Analyzing the problems of the implementation of the European credit transfer system in a technical university

The creation process of the European higher education is not possible without a common qualification framework to accommodate the huge diversity of European educational awards. This framework should establish a consensus about credits, levels, selected generic types of qualifications, and should allow a full recognition, and a real transparency between the education systems. The European credit transfer system, ECTS, has been designed to facilitate the transfer of educational credits between institutions in European countries and in particular to enhance the quality of student mobility. The key features of the ECTS contrast occasionally with the traditional way of measuring the size and effort involved in the courses of a determined country. This is the case of Spain where credits were based on the number of hours spent in class on a course, whereas the ECTS is centered on the student workload required to achieve the objectives of a program. Here, the objectives are preferably specified in terms of learning outcomes. The process of converting from the unit system to the ECTS is not trivial because it has repercussions on the work of the student in relation to such issues as the number of hours in class, the preparation that students need before and after the class, the work done independently by the student or the professor's method of teaching. This paper presents the results and lessons learned as a consequence of the work carried out by a network of all the universities of Madrid which offer a degree in computer engineering, in the context of an experimental pilot project initiated by Madrid's public administration.