work assigned to and done by a student during a course of study; usually it is evaluated as part of the student's grade in the course
"The professor graded the final essay, which was just one component of the required coursework."
Work carried out by students of a particular course; it is assessed and counts towards the grade given.
"The professor graded our coursework based on the essays and projects we completed throughout the semester."
In plain English: Coursework is any school work you have to do and hand in, such as essays or projects, instead of just taking tests.
"The students spent their evenings completing coursework for history and biology classes."
Usage: Use "coursework" to refer specifically to academic assignments graded as part of a curriculum, rather than general self-study or extracurricular projects. Avoid using it interchangeably with "homework," which typically denotes daily exercises not always tied to formal course assessment.
The word coursework is a straightforward combination of the words course and work. It was formed to describe assignments or tasks that are part of an academic class.