Elective Course

Elective Course 

in the USSR, an optional course of study that may be taken by students of higher educational institutions, specialized secondary schools, or vocational-technical schools. Students in the higher grades of general-educational schools may also take elective courses. Elective courses broaden and deepen the students’ theoretical knowledge and applied skills, develop their abilities, and satisfy their personal interests.

Elective courses deal with current scientific, technological, and cultural issues and with individual topics in which students have become interested during the study of a particular field. A list of recommended elective courses is usually included in a school’s curriculum. Decisions on which courses the list will include are made by councils of institutions of higher education and of departments, as well as by councils of teachers in specialized secondary, vocational-technical, and general-educational schools in accordance with the interests of the students.

Elective courses also include practical training courses, seminars, and laboratory classes. In secondary schools, elective courses are taught by faculty members of higher educational institutions, staff members of research institutions, and specialists in aspects of culture and the national economy.

V. A. IUDIN