Example learning time

The lecture Digital Logic comprises 3 SWS (2V+1Ü) and 4 CPs. Each credit point corresponds to about 30 hours of work. According to the module manual, this results in the following distribution:

• 45 hours of attendance (lecture time and exercise groups, 3 SWS times -roughly- 15 dates).

• 75 hours self-study

With this you could work approximately like this:

• For the six homework assignments for the exercises (6 appointments of 2 hours) one should spend about 5 hours of intensive, concentrated work each (that is almost a whole working day(!) each, in total about 30 hours).

• Each of the 14 or so lecture dates should be followed up for at least 30 minutes by consciously going through the slides (printouts) again and writing notes on them (e.g. brief overview of the content in your own (key) words) or marking essential points. This should take a total of about 10 hours (40 minutes each at ).

• For the direct exam preparation there are 35+ hours available. This is practically equivalent to a whole week of full-time work(!) with a 7-hour day - but you cannot concentrate fully for 7 hours at a stretch and you also have other exams: so plan at least 4 weeks.

• If you spend more time each week for a concrete lecturewrap-up (e.g. 2 hours each of intensive, concentrated studying), you should be able to save this additional time (about +18 hours) for the subsequent homework and for the final exam preparation. For this kind of follow-up, you should ideally also use a textbook (suggestion list on the lecture websites and in the VV).

Overall, then, you should not underestimate the specific amount of work involved. Also, these considerations apply to the standard student who can concentrate at any time and optimally plans his/her working time! Therefore, to be on the safe side assume that you yourself are even a little slower and rather adjust the given times a little upwards.

Note on the use of a textbook: The complete reading of a textbook may be somewhat time-consuming and could perhaps be considered as an alternative to attending a lecture (caution: lectures usually do not stick to just one book!). For follow-up (or preparation), it is advisable to look through the corresponding chapters/subchapters in a targeted manner and - with regard to the structure and the working instructions in the book - to take a closer look at specific aspects, to create excerpts and to calculate the tasks in the book. Your own excerpts are important additions to the lecture material and its presentation and contribute significantly to the learning process!

In the graph on the left side you can see the division into attendance time (45h) and self-study (75h). The attendance time includes the weekly lecture and the (in the case of digital logic) biweekly exercise. You are also responsible for the allocation of time for self-study.

It is noticeable that the larger part of the time has to be managed by yourself!

The graph shows the allocation described above to the

• Lecture wrap-up (dark, 10 hours)
• Homework preparation (medium, 30 hours)
• Exam preparation (light, 35+ hours)

plotted. It is noticeable that almost half of the time was spent on exam preparation. Of the total budget, it is still about 30%.

Although the suggested wrap-up of the lecture sessions (about 40 minutes each) is just under 9% of the total time, it is not normally done.

However, in the 24 hours following the lecture, the time would be most effectively invested and would save additional time later. 

For the sake of completeness, here is an overview of the alternative lecture follow-up suggested above with 28 hours (2h per lecture). Here the balanced relationship between wrap-up, exercise processing and exam preparation is noticeable.