The basic unit used to express the workload of students, the workload of lecturers, and the workload of education programs is the Semester Credit Unit (SCU) or Credit Hours. In the credit system, the study load that students must complete in a particular academic level is expressed in the form of a certain number of credit units. These SCUs need to be specified for each educational activity, such as lectures, laboratory work, fieldwork, thesis preparation, and others. The number of SCUs for each educational activity is determined by the number of hours spent on that activity.
II.1.1. Credit Hours of Lectures
Based on the Minister of Education and Culture Regulation Number 3 of 2020 on the National Standards for Higher Education, a course with one Semester Credit Unit (SCU) means that the course is conducted every week throughout one semester with the following activities:
- 1 hour (50 minutes) of scheduled face-to-face activities with the lecturer, for example, in the form of lectures,
- 1 hour (60 minutes) of structured educational activities, which are planned by the lecturer but not scheduled, for example, homework, solving problems, writing assignments, and so on, and
- 1 hour (60 minutes) of independent student activities to deepen or prepare for an academic task, for example, reading reference books.
II.1.2. Credit Hours for Laboratory and Field Practicum
For activities involving psychomotor skills and physical activities typically carried out in laboratory practice, they are essentially similar to lecture activities. The difference is that 1 hour of lecture is considered equivalent to 170 minutes of physical or psychomotor activity. Therefore, one credit hour for laboratory and field practicum is equivalent to 170 minutes of physical or psychomotor activity, plus 1 hour of structured activity (e.g., report preparation), and 1 hour of independent activity. Hence, the total workload is 4 – 5 hours per week or 64 – 80 hours per semester.