Educational courses
In education, focusing on a specific course is important to gain more expertise on the field which interests you. In the US, Education/Courses often involve units of teaching which lasts for one academic term while being led by a single or multiple instructors. Those instructors are either referred to as professors or teachers.
A course usually has a fixed number of students where each should be given academic credit and a grade. The term is often used in the university setting where there are different formats for Education/Courses including lectures, tutorials, laboratory, seminars, and colloquiums.
There can also be Education/Courses combining all of those common course formats in a university. For instance, lectures and laboratory work are often part of scientific and medical courses. While in a course, students are expected to attend the sessions, discuss reading assignments, study the assigned readings from the syllabus, write papers, take tests, and do laboratory work when required.
The work involved in a course is often dependent on the course itself or the discipline. It is also up to the professor or instructor to assign what kind of work needs to be done for his or her class. Your final grade for a course will be determined by your performance on the tasks and assignments your professor will ask you to do.
Some universities are offering elective courses, which you can choose optionally to enhance a certain skill or if you are simply interested in it. These elective courses are often provided for third and fourth year students. Often times, your major may also require you to take up an elective course.