"Credit" is the unit used to calculate students' academic performance. One credit is roughly equivalent to the total amount of academic work that students engage in in in a classroom or laboratory for one semester. It does not include the amount of extracurricular discussions and exchanges between students and teachers or classmates, preparation for exams and other academic work related to the course but not directly related to the course teaching. This definition of credit was put forward by the Carnegie Foundation for the Promotion of Teaching in the United States and has been widely recognized. Using credits to measure students' learning volume is the credit system, also known as the credit accumulation system. It calculates students' learning volume in units of credits, and holds that students must reach a certain minimum academic weight in order to obtain a degree, such as a bachelor's degree, a master's degree or a doctor's degree. This academic weight represents the number of courses taken by students. The credit system of 1894 originated in America. Harvard University in the United States first adopted the credit system, and Harvard Medical College established the credit system on the basis of elective system. By the beginning of the 20th century, most colleges and universities in the United States had successively implemented the credit system.
The credit system has the following advantages:
(1) Replace the academic year with credits. Replacing rigid teaching plan and academic system with flexible teaching plan and academic system requires greater time flexibility and course selection flexibility in teaching plan. Taking courses instead of arranging courses allows students to arrange their own study plans according to their own abilities and interests, and even change majors at any time.
(2) It can enhance teachers' sense of competition, which is conducive to improving teaching effect. This is relative to the independent course selection system. Schools can evaluate teachers' teaching based on the number of courses, which is conducive to improving the teaching effect.
(3) Can truly realize "choose what I love and love what I choose". Stimulating students' enthusiasm, initiative and independence is conducive to teaching students in accordance with their aptitude and effectively developing their potential.
(4) Credit system charging in colleges and universities is of positive significance to alleviate the current tuition problem of poor students. If a student from a poor family chooses to complete all the credits in three years, it is essentially equivalent to reducing the total cost of receiving higher education. Similarly, some poor students can solve the tuition burden by extending their graduation years, taking fewer credits and taking part-time jobs.
(5) Students are allowed a certain degree of freedom in choosing courses within the specified period of validity of their school status, which has great flexibility. As long as you complete the required courses and necessary practical teaching activities specified in the teaching plan, take some elective courses, complete the total graduation credits specified in the teaching plan, and meet the requirements of ideological and moral assessment, you can graduate.
(6) It helps to relieve the pressure of concentrated employment and is beneficial to students' employment. And for non-credit teaching institutions, students can get employment one year or six months in advance. While students in most other colleges and universities are still writing their graduation thesis, our students can get employment in advance under less competitive pressure.
(7) The credit system is conducive to the integration of educational resources. In the past, some schools offered repeat courses. Even if the same content is repeated in similar courses, educational resources are wasted to some extent. After the implementation of the credit system, repeat students have no choice.
(8) The credit system reform has improved the transparency of charging and standardized the charging behavior. In the past, schools usually only gave students a total tuition fee every year. No matter how many courses students choose, they all pay a unified academic year tuition, and students who graduate early still have to pay tuition. After the credit system reform, each credit is clearly marked, and students can choose according to their own economic situation. Such a "clear price tag" makes students feel confident, and also overcomes the unreasonable charges in colleges and universities to some extent.