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In higher education, a course is a unit of teaching that typically lasts one academic term, is led by one or more instructors (teachers or professors), and has a fixed roster of students. A course usually covers an individual subject. Courses generally have a fixed program of sessions every week during the term, called lessons or classes. Students may receive a grade and academic credit after completion of the course. [1] Courses can either be compulsory material or "elective". An elective is usually not a required course, but there are a certain number of non-specific electives that are required for certain majors. The entire collection of courses required to complete an academic degree is called a program (or programme) of studies.
The term is used in various countries, such as Vietnam, Canada, Nigeria, and the United States. In India, the United Kingdom, Australia and Singapore, as well as parts of Canada, the word "unit" or "module" would be used to refer to an academic course as used in North America and the rest of Europe. In the Philippines, a course can be an individual subject (usually referred to by faculty and school officials) or the entire programme (usually referred to by students and outsiders).
Courses are made up of individual sessions, typically on a fixed weekly schedule.
There are different formats of course in universities:
Many courses combine these formats. Lecture courses often include weekly discussion sections with smaller groups of students led by the principal instructor, another instructor, or teaching assistant. Laboratory courses often combine lectures, discussion sections, and laboratory sessions.
Students are expected to do various kinds of work for a course:
The exact work required depends on the discipline, the course, and the particular instructor. Unlike most European university courses, grades are generally determined by all of these kinds of work, not only the final examination.
An elective course is one chosen by a student from a number of optional subjects or courses in a curriculum, as opposed to a required course which the student must take. While required courses (sometimes called "core courses" or "general education courses") are deemed essential for an academic degree, elective courses tend to be more specialized. Elective courses usually have fewer students than the required courses.
The term elective is also used for a period of medical study conducted away from the student's home medical school, often abroad. Motivations for choosing such a program include a wish to experience other cultures and to learn how to work in the clinical situations in other countries. [2]
Typically, North American universities require students to achieve both breadth of knowledge across disciplines and depth of knowledge in a particular chosen subject area, known as a major. Thus, students of the Arts or Humanities are required to take some science courses, and vice versa. Normally, students are free to choose their particular electives from among a wide range of courses offered by their university, as long as the students possess the prerequisite knowledge to understand the subject matter being taught. An English major, for example, might also study one or two years of chemistry, biology or physics as well as mathematics and a foreign language.
Elective courses are also offered in the third and fourth years of university, though the choice is more restrictive and will depend upon the particular major the student has chosen. For example, at the University of British Columbia, students intending to specialize in Sanskrit as part of a major in Asian language and culture will usually have to complete several Sanskrit and Hindustani or Punjabi courses during the first two years of university, as well as additional courses in other languages of India in the third and fourth years of study. In addition to these required courses, however, students would choose among several third- and fourth-year elective courses on topics not directly related to India, such as the history and culture of China, Japan or Indonesia. [3]
In the United States, most colleges and universities use a course numbering system where each course is identified by the name of the major (or an abbreviation thereof) followed by a 3- or 4-digit number − for example, "French 213" (pronounced "two thirteen") or "CS 123" (pronounced "one twenty-three"). This common numbering system began to be used in the 1920s [4] and was designed to make transfer between colleges easier. In theory, any numbered course in one academic institution should bring a student to the same standard as a similarly numbered course at other institutions. [5] [4] However, this is not a strict rule, and each institution is free to choose its own course numbers. Other countries may use very different numbering schemes or even no numbering system at all. In general, the equivalence between courses at different universities must be established by comparing their stated contents.
The first digit of the course number usually designates its level, or relative difficulty, of the course, [6] [7] and may roughly correspond the year of study in which the course is likely to be taken (e. g. 1 for freshman, 2 for sophomore, 3 for junior, 4 for senior in undergraduate courses, and 5 and above for graduate courses). Correspondingly, "a 200-level course" (pronounced "two hundred") would mean a sophomore-level course.
