AEC PUBLICATIONs 2007

Association Européenne des Conservatoires,Académies de Musique et Musikhochschulen (