A2100.15 Credit Hour Definition

Statement

Credit hours for courses for which ICCB credit hour grants to be claimed shall be determined on the basis of an expected 45 hours of combined classroom/laboratory and study time for each semester hour or 30 hours of such time for each quarter credit hour.  One (1) hour of instruction is defined as fifty (50) minutes.

Courses with students participating in lecture/discussion-oriented instruction will be assigned one semester credit hour or equivalent for each 15 classroom contact hours of instruction per semester or equivalent.  It is assumed that two hours of outside study will be invested for each classroom contact hour.  Credit hours will be awarded when a student achieves competence on an appropriate assessment, using a faculty-approved rubric or other valid and reliable measurement instrument.

Courses in which students participate in laboratory/clinical-laboratory-oriented instruction will be assigned one semester credit hour or equivalent for each 30-45 classroom contact hours of instruction per semester or equivalent.  It is assumed that one hour of outside study will be invested for each two laboratory contact hour.

Students who participate in nonclinical internship, practicum, or on-the-job supervised instruction shall receive one semester credit hour or equivalent for 75-149 contact hours per semester or equivalent and students who participate in clinical practicums shall receive one semester credit hour or equivalent for each 30-60 contact hours per semester or equivalent.  It is assumed that one hour of outside study time will be invested from each two clinical practicum contact hours.

Students who participate in “independent study” instruction are held to the same academic standards for evaluating student progress.  For every one (1) semester hour of credit awarded, the student is expected to spend a minimum of two-three (2-3) clock hours per week (calculated as the sum of in-class and out-of-class time normally spent by students achieving mastery of the subject matter) for the period of one (1) semester.

Revised:  August 2012, August 2015, July 2016