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 difficult 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.
ADVANTAGES OF THE COURSE CREDIT SYSTEM
The adoption of the course credit system for all Colleges of Education and other NCE awarding institution has the following merits:
Allows students within limits to move at their own pace.
Allows a thematic structuring of the programs of study .i.e. ability to break courses into convenient and manageable modules.
Allows inter-disciplinary collaboration, curriculum planning formulation and teaching and minimizes duplication of courses.
Permits diagnostic approach of a students learning as well as continuous examination of students in each subject area.
Provides students with greater flexibility in taking elective courses form outside their areas of specialization, thereby broadening their educational base.
Facilitates inter-college transfer thereby enhancing student’s mobility.
CREDIT UNITS
Courses are assigned weights called units. Credit units consist of specified number of students-teacher contact hours per week semester. Credit units are use in two complimentary ways: as measure of course weighting and as an indicator of student’s workload.
As a Measure of Course Weighting: a course may earn 2 credit units, another 1 credit unit, and another 3 credit units, etc. A1 credit unit course means one hour of lecture per week for 15 weeks of the semester while a 2 credit unit course may mean two hours of lecture per week or one hour of lecture plus one two-hour practical per week per semester for 15 weeks.
A Measure of workload: one credit unit means 1 hour of lecture or tutorial per week semester. For others forms of teaching requiring students-teacher contact, the following equivalents may apply:
Two hours of seminar.
Three hours of laboratory work, field work, studio work, practicum, stadium supporting activity.
Teaching Practice: Twelve weeks of teaching to earn six credit units to be credited under EDU 324.
Students Industrial Work Experience (SIWES): Sixteen weeks of student industrial attachment to earn four credit units.
