Abstract:

The ECTS system is a key element of the Bologna Qualifications Framework. It makes it possible to assess total effort that is indispensible for gaining the results of education assigned to the whole curriculum, as well as single modules and courses. In Poland, a total number of the ECTS credits for educational programmes at particular levels has been established by specific provisions. However, the university has a right to decide how to assign the credits to the particular components of the curriculum, i.e. courses and apprenticeships. The internal structure of the credits within the adequate level of the education programme is created when designing the whole curriculum and, when there is a need, verified during its realisation. One of the methods of verification of the students’ workload “valuation” correctness is their self-assessment concerning the time spent on learning and, as a result, gaining the desired effects.

The present article shows the results of the verification of the correctness of the ECTS credits’ assignment to the courses within the particular studies’ curriculum thought at the Lublin University of Technology. The verification was based on the survey conducted among students. It concerned, among others, the self-assessment of the additional time spent on learning and its results for particular courses. The conducted analysis made it possible to point out the courses showing a visible discrepancy between the number of credits assigned to the course when creating the curriculum and the number of credits estimated by the students. The obtained results should be a base for conducting an in-depth analysis and another survey among students, as well as to determine necessary changes in the whole curriculum and particular modules and courses that will let esteem the right amount of time that an average student has to spend on learning so as to gain the desired results.

Keywords:

ECTS system, education quality assessment, university management.