When is a course "complete"?

I'm just getting started myself so I certainly haven't had a chance to think about all the variations to your question. Here is the approach I am starting to use. Bear in mind, we are currently envisioning lots of "short" on-line training applications and we plan to break larger applications into a series of smaller ones.First, I am being very strict about the need for Training Deliverables (what is often referred to as Training Objectives) described in the "After successfully completing this training, the trainee will be able to…" format. I've seen this pretty often, but what follows is often junk. What the trainee will be able to do must be defined in specific and observable terms. In a sense, these deliverables could be easily converted into a test whereby the trainee lists, defines, explains, identifies, etc. (all observable actions) whatever the deliverable has indicated.For a program I am wrapping up, I defined the observable deliverables and then created three tests in the program which I refer to as Reviews (adults hate to be tested!). Each Review consists of several questions regarding the training content that preceded it. Since each question links directly with the deliverables, the ability to correct answer EACH question in a Review is very important. Therefore the trainee proceeds to the next training section only if they have responded correctly to ALL the questions on a Review. If any responses are wrong, the trainee is notified via a message box and returned to the beginning of the training section to try again.The only way the trainee can successfully complete the training is by getting through each of the Reviews in turn. I then use a form to capture their employee ID, their name, and any comments they would like to include and email the results to myself.This is a pretty rigorous approach, but we believe it will work—at least for smaller training programs.Lee S