed and passed a course, it's a done deal: Any further data sent to them by the SCORM is essentially 'ignored' by the LMS unless the admin resets the learner's attempts. 

I know that there is discussion above about manually tinkering with the configuration.js file, and in my opinion, this is unacceptable. We should not have to tinker with Articulate's output files to work around poor functionality.

I'd like to see Articulate expand the options related to navigation lockdown and course restart to allow us to specify what means to restart a course from the beginning (i.e., resetting course status vs. jumping to the beginning in review mode).

I appreciate any update that Articulate staff can provide, and I'm happy to create a feature request if that will help.

Thanks,

Lisa