Understanding what course credit system is all about in Universities and Colleges

The course credit system is a quantitative system or organization of the curriculum in which subject areas are broken down into units which are examinable and for which students earn credits, if passed, the courses are arranged in progressive order of difficulty or in levels of academic progress e.g level 1 or year one courses are 100 level and level II or year two courses are 200 level, etc.
The course credit system in college and universities are very important because;

  1. Course Credit System facilitates transfer through transcript thereby enhancing student’s mobility.
  2. Course Credit System allows inter-disciplinary collaboration, curriculum planning formulation and teaching and minimizes duplication of courses.
  3. Course Credit System allows a thematic structuring of the programs of study .i.e. ability to break courses into convenient and manageable modules
  4. Course Credit System allows students to move within limits and progressive order of difficulty.
  5. Course Credit System permits the diagnostic approach of students learning as well as a continuous examination of students in each subject area.
  6. Course Credit System provides students with greater flexibility in taking elective courses from outside their areas of specialization, thereby broadening their educational base.

 

What are Credit Units/Hours in Collge and Universities?

Courses are assigned weights called units or hours. Credit units consist of a specified number of student-teacher contact hours per-week in for a semester. Credit units are used in two complementary ways:
 

As a Measure of Course Weighting:

A course may earn 2 credit units, another 3 credit unit, and another 4 credit units, etc. For example, let’s assume you have 10 weeks for a semester. 2 credit unit course means two hours of lecture per week for 10 weeks while a 3 credit unit course may mean three hours of lecture per week or four hours of lecture (practical hours inclusively).
 

As a Measure of Course workload:

Two credit unit means 2 hours of lecture or tutorial per week semester. For other forms of teaching that requires student-teacher contact, the following equivalents may apply:

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