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Credits system at uni

Is having 12 subjects of 10 credits each considered to be more challenging than another couese with 7 subjects with same total amout of credits (120) ?

Reply 1

Helloworld_95

I would say yes, but I'd understand if people felt otherwise. With more modules you tend to have more exams and pieces of coursework, e.g. I'm doing 11 modules this year comprised of 10x 10 credit modules and 1x 20 credit, last semester I had 6 exams, a quiz, and 4 hand ins, this semester I have 3 exams, 1 quiz, 10 hand ins. Whereas if you have 7 modules carrying 120 in total you'll probably have 6/7 exams, and a similar number of hand ins. Also in larger modules they tend to teach you how to apply that knowledge to certain situations, whereas with smaller modules you'll just be taught the content and then expected to learn how to apply it. On the downside it means if for example you're taking an aero degree you probably won't know the standard way of applying a given set of knowledge to planes, but on the plus side you learn to be quickly able to apply knowledge to previously unknown situations which gives you a bit more versatility.

Reply 2

Dusky Mauve

See I'd say the opposite of the above poster, in that a 20 credit module with just one exam is much more challenging than a 10 credit module with weekly quizzes, a couple of labs and an exam. It's much easier, I've found, to get a higher mark on the 10 credit modules.