Overview

In Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM®) sequencing, any number of sequencing rules may be applied or none at all. The combination of these rules will give the Instructional Designer and the Content Developer flexibility in the way the course is sequenced.

Sequencing Rule Description

The sequencing rules consist of a set of conditions and an action. For example, if the Instructional Designer’s intent is for the learner to skip content they have already shown mastery of, then “If Satisfied, then Skip” rules should be applied to the appropriate activities. By using the combination of the conditions and actions, the instructional intent of the content has been completed

Condition Combination

Various conditions can be combined to create a set of conditions. If the combination of conditions is met, then an action will be generated. The Condition Combination element is defined to have one of the following values:

  • All (default value) — The condition evaluates to True if and only if all of its individual conditions are set to True. The condition is generally thought of as the logical and.
  • Any — The condition set evaluates to True if any of the individual conditions evaluates to True. The condition is generally thought of as the logical or.

Rule Conditions

The Rule Conditions element contains a set of conditions for the sequencing of content activities. It consists of one or more elements that are combined and applied as sequencing rules.

The Rule Conditions are based on the Tracking Model. Information about the Tracking Model is available in the SCORM Sequencing and Navigation documentation that can be downloaded at the Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) Website (www.adlnet.gov).

Local status conditions are always evaluated against the existing activity, not other activities.

The table lists the various conditions and descriptions.

Rule Condition Referenced Objective

The Rule Condition Referenced Objective element applies to a specific Rule Condition. The element is used to determine which objective for the activity should be used during the evaluation of the Rule Condition. The Rule Condition Referenced Objective element is only used for the following conditions:

  • Satisfied
  • Objective Status Known
  • Objective Measure Known
  • Objective Measure Greater Than
  • Objective Measure Less Than.

If any of the Rule Conditions do not reference an objective, the objective with Objective Contributes to Rollup is used by default.

Rule Condition Measure Threshold

The Rule Condition Measure Threshold element applies to a specific Rule Condition and is used with the Rule Condition Referenced Objective. It is used to enable a measure definition for comparison during the Rule Condition. The Rule Condition Measure Threshold is used with:

  • Objective Measure Greater Than
  • Objective Measure Less Than.

The comparison measure is for greater than (>) and less than (<). There are no conditions that allow for greater than or equal to (>=) or less than or equal to (<=). The Rule Condition Measure Threshold does not have any affect if defined for other conditions.

Rule Condition Operator

This element, Rule Condition Operator, is an optional element that can be used with other Rule Condition elements. It has two options, NO-OP (the default), which indicates that the resulting condition evaluation should be used as it is and NOT, which indicates that the opposite of resulting condition evaluation should be used.

Rule Action

Rule Action is responsible for taking action after the evaluation of the sequencing rules. There are three sets of action for timing of evaluation situations.

  • Precondition Actions: apply when navigating through the Activity Tree to identify an activity for delivery.
  • Postcondition Actions: apply when an attempt on an activity ends.
  • Exit Actions: apply after a descendant activity’s attempt terminates.

Precondition Rule Actions

The following table details the Precondition Rule Actions.

Postcondition Actions

The following table details the Rule Action Postcondition Actions.

Exit Rule Action

The Exit Rule Actions are described in this table.

Conclusion

By gaining knowledge of the Sequencing Rules, the Content Developer will be more aware of how to implement the instructional sequencing strategy as described by the instructional design. The Sequencing Rules are a set of conditions and a resulting action. By understanding the options available to the sequencing aspect, a more involved set of content will evolve and better engage the learner.