It is generally accepted that performing practicum (which is synonymous with ‘hands-on’, or more referred to as ‘practical-oriented’/’lab-intensive’ in KUKUM) gives more opportunity for students to absorb what they have learnt, and hence should result in better understanding. KUKUM does more practicum compared to conventional universities, with a typical ratio of 60:40 of practicum: theory. This ratio was a good starting base that was used during the design of the entire curriculum.
Nevertheless, as the academic system matured and staff gained confidence in developing and apportioning work that encompassed theory and practical, this ratio became increasingly blurred. The premise is that the exact figure could never be ascertained, as each student’s study style is different and hence to factor in a ratio such as this would be misleading. In addition, it has caused much confusion when many parties tried to calculate the number of hours that make up the ratio. As described elsewhere, in a typical 4-unit course, the actual time spent, if calculated on this micro level, is made up of 2 hours lab and 3 hours theory. This translates to 40% practicum and 60% theory - which seems the exact opposite of the 60:40 ratio made known in the description of the curriculum. (Actually, this ratio is meant to be interpreted like this: the student will spend 60% of his/her time doing practicum in her ENTIRE 4-year period of undergraduate education, as oppose to 60% of her time in the period of one 4-unit course.)
In fact the Technical University Colleges (TUC) Academic Management Council has decided that the 60:40 ratio should not be declared at all as it would invite more uncertainty and confusion than transparency and clarity. Instead, the Council felt that publicising the fact that time spent doing practicum is higher than time spent doing theory should suffice in bringing home the point.
It has to be pointed out that “time spent doing practicum is higher than time spent doing theory” does not mean that students spend less number of hours in lecture halls, compared to those in conventional universities. Rather, this means that more time is demanded of the student to stay in school in order to perform practicum. Hence, KUKUM students spend more time doing official school work compared to their counterpart in the conventional university. A simple comparative study between the contact hours of students at KUKUM and that of a typical conventional university revealed that by the end of her 4-year tenure, a KUKUM degree student would have accumulated around 3000 contact hours of time spent in the presence of an instructor, compared to approximately 2400 hours accumulated by a corresponding person in the conventional university. In other words, KUKUM students spend 17%, (or about 5 hours per week) more in school (in labs or classes) compared to students from conventional universities.
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