Quick Answer
A SCORM course most often fails to register as complete, or a certificate fails to generate, because the user did not navigate the course using the required method, or because the course needs to be completed manually using the correct Finish Course button on the Assignments page.
What This Article Helps With
This article is for Pinnacle Series Administrators and users troubleshooting a SCORM course that will not mark as complete, will not generate a certificate, or loops back to the beginning while in progress.
Navigation Requirements for SCORM Course Completion and Certificates
To complete a SCORM course and receive a certificate, a user must meet all of the following:
- 100% page completion: every page in the course must be fully completed. Completed items show an orange circle with a checkmark.
- Correct navigation: at the end of each section, the user must select the NEXT button. If the user instead exits to the course list and clicks directly into the next section, the previous section is not marked complete.
- A passing quiz score: the user must pass the course's final quiz.
If a user launches the course and jumps directly to the quiz without completing the preceding pages using the NEXT button, the course is not marked complete even if the quiz is passed. If a user has already navigated a course incorrectly and the assignment now shows as Enrolled – In Progress, use Manually Completing a Course That Will Not Mark as Complete below rather than having the user retake the entire course.
Manually Completing a Course That Will Not Mark as Complete
Symptoms: a user finishes a SCORM course, but the assignment status remains Incomplete or Enrolled – In Progress, and course reporting shows 0 viewing minutes.
Cause: when a SCORM course finishes, the course provider's own settings may close the browser tab or otherwise fail to return the user to Pinnacle Series, so the final step of marking the course complete within the Learning Path is missed even though the content itself was completed. Viewing minutes for SCORM courses displaying as 0 is a separate, known platform limitation and does not affect whether the course can be marked complete.
Resolution, for users:
- Navigate to the Assignments page.
- Open the specific course assignment.
- The assignment screen shows two buttons labeled Finish Course (or Complete Course) - one in the left-hand panel and one in the center of the screen. Select the center button. The left-panel button does not update the assignment status, even though it is also labeled Finish Course.
Confirm the assignment status updates to Enrolled – 100% Complete. If the status still shows Enrolled – In Progress after selecting the center button, confirm you selected the center button and not the left-panel button, then try again.
Resolution, for administrators: an administrator can manually mark a user's assignment as complete on the user's behalf. A certificate is generated and becomes active only if the user's enrollment already shows Enrolled – 100% Complete at the time the administrator marks it complete. If the enrollment still shows Enrolled – In Progress, a certificate is not generated, even after the administrator marks the assignment complete.
Why a Course Loops Back to the Beginning
Symptoms: while taking a SCORM course, the user is unexpectedly returned to the beginning of the module.
Cause: Pinnacle Series hosts SCORM courses but does not control a user's progress or navigation within the course file itself. Looping behavior is governed by settings configured by the third-party SCORM course provider, not by Pinnacle Series.
Resolution: contact the SCORM course provider directly. The provider will need to review the course's internal settings to determine why it is looping and adjust them to resolve the issue - this cannot be changed from within Pinnacle Series.
Helpful Tips
- 0 viewing minutes on a SCORM course is expected and does not, by itself, indicate a completion problem.
- For other reasons a certificate may not be available to a learner, see "What Settings Affect Certificate Availability for Learners?"