Adding Course Equivalencies

Establish course equivalencies by  building a set of eligibility rules that determine which LMS users should be granted credit for a course they have not directly completed. This tool helps to eliminate the need for manual transcript administration, repetitive/unnecessary training exercises, and reconfiguration of Accreditation programs by developing a process to automatically grant students who fulfill all eligibility criteria credit for “equivalent” coursework.

Feature Overview and Requirements

Equivalency rules can apply to all users who complete a course, be restricted by a user’s assigned position, or can be set at the Certification/Curriculum program level. Eligibility rules are strictly enforced, but can be adjusted at any time.

Once an equivalency rule is established, course credit is granted to users retroactively, with a process that takes 10 – 30 minutes (depending on number of user transcripts being generated). It is important to note that the equivalency process runs on a continuous cycle. So any time an equivalency rule is updated, a user’s position changes, or a course transcript expires, training credit can be revoked from those learners who used to but no longer meet the eligibility criteria.

To create Equivalency Rules, follow this two-step process. If you are confused about which course to put the equivalency on, on the course for which you want to give the student credit, add the course entity for the alternative course that they have credit for or could take as an alternative and get credit for in the future. Then if they take the course listed as an equivalent, they will automatically get credit for the course on which you placed it.

Example: If you have added a “NEW COURSE” and want to give automatic credit to people who’ve completed “OLD COURSE”, edit NEW COURSE and add OLD COURSE as an equivalent. People who completed OLD COURSE in the past will get credit for NEW COURSE and it will show as an equivalent on their Training History almost immediately.

Shortcuts

  • Feature Overview and Requirements
  • Step-by-Step and Field Descriptions
  • Use Cases and Examples
  • FAQs

Video

Step by Step Procedure and Field Description

To create an equivalency rule:

  1. From the Administration menu, select Courses > Search Courses, then find and edit the course for which you want to add an equivalency.
  2. On the Equivalencies tab, define the Rule Entities. These are the equivalencies you want to establish. You can select more than one.
    [SCREENSHOT]
  1. Click Add Courses to open a picker to select any course(s) that will count as equivalents to the course.
    • Click Add Accreditation to open a picker to select any certifications or curricula that will count as equivalent credit for a course.
    • Click Add Position Codes to open a picker and select the position codes that will count as equivalent credit for a course.
    • Click Add Position Group to open a picker and select the position group membership that will count as equivalent credit for a course.
    • For each entity you selected, select the Type from the dropdown (highlighted in green above) to control what is considered in the equivalency rule established. Use the following to decide:
      Course – Any completed transcript meets the rule, whether achieved by the student or granted by administrative override. This is the most flexible option.
      Course by Exact Match – Course completion was achieved by the student
      Course by Equivalency – Student received equivalent credit for the course

  2. Next, click on the letter labels next to the rule entities above (highlighted in yellow) and click on operators to insert them and build the prerequisite rule.

    &             AND
    |              OR
    ( )            Used for creating groups of entities
    BKSP     Backspace button to remove the last symbol entered
    CLEAR  Clears all rule setup

    The screenshot below shows an example of an “OR” rule.
    [Insert screenshot]


Additional examples:
A & B  Course A AND Course B are required


Or if using additional entities like (C) Position = Technician or (D) Certification: Service Bronze

(A & B) | D   Courses A and B OR Certification = Service Bronze Achieved

(A | B) & C   Courses A or B AND Position = Technician

 

To remove an equivalency rule:

  1. From the Administration menu, select Courses > Search Courses, then find and edit the course you want to modify.
  2. On the Prerequisites tab, to remove a prerequisite completely, click the Operator Clear button to remove them from the Rule box.
  3. Click Remove next to each entity.
  4. Submit the change.

    To remove just part of the rule
    , remove the associated letter from the rule and adjust the logic as necessary. Then click Remove to eliminate that entity from the list.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I....

Please review the requirements in this section to ensure your file is LMS-compliant.

Why are students having problems completing a course?

If your course launches correctly in the LMS, but all or some users are having difficulty getting a successful completion, these are common issues:

  • The LMS window and the course content “launch” window/tab must be open concurrently. If a student closes the LMS window, the SCORM engine cannot properly update score and status.
  • Any interruption in network connectivity while a student is taking the course can interrupt or disconnect communication of status between the LMS and the course.
  • Course configuration in the authoring tool may be problematic:
    • Success/completion factors are not being fully met by the student. Making them aware of the success factors or helping create navigation and workflows that guide them toward full completion can help.
    • The student does not navigate or exit the course in a way that triggers submission of final status or score to the LMS. For instance, if a final “Finish” button submits scores to the LMS but the user simply closes the course window.
    • Publishing settings such as “Report status to LMS as” can cause issues with the LMS and may need to be altered if initial attempts fail. These are the settings that tell the system to report as “Passed/Incomplete”, “Passed/Failed”, “Complete/Incomplete”, etc. Using “Passed/Incomplete” is usually successful.