The credit system specifies a requisite number of study-hours that a student has to complete in order to earn a mastery level qualification status in a certain subject or grade.
WHAT?
It accounts for time spent and efforts made on academic mastery or achieving expected learning outcomes of a course
A measure of the workload of faculty/institution to ascertain their productivity and accountability towards learning success of their students, programs, and schools.
The course–credit system is a means of measuring, and accounting for learning outcomes based quality academic work by students.
When specific academic program is considered complete at mastery level by earning enough credits, a certificate/degree is awarded.
The course–credit system has proved itself an effective means of organizing and accounting for the academic work of students and professional work of the staff and management in the West
TERMS
CREDIT: The term represents the 'time and work' allocated to a certain subject, course or program
CREDIT HOUR: the unit of measuring educational CREDIT, usually based on the number of classroom-hours or teacher-student engagement-hours per week throughout an academic term or academic year.
STUDENT COURSE HOURS FOR MASTERY: The total course hours spent in classrooms, laboratories, activities, assignments and research by a student to achieve mastery It may vary from student to student. It is measure of learning pace of the student. Some students require more time to achieve mastery for equivalent certification
If one goes by the high school diploma courses in the US where in credit system has been in use for quite some time, in India, the primary schools subjects are needed to split monthly levels of learning or monthly study units; the middle schools are to have trimester courses and for the senior classes the semester system should be used. The slow-pacers may require more time and guidance to mater the course and earn enough credit or they require extra remedial classes as investments.
Some of the instructional methods that fit into credit system for school education are the following
Minimum Levels of Learning (MLL) scheme of the NCERT
· Competency-based elementary education project of Lok jumbish
· Micro-learning based education of NGOs for bridge schools and Janshala project of UN agencies
· Mastery learning based programmes inspired by Bloom’s taxonomy
· Individually Guided System of Instruction (IGSI) in Physics of NCERT
· Continuous Progress Systems based on micro-credits and remedial teaching as projects done by individual researchers and educators
For such system, the learning by students is central while the teachers, schools, school management, education system and examination boards have to as the SUPPORT SYSTEMS to enhance students learning outcomes
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