Details of Courses
Courses taught at the University of Alberta are listed alphabetically. All courses, except those taught by Faculté Saint-Jean, are described in English.
Each course is designated by its computer abbreviation and a number. Students should use this abbreviation and number when completing any form requiring this information.
Courses are numbered according to the following system:
| 000-099 |
Pre-University |
| 100-199 |
Basic Undergraduate. Normally requires no university-level prerequisites. Designed typically for students in the first year of a program. |
| 200-299 |
Undergraduate. Prerequisites, if any, are normally at the 100-level. Designed typically for students in the second year of a program. |
| 300-399 |
Undergraduate. Prerequisites, if any, are normally at the 200-level. Designed typically for students in the third year of a program. |
| 400-499 |
Advanced Undergraduate. Prerequisites, if any, are normally at the 300-level. Designed typically for students in the fourth year of a program. |
| 500-599 |
Graduate. Designated for graduate students and certain advanced or honors undergraduate students in their final year. |
| 600-799 |
Graduate Courses |
| 800-899 |
Special Registrations |
| 900-999 |
Graduate Thesis and Project Numbers |
For the purposes of program descriptions and prerequisite designation, courses numbered 100-199 are designated as Junior Courses and courses numbered 200-499 are designated as Senior Courses.
Note: Some exceptions to the course number system described above have been granted to the Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry.
Course Description Symbols and Figures
Several symbols and figures are used to indicate the type, duration, and weight of courses.
- ★—Indicates “units of course weight,” and usually follows the course title. The accompanying number indicates the weight of the course as used in computing grade point averages and for meeting degree requirements.
A course which runs throughout the Fall/Winter (i.e., from September through April) is usually weighted ★6. A course that runs for only one term (i.e., Fall: from September to December, or Winter: from January through April) is usually weighted ★3. Certain courses are offered over Fall/Winter or Spring/Summer, or in one term, with weights of ★1, ★2, and ★4. These are considered as one-sixth, one-third, and two-thirds of a Fall/Winter or Spring/Summer course, respectively. Some honors and graduate courses involving research may vary in weight according to the length and difficulty of the project. Some clinical courses may vary in weight according to the length of clinical experience. Some courses, not included in the computation of grade point averages, are offered for credit only and either carry a weight of ★0, or are marked as “Credit.”
Undergraduate students who take courses offered by the Faculty of Engineering but are not registered in Engineering will have a course weight assigned for these courses according to the protocol of their home Faculty.
- fi—Denotes: “fee index,” the value used to calculate the instructional fees for each course. The fee index is multiplied by the fee index value (given in the appropriate subsection of Fees Payment Guide ) to give the dollar value of instructional fees for the course.
For normal courses, the fee index is twice the value of the units of course weight; for example, a course with ★3 normally has fi 6. In cases where exceptional fees considerations need to be made, the fee index is set differently by the Board of Governors.
Note that certain programs (e.g., MD, DDS, etc.) are assessed on a program fee basis for all or certain years. In these cases, the fee index calculation does not apply.
- (x term, a-b-c)—These figures in parentheses give information on when the course is offered and the hours of instruction required by the course in a week, or in some cases the total time in a term.
In the case of a single-term course, the term in which the course is given is mentioned (item x). The designation “either term” means that the course may be offered either in the first term or in the second term or in each term, at the discretion of the department concerned. The designation “variable” means that the course may be taught either as a single-term or as a full-session course.
Item a indicates lecture hours. Item b indicates seminar hour(s), demonstration hours (d), clinic hours (c), or lecture-laboratory hours (L). Item c indicates laboratory hours. For two-term courses, the hours of instruction are the same in both terms unless otherwise indicated. The expression 3/2 means 3 hours of instruction every second week; 2s/2 means 2 seminar hours every second week.
Examples:
(first term, 3-0-3): a course taught in first term with 3 hours lecture, no seminar, and 3 hours lab per week.
