Technical Specification of Interskill's SCORM 1.2 Courseware on 3rd Party LMS Sites
Knowledge Base - Technical Specification of Interskill's SCORM 1.2 Courseware on 3rd Party LMS Sites
Introduction
The information in this technical note is intended for Learning Management System vendors. It outlines the conformance of Interskill Learning's courseware to the SCORM standard, including the variables from the CMI
data model that are used. An understanding of the SCORM standard is assumed. Some other general requirements of Interskill Learning courseware are also listed. Interskill Learning can provide SCORM 1.2 complaint courseware for your LMS.
The Interface
Interskill Learning courseware conforms to both Version 1.1 and Version 1.2 of the SCORM specification. Information on SCORM can be obtained from the ADL Web site (see references).
As is necessary for SCORM conformance, Interskill Learning courseware uses EMCA script (more commonly known as JavaScript) to communicate with the API Adaptor object provided by the Learning Management System (LMS).
The courseware calls LMSInitialize when it starts, and LMSFinish when it completes. It uses LMSGetValue and LMSSetValue for accessing data model variables.
LMSGetLastError, LMSGetErrorString and LMSGetDiagnostic are used for error checking.
Other Requirements
Interskill Learning courseware uses Macromedia Flash version 6.0 or higher for the multimedia presentation of the learning content.
Currently, Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.x (MSIE) or greater is the preferred browser.
Licencing file needs to be saved in the same location where the courseware files are located.
CMI Data Model Variables
The following SCORM data model variables are used by Interskill Learning courseware. Those that are described as “non-essential” have no impact on the Interskill Learning courseware if they are not implemented by the LMS.
cmi.core.lesson_location (read/write): Bookmarks the exit point of the courseware the last time it was run.
cmi.core.credit (read only): Indicates whether the student is being credited by the LMS system for this lesson.
cmi.core.lesson_status (read/write): The current student status.
cmi.suspend_data (read/write): Important information about the lesson for the student is stored here. Correct management of the student’s score calculations will fail if this variable is not implemented by the LMS.
cmi.core.score.raw (written only): The score the student achieved while running the lesson in “credit” mode.
For SCORM 1.1, the raw score is stored. e.g. if the student got 15 out of 20 questions correct, their raw score would be “15”.
For SCORM 1.2, the normalized score is stored as per specification requirements. E.g. if the student got 15 out of 20 questions correct, their score would be “75”.
cmi.core.score.max (written only): The maximum score that the student could have achieved.
In the above example, the maximum score for the student would be “20” for SCORM 1.1. Thus, to calculate the student’s percentage score, you would divide the raw score by the maximum score.
For SCORM 1.2 this variable is always set to “100”.
cmi.core.score.min (written only, non-essential): The minimum score that the student could have achieved. The Interskill Learning courseware always sets this to zero.
cmi.core.session_time (written only, non-essential): The amount of time that the student spent in the lesson. The format as dictated by the SCORM specification is “HHHH:MM:SS.SS”. Note that our courseware uses the optional decimal point digits.
cmi.comments_from_lms (read only, non-essential): If implemented, and if it is not an empty string, the contents of thisvariable are displayed to the student when the courseware starts.
cmi.student_data.mastery_score (read only, non-essential):
The score required for the student to pass the lesson. This is expressed as a percentage. If blank or not implemented, the default mastery score of 66% is used.
Additionally, pre-tests and mastery tests use the following variables to store data with regard to objectives. This information is for reference only and not essential.
cmi.objectives.n.id (written only, non-essential): An identifier for the objective.
cmi.objectives.n.status (written only, non-essential): The status of the object, which will be:
.. “passed” if the student got 100% for the objective.
.. “completed” if the student achieved the mastery score for the objective.
.. “failed” if the student got less than the mastery score.
Note: If the mastery score is set to 100% then the status will always be either “passed” or “failed”.
cmi.objectives.n.score.raw (written only, non-essential): The score the student achieved for the objective. This is normalized for SCORM 1.2 same as the core score above.
cmi.objectives.n.score.max (written only, non-essential): The maximum score that could be achieved for the objective. Like the core score above, this is always “100” for SCORM 1.2.
