Mark lessons complete
How a lesson becomes complete for a student, and what they see when it does.
The two ways
| Mode | A lesson is completed when |
|---|---|
| Automatic (default) | The student opens it |
| Manual | The student ticks it in the course outline |
The mode is site-wide: Settings → POM LMS → Account → Lessons manual check — Lessons have to be marked as completed manually.
The checkbox in the outline
Every lesson row in the course sidebar has a checkbox showing whether that lesson is complete for this student.
Selecting it marks the lesson complete and updates the percentage immediately — the progress bar and the number both change without reloading the page.
The checkbox is disabled for lessons the student cannot access, so a blocked lesson cannot be ticked.
In automatic mode
Opening a lesson marks it complete. The checkbox is effectively a record of where the student has been.
- Advantage — nothing to remember; progress reflects coverage.
- Cost — a student who opens a lesson and leaves immediately has it counted as done.
In manual mode
Opening a lesson changes nothing. The student ticks each lesson when they are finished with it.
- Advantage — the percentage means "I have done this", which is what students assume it means.
- Cost — students forget, and their progress underreports.
Which to choose
| Course | Mode |
|---|---|
| Video-led, watched start to finish | Automatic |
| Reference material, browsed non-linearly | Automatic, or none of this matters |
| Practical, with exercises per lesson | Manual |
| Anything where the student's own sense of completion matters | Manual |
Choose once for the site: the setting is not per course, so a catalogue mixing both kinds of course has to pick the mode that suits most of it.
Tell students which mode is in use
In manual mode especially, say so in the course description:
Tick each lesson in the outline when you finish it, to track your progress.
Without that line, students in manual mode see a bar that never moves and assume progress is broken.
Progress belongs to the student
Completion is recorded per student and per course. Nothing an editor does marks a lesson complete for someone else, and there is no administration screen for adjusting a student's progress.
What completion does not do
- It does not unlock the next lesson; there is no sequential gating.
- It does not notify anyone.
- It does not produce a certificate.
- It does not expire or reset.
Verify
- Sign in as a student with access.
- Note the percentage.
- In automatic mode, open a lesson and confirm the percentage rises.
- In manual mode, open a lesson and confirm it does not, then tick it and confirm it does.
- Confirm the checkbox is disabled on a lesson the student cannot access.
- Confirm the same percentage appears in My courses.