Understanding what course credit system is all about in Universities and Colleges
The course credit system in college and universities are very important because;
- Course Credit System facilitates transfer through transcript thereby enhancing student’s mobility.
- Course Credit System allows inter-disciplinary collaboration, curriculum planning formulation and teaching and minimizes duplication of courses.
- Course Credit System allows a thematic structuring of the programs of study .i.e. ability to break courses into convenient and manageable modules
- Course Credit System allows students to move within limits and progressive order of difficulty.
- Course Credit System permits the diagnostic approach of students learning as well as a continuous examination of students in each subject area.
- 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:
- Two hours of seminar.
- Two hours of laboratory work, fieldwork, studio work, practicum, stadium supporting activity.
- Teaching Practice
- Students Industrial Work Experience (SIWES)
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