No, it's considered a mini-mester, which is about half as long a regular semester. The instructors just cram all the information into about 8 weeks instead of 14.
There are colleges and universities that offer courses that are shorter in length. Typically, a regular semester course can run 14 to 16 weeks. However, there are some courses that are offer that...
They mean the same thing. One credit is equivalent to one semester hour. Thus, if a course is three credits, it means three hours of class contact time per week for the semester.