Some university courses are widely perceived by students as difficult, whereas other courses are seen as comparatively easy. It is useful for teachers to be well-informed about what makes their courses difficult, so that intended learning outcomes, content, and course structure can be devised to maximize learning while keeping workload at a level appropriate for the subject. This report provides teachers with a framework for evaluating the difficulty of a course, by identifying seven distinct sources of difficulty for students: the complexity of the content, the amount of content, the total allotted time, the extent of the assessment, the course structure, the provided resources, and the quality of teaching. Each source of difficulty, including how it may be calibrated, is discussed by drawing on the authors’ own experience as well as studies from the literature. The report is intended to be used as a reference by teachers who are in the process of designing or altering a university course.
You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.