The Credit Hour: An Anachronism.

The value of the credit hour as a measure of performance of students, faculty, and organizations in higher education was examined. Testing the hypothesis that work time effort and designated repertoire are equal for a given credit across all students, student work time was examined in an individualized instructional system. Large differences were found in the time required by 500 different students. Implications of the data for higher education are discussed and a proposal made for redefining the credit hour from an input measure to one of output. (Author/PF)