Credit Hour Policy
The typical Kenyon College course is awarded four semester hours of credit. Kenyon students earn a total of 128 semester hours minimum for a bachelor's degree.
The usual semester course meets over the course of 14-15 weeks for three hours of direct instruction per week: either three 50-minute periods per week; two 80-minute periods per week; or one three-hour seminar. Students should expect to spend a minimum of two hours of preparation time for each hour of direct instruction (8 hours per week for a 4-semester credit course). In addition, courses entail the equivalent of one additional hour of direct instruction per week; this instruction, provided by faculty members or qualified instructors, includes, but is not limited to the following;
- office hours with faculty
- required film viewings or experience with other media
- required attendance at outside speaker lectures, concerts or other relevant events
- detailed feedback on student writing
- participation in field trips on or off campus
- Faculty-student preparation and attendance at conferences or colloquia
- review sessions
- library instruction held outside of regular class hours
- discussion sessions held outside of regular class time
- writing tutorials, sessions at the Writing Center
- Math Science Skills Center sessions
- language tables and departmental discussion tables in the dining hall or departmental brown bag events
- required participation in a discussion forum moderated by a faculty member
- required viewing or listening sessions to recorded lectures by the faculty member or a qualified instructor, as in the partially "flipped" classroom.
Some classes require relatively more hours of in-class instruction for an equivalent number of units of credit. This difference reflects the different nature of classwork and the need for studio or laboratory space specific to that "hands-on" type of learning. Studio Art courses and science labs are prime examples of courses which require more hours in class for the same amount of credit or the same number of hours for less credit. Credit for some performance-related instruction will typically vary from 1 semester hour to 2 semester hours of credit, for example, depending on the time of direct instruction and the amount of class preparation usually required for the course.
Example: 4 semester hour courses
In accordance with the federal definition of a credit hour, 4 semester hour courses require at least 12 hours (i.e., 3 hours of work per credit x four credits per course = 12) of classroom, direct instruction, and/or indirect or out-of-class student work per week for fourteen weeks, for a total of 168 hours per semester.
Generally, this would break down as follows:
For a 4 semester hour classes that meet three hours per week (e.g., three hour-long sessions, two eighty minute sessions, or one three hour session once per week)
Classroom time (3 hrs/week) + Direct instruction (1 hr/week) + Indirect work (8 hrs/week) = 12 hrs/week
12 hrs/week x 14 weeks/semester = 168 hrs/semester.
Example: 2 semester hour courses
Two semester hour courses require at least 6 hours (i.e., 3 hours per credit x two credits per course = 6) of classroom, direct instruction, and/or indirect or out-of-class student work per week for fourteen weeks, for a total of 84 hours per semester.
Generally, this would break down as follows:
For a 2 semester hour classes that meet three hours per week
Classroom time (2 hrs/week) + Indirect work (4 hrs/week) = 6 hrs/week
6 hrs/week x 14 weeks/semester = 84 hrs/semester.
Example: 1 semester hour courses
Eighth-unit courses require at least 3 hours (i.e., 3 hours per credit x one credit per course = 3) of classroom, direct instruction, and/or indirect or out-of-class student work per week for fourteen weeks, for a total of 42 hours per semester.
Generally, this would break down as follows:
For a 1 semester hour classes that meet three hours per week
Classroom time (1 hrs/week) + Indirect work (2 hrs/week) = 3 hrs/week
3hrs/week x 14 weeks/semester = 42 hrs/semester.