Mandatory course with some optional content

Jan 08, 2024

Hello, the course I'm working on consists of 7 sections, with 4 being mandatory and the remaining 3 optional. I've used a block to control navigation for the first 4 mandatory sections. How do I know what percentage to set for the global completion? Are there workarounds would you suggest in this case? I appreciate your insights.

5 Replies
Jose Tansengco

Hello HC Ang,

Happy to help!

If you'd like to make the first 4 lessons of the course mandatory and the rest optional, you can set the percentage requirement of your course to 50%. 

At 3 completed lessons out of 7, the percentage completed of the course is 43%.

At 4 completed lessons out of 7, the percentage completed of the course is 57%. 

This means that setting the needed percentage to 50% would ensure that your learners need to view at least 4 out of the 7 lessons before they are given a completion mark. 

Hope this helps!

HC Ang

Hello Jose, I see your point. The first 4 sections are relatively short compared to the remaining 3 optional sections. Does the length of each section affect the respective percentages? For example, what if the first 4 mandatory sections only contribute to 30% of the course, while the optional sections account for the remaining 70%? 

Jose Tansengco

Hello HC Ang,

The completion percentage is calculated by sections that have been completed, so the length of each section doesn't play a factor in the overall calculation. A section with one block will contribute the same percentage as a section with 20 or more blocks, so this is something to keep in mind when designing your Rise 360 course.

Judy Nollet

I suggest you add a Storyline block with a completion trigger, and use that to track completion of the course. 

  • For example, the Storyline slide could say something like "You've completed the required portion of the course. The other sections are optional." It would have a "Complete course" trigger that runs when the timeline starts. 
  • For use in Rise, you need to publish the Storyline file to Review 360. When you do that, be sure to indicate that tracking is based on the completion trigger. 
  • Insert the Storyline block at the end of the mandatory sections.

Here's the User Guide info about Storyline blocks: https://access.articulate.com/support/article/Rise-Use-Storyline-Blocks-to-Embed-Storyline-360-Courses

Angelo Cruz

Hello HC Ang!

During the preview, you can most likely check what percentage you'd want to require your learners. Especially, if you're restricting the navigation of your users to complete each lesson in order, you'd more or less get an accurate percentage for your completion requirement.

In the screenshot below, if Lesson 1 and the Quiz are mandatory modules, you'd need to set 67% course completion. 

I hope this helps. Let us know if you have any questions.