The European Credit Transfer System and curriculum design: product before process?

Abstract

This article critically considers the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) from the perspectives of outcomes-based education and the alternative process model of curriculum design. The uses of ECTS to ensure quality control and accountability and promote international student mobility are discussed. The article concludes with a discussion of the purposes of a university education, and calls for evidence-informed debate in relation to models of curriculum design for higher education.