Abstract:

Nowadays, the convergence towards the European Higher Education Area is a process of profound restructuring of the teaching organization schemes developed in recent decades. This process of renewal requires, amongst other aspects, the necessary conversion of the University Reform Law (LRU, according to the Spanish acronyms) credits that had been implemented (and still continue today in several faculties) to the European Credit Transfer System (ETCS).

It is important to note that, since the new degrees proposed in the Bologna process are gradually implemented, during the academic year 2009/2010, the implementation of the ECTS was compulsory in the courses belonging to the first year of the Bachelor degree of Political Science and Administration. However, there is the possibility of building pilot experiences in the remaining courses. Specifically, this paper analyzes the case of a pilot ECTS experience carried out in the course International and Spanish Economic System during the academic year 2009/2010. In order to achieve this aim, the first challenge has been to develop a teaching guide of the course mentioned above, which corresponds to the fifth year of the Bachelor degree in Political Science and Administration. This guide develops three main aspects: the basics of the conversion of LRU credits into ECTS credits in the course of International and Spanish Economic System, how this process fosters the development of competencies essential for the appropriate development of the students in their imminent future employment, and the time schedule which enables the implementation of the ECTS credits.

This paper is structured into four different sections. The first section constitutes an introduction to the theoretical framework where the ECTS is rooted. The second section discusses how to conduct the adaptation of the ECTS credit system in the fifth course of the Bachelor degree in Political Science and Public Administration. The third section focuses on the adaptation of the ECTS in the course of International and Spanish Economic System, including aspects such as: the objectives of the course, the theoretical contents, the new structure of credits, the evaluation system, the results of the implementation of this ECTS guide, the composition of students (high percentage of students involved in different exchange programs, at international and national levels), among others. In this section, we provide both theoretical and empirical analyses. Finally, the fourth section presents the main findings and conclusions drawn on the one hand, the proposed ECTS teaching guide to the subject, and secondly, the implementation part of it for this course.

Keywords:

ECTS experience, implementation.