Courses

A course in Open Degree is an optional, curated path through the graph: a sequenced set of lessons, resources, and projects that teaches a connected set of outcomes. The graph is the curriculum. A course is one good way to walk part of it, written by someone who knows the terrain and wants to save a learner some wandering. No concept requires a course; every node can be learned and proven on its own.

Rules for a course

• Every course teaches at least one outcome, listed in outcomes. A course that does not map to nodes in the graph is not an Open Degree course.
• Resources are free or open first. Any resource that costs money must be labeled cost: paid, and a free alternative should be offered where one exists.
• Prefer putting a resource on the outcome it teaches, so it helps a learner who arrives at that node without the course. A course’s own resources are the toolkit for the whole path.
• The body of the file is the plan: lessons or steps in order, each naming the outcome it serves, plus at least one hands-on project.
• Each course names the assessments a learner should use to check mastery.
• Courses carry the same status, version, license, and contributors fields as every other entity.

Fields

Field	Required	Meaning
type	yes	Always course
title	yes	Course name
description	yes	One or two sentences on what the learner will be able to do
domain	yes	Id of the domain
outcomes	yes	Ids of the outcomes the course teaches
assessments	no	Ids of assessments that check the course’s outcomes
estimatedHours	no	Honest estimate of learner time
formats	no	For example video, reading, project, practice
resources	no	{ title, url, kind, cost, provider } entries
status, version, license, contributors, tags	no	Shared fields

How platforms use courses

A platform imports the Markdown files and their frontmatter directly (a machine-readable JSON export is planned). It can list a course as a selectable source, as a learning engine such as DIY Degree does, present the plan as-is, wrap it in its own gamification and tutoring, remix it under the license, or skip courses entirely and walk the graph node by node. Whatever it does, the outcomes, assessments, and credentials stay the same, which is the whole point.

A later version of the standard may rename courses to paths. The files and fields would not change.