(second term, 0-1s-2): a course taught in second term with no lectures, 1 seminar hour, and 2 hours of lab per week.
(either term, 3-0-0): a course taught in either first or second term, or each term, with 3 lecture hours per week, no seminar, and no lab.
(two-term, 3-0-3): a course taught over both first and second term with three lecture hours, no seminar, and three hours lab per week.
(variable, 3-0-0): a course which may be taught in either first or second term or over two terms with three lecture hours per week, no seminar, and no lab.
- Prerequisite—This provides information on courses which must be successfully completed before registering in the more advanced course.
Corequisite—This provides information on courses which must be taken before or at the same time as the course described in the listing.
Note: Departments are authorized to cancel the registration of those students registered in a course offered by the department if they do not meet the prerequisite and/or corequisite requirements stated in the course description in this Calendar.
- [Department]— This indicates the department responsible for registration for interdepartmental courses. Normally, courses will be credited to the discipline listed in the square brackets.
- Open Studies Courses—Courses that are available to Open Studies students are designated in Bear Tracks Course Catalog by the
 symbol.  indicates that a course is available to Open Studies students on a delayed registration basis only (see Registration for complete details).
Important: Registration Procedures for Two-Term Courses
Students are strongly advised to refer to the Registration and Courses menu at www.registrarsoffice.ualberta.ca for details. Two-term courses are normally offered over two terms (either Fall/Winter or Spring/Summer). In a few instances, two-term courses are offered within a single term. In all cases these are identifiable in the Class Schedule because they consist of part A and part B (e.g., English 111A and 111B).
To successfully register in a two-term course, students, must do the following:
- Register in both the part A and part B for all types of sections offered (Lectures, Labs, Seminars, etc.);
- Register in the same section numbers for part A and part B of a course (e.g., Lecture A1 for both part A and part B, and Lab E3 for both part A and part B);
- Register in all the appropriate sections on the same day.
All of the above must be done or the course registration is invalid and will be deleted. Invalid registrations will be deleted nightly. It is the student’s responsibility to attempt the course registration again, subject to availability.
Example: A student wishes to register in ABCD 101, a two-term course. It has a lecture and a lab section. Based on the student’s timetable planning, decides to take Lecture C3 and Lab C8. The student must add
| In Fall Term |
ABCD 101A Lec C3 and ABCD 101A Lab C8, |
| and |
|
| In Winter Term |
ABCD 101B Lec C3 and ABCD 101B Lab C8. |
All these sections must be added on the same day to successfully register. Otherwise the registration in ABCD 101 will be deleted overnight and the student’s place in the course will be lost.
Course Renumbering
Over the years many courses have been renumbered. Old numbers can be found within individual course listings of previous Calendar editions.
Courses on Reserve
Courses not offered in the past four years are removed from this Calendar and placed on Reserve. These courses may be taught again in the future, in which case they would be brought back into the active Course Listings and placed in the Calendar. Information about Reserve Courses is available through the Registrar’s Office, the University Secretariat, and Faculty Offices.
Faculty Specific Regulations Regarding Courses
For specific Faculty regulations relating to courses and for a complete list of subjects taught by a Faculty, please consult the Undergraduate Programs section of the Calendar at the end of each Faculty section.
Physical Requirements for University Courses
The University has a commitment to the education of all academically qualified students and special services are frequently provided on campus to assist disabled students.
Nevertheless, some courses make certain unavoidable demands on students with respect to the possession of a certain level of physical skill or ability if the academic objectives of the course are to be realized. In case of doubt, students are advised to contact the Department concerned and Student Accessibility Disability Services (SAS), Office of the Dean of Students.
Because support services cannot be guaranteed for all off-campus courses, instructors may be obliged to refuse registration in such courses.
Course Availability
The following is a comprehensive course listing of all the approved courses that the University of Alberta may offer. The appearance of a course in this list does not guarantee that the course will actually be offered. The most current information on courses is available on Bear Tracks at https://www.beartracks.ualberta.ca
Course Listings
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