The attribution of digits other than the first is even less standardized, but in general, sequences of related courses tend to have consecutive numbers, indicating prerequisites or recommended sequence. So, for instance, a college may not allow students to enroll in English 201 before they have passed English 101 and 102. It is common for the middle digit(s) to indicate the subfield in the department within which the course is offered − for example, in a Physics department, all courses numbered "PHYS 47xx" may be about magnetism, while all "PHYS 48xx" courses may be about optics.
The course number 101 (pronounced "one oh one") is often used for a first or introductory course in a particular topic. This number appears to have been first used by the University of Buffalo in 1929. [4] It eventually gave the US slang term "101" used to designate elementary knowledge in any subject, academic or not; as in "boiling potatoes is cooking 101". There is a record of usage in this generic sense in 1986. [4]
The University of Northern Iowa changed its course numbering system from 3 digits to 4 digits at the start of the fall 2011 semester. [8]
The University of Northern Iowa offers classes up to 7999. [8]
The College of William and Mary uses 5 digits for course reference numbers (CRNs). The CRN's first digit is 2 for a spring class, 3 for a summer class, and 1 for a fall class.
Sometimes the same course is taught by different faculty and/or at different times. In this case, a section number is used to differentiate between the different classes. [9]
A teaching method is a set of principles and methods used by teachers to enable student learning. These strategies are determined partly on subject matter to be taught, partly by the relative expertise of the learners, and partly by constraints caused by the learning environment. For a particular teaching method to be appropriate and efficient it has take into account the learner, the nature of the subject matter, and the type of learning it is supposed to bring about.
Secondary education in Japan is split into junior high schools, which cover the seventh through ninth grade, and senior high schools, which mostly cover grades ten through twelve.
In France, secondary education is in two stages:
An academic major is the academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits. A student who successfully completes all courses required for the major qualifies for an undergraduate degree. The word major is also sometimes used administratively to refer to the academic discipline pursued by a graduate student or postgraduate student in a master's or doctoral program.
The Master of Music is, as an academic title, the first graduate degree in music awarded by universities and conservatories. The MM combines advanced studies in an applied area of specialization with graduate-level academic study in subjects such as music history, music theory, or music pedagogy. The degree, which takes one or two years of full-time study to complete, prepares students to be professional performers, conductors, and composers, according to their area of specialization. The MM is often required as the minimum teaching credential for university, college, and conservatory instrumental or vocal teaching positions.
A lecture is an oral presentation intended to present information or teach people about a particular subject, for example by a university or college teacher. Lectures are used to convey critical information, history, background, theories, and equations. A politician's speech, a minister's sermon, or even a business person's sales presentation may be similar in form to a lecture. Usually the lecturer will stand at the front of the room and recite information relevant to the lecture's content.
A seminar is a form of academic instruction, either at an academic institution or offered by a commercial or professional organization. It has the function of bringing together small groups for recurring meetings, focusing each time on some particular subject, in which everyone present is requested to participate. This is often accomplished through an ongoing Socratic dialogue with a seminar leader or instructor, or through a more formal presentation of research. It is essentially a place where assigned readings are discussed, questions can be raised and debates can be conducted.
A teaching assistant or teacher's aide (TA) or education assistant (EA) or team teacher (TT) is an individual who assists a teacher or professor with instructional responsibilities. TAs include graduate teaching assistants (GTAs), who are graduate students; undergraduate teaching assistants (UTAs), who are undergraduate students; secondary school TAs, who are either high school students or adults; and elementary school TAs, who are adults.
A course credit is a measure of the size of an educational course, often used to determine whether the requirements for an award have been met, to facilitate transfer between institutions, or to enhance intercomparability of qualifications. Credit may be input-based – defined by the quantity of instruction given – or outcome-based – defined by the learning outcomes and a notional time to achieve those outcomes.
In the United Kingdom, medical school generally refers to a department within a university which is involved in the education of future medical practitioners. All leading British medical schools are state-funded and their core purpose is to train doctors on behalf of the National Health Service. Courses generally last four to six years: two years of pre-clinical training in an academic environment and two to three years clinical training at a teaching hospital and in community settings. Medical schools and teaching hospitals are closely integrated. The course of study is extended to six years if an intercalated degree is taken in a related subject.
A recitation in a general sense is the act of reciting from memory, or a formal reading of verse or other writing before an audience.
Physics education or physics teaching refers to the education methods currently used to teach physics. The occupation is called physics educator or physics teacher. Physics education research refers to an area of pedagogical research that seeks to improve those methods. Historically, physics has been taught at the high school and college level primarily by the lecture method together with laboratory exercises aimed at verifying concepts taught in the lectures. These concepts are better understood when lectures are accompanied with demonstration, hand-on experiments, and questions that require students to ponder what will happen in an experiment and why. Students who participate in active learning for example with hands-on experiments learn through self-discovery. By trial and error they learn to change their preconceptions about phenomena in physics and discover the underlying concepts. Physics education is part of the broader area of science education.
The Nationwide Unified Examination for Admissions to General Universities and Colleges (普通高等学校招生全国统一考试), commonly abbreviated as Gaokao, is the national undergraduate admission exam of China, held in early June every year. The exam is held by provincial governments under the Ministry of Education's orders and is required for undergraduate admissions to all higher education institutions in the country. The exam is taken by high schools' graduating seniors at the end of their final year.
Team-based learning (TBL) is a collaborative learning and teaching strategy that enables people to follow a structured process to enhance student engagement and the quality of student or trainee learning. The term and concept was first popularized by Larry Michaelsen, the central figure in the development of the TBL method while at University of Oklahoma in the 1970s, as an educational strategy that he developed for use in academic settings, as in medical education. Team-based learning methodology can be used in any classroom or training sessions at school or in the workplace.
The ICFESexamination, or Saber 11, is a high school exit examination administered annually in grade 11 in Colombian high schools. The exam is standardized, similar to the SAT and ACT examinations taken by high school students in the United States. The purpose of the exam is to evaluate students' aptitude in five subjects: critical reading, mathematics, social studies, science, and English. Each exam question has four multiple-choice answers, except for the English section which provides between three and eight possible answers for each question.
Teaching and learning centers are independent academic units within colleges and universities that exist to provide support services for faculty, to help teaching faculty to improve their teaching and professional development. Teaching centers also routinely provide professional development for graduate students as they prepare for future careers as teaching faculty. Some centers also may provide learning support services for students, and other services, depending on the individual institution. Teaching and learning centers may have different kinds of names, such as faculty development centers, teaching and learning centers, centers for teaching and learning, centers for teaching excellence, academic support centers, and others; a common abbreviation is TLC.
An examination or test is an educational assessment intended to measure a test-taker's knowledge, skill, aptitude, physical fitness, or classification in many other topics. A test may be administered verbally, on paper, on a computer, or in a predetermined area that requires a test taker to demonstrate or perform a set of skills.
A virtual learning environment (VLE) in educational technology is a web-based platform for the digital aspects of courses of study, usually within educational institutions. They present resources, activities, and interactions within a course structure and provide for the different stages of assessment. VLEs also usually report on participation and have some level of integration with other institutional systems. In North America, VLEs are often referred to as Learning Management Systems (LMS).
A flipped classroom is an instructional strategy and a type of blended learning, which aims to increase student engagement and learning by having pupils complete readings at home and work on live problem-solving during class time. This pedagogical style moves activities, including those that may have traditionally been considered homework, into the classroom. With a flipped classroom, students watch online lectures, collaborate in online discussions, or carry out research at home, while actively engaging concepts in the classroom, with a mentor's guidance.
Tamil Nadu National Law University (TNNLU), formerly Tamil Nadu National Law School (TNNLS), is a National Law University. Admissions to the university are done on the basis of the Common Law Admission Test. It was established in 2012 by the Government of Tamil Nadu through Tamil Nadu National Law School Act, 2012, with an initial contribution of ₹100 crore .The Act was amended in the year 2018 and the word 'School' was replaced by the word ' University'.