Abstract

The present article seeks to overcome some of the most common misconceptions which are currently proliferating in the application of the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) at tertiary level. It presents and unpacks seven false myths affecting all the main curricular and organizational levels of the implementation of the new credit system -competencies, types of groupings and learning modalities, methodology, teacher and student roles, evaluation, and coordination-, expounding on why they are wrong and providing concrete examples of how to surmount them. The latter stem from five governmentally-funded pedagogical innovation projects and two investigations into the practical application of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). Perhaps the most significant conclusion at which the paper arrives is that there is a pressing need to overcome misguided conceptions regarding the EHEA and to usher in a new era in the application of the ECTS based on accurate information and findings as opposed to perceptions. 

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