Prevent -100 being sent to Gradebook when module does not record "cmi.score.scaled" and gradebook integration is enabled
Description
NOTE: this code is dependent on changes in edu-services in core Sakai, introduced here: sakaiproject/sakai#7422 (SAK-42613)
We've seen that with some modules, when gradebook synchronization is enabled, a score of -100 is sent to the gradebook.
In my investigation, I've found this happens because:
some modules do not communicate the value of "cmi.score.scaled" to the LMS before, during, or after a module is completed
in ScormApplicationServiceImpl.java, when gradebook synchronization is enabled, it attempts to load the "cmi.score.scaled" value from the database for the given module and student
if this value cannot be retrieved from the database, the code simply sets the value to -1
the synchronization code then continues, multiples -1 by 100 resulting in -100, and pushes this grade to the gradebook
Now, we can't just force all grades sent to the gradebook to be positive values, because according to the SCORM specifications [1], negative values are perfectly valid and represent real use cases.
We also can't address the problem in the module via SCORM Player code, because that's not in our control.
The solution to this problem is to refactor the algorithm responsible for retrieving the "cmi.score.scaled" value to instead return an OptionalDouble rather than a primitive double. In this way, if the value of "cmi.score.scaled" is not recorded we can pass an empty OptionalDouble, and we can check for the presence or absence of the value when the gradebook synchronization code runs.
If we get an empty OptionalDouble, we will not push a grade to the gradebook, but rather push a comment to the gradebook item cell indicating that "This SCORM module did not record any grading data."
If we get an OptionalDouble which contains a real value, then we can scale it and push it to the gradebook normally.
If in a multiple attempt scenario and the "problem" with the module is either resolved or simply a point in time issue between the first attempt and subsequent attempts, the algorithm will detect that a real value has been recorded for "cmi.score.scaled" on subsequent attempts and will push the scaled grade to the gradebook and will also remove the old comment about the module not recording grading data.
NOTE: this code is dependent on changes in edu-services in core Sakai, introduced here: sakaiproject/sakai#7422 (SAK-42613)
We've seen that with some modules, when gradebook synchronization is enabled, a score of -100 is sent to the gradebook.
In my investigation, I've found this happens because:
some modules do not communicate the value of "cmi.score.scaled" to the LMS before, during, or after a module is completed
in
ScormApplicationServiceImpl.java, when gradebook synchronization is enabled, it attempts to load the "cmi.score.scaled" value from the database for the given module and studentif this value cannot be retrieved from the database, the code simply sets the value to -1
the synchronization code then continues, multiples -1 by 100 resulting in -100, and pushes this grade to the gradebook
Now, we can't just force all grades sent to the gradebook to be positive values, because according to the SCORM specifications [1], negative values are perfectly valid and represent real use cases.
We also can't address the problem in the module via SCORM Player code, because that's not in our control.
The solution to this problem is to refactor the algorithm responsible for retrieving the "cmi.score.scaled" value to instead return an
OptionalDoublerather than a primitivedouble. In this way, if the value of "cmi.score.scaled" is not recorded we can pass an emptyOptionalDouble, and we can check for the presence or absence of the value when the gradebook synchronization code runs.If we get an empty
OptionalDouble, we will not push a grade to the gradebook, but rather push a comment to the gradebook item cell indicating that "This SCORM module did not record any grading data."If we get an
OptionalDoublewhich contains a real value, then we can scale it and push it to the gradebook normally.If in a multiple attempt scenario and the "problem" with the module is either resolved or simply a point in time issue between the first attempt and subsequent attempts, the algorithm will detect that a real value has been recorded for "cmi.score.scaled" on subsequent attempts and will push the scaled grade to the gradebook and will also remove the old comment about the module not recording grading data.
[1] https://scorm.com/scorm-explained/technical-scorm/run-time/run-time-reference/