In the curricula you find them: Learning Outcomes and ECTS-Credits. But what are they actually about?
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Learning Outcomes and ECTS-Credits are important components of modern curricula. The workload a student must cover within a study programme is presented as ECTS-Credits. Each module or each course resp. has a number of Credits allocated to it which corresponds to the workload in hours for the students. An established ratio: A workload of 25 hours corresponds to 1 ECTS-Credit. The allocation of the ECTS-Credits therefore reflects the workload for the students, but it also shows the foci of a certain study programme.
Learning outcomes are formulated in the curricula for each module. Well phrased learning outcomes make the requirements and expectations for students and lecturers transparent. Well phrased learning outcomes help the lecturers to orientate as well as develop suitable teaching strategies and valid and fair examinations. And: Well formulated learning outcomes inform students about what they can expect in a study programme and what they will know or be able to do after having successfully passed a module.
Both components together, thus the Learning Outcomes and ECTS-Credits, make it possible to have understandable and comparable university degrees within the European area.
Information on the allocation and assignment of ECTS-Credits can be found here: https://www.uibk.ac.at/studium/organisation/anerkennung-und-ects-zuteilung/
A different kind of video on the ECTS-Credits (by the NZZ Campus): http://campus.nzz.ch/video-casts/ect-was
Information on the taxonomy of learning outcomes in the cognitive area can be found here: https://www.uibk.ac.at/bologna/curriculums-entwicklung/dokumente/taxonomie.pdf
Office for the Bologna Process & Teaching Development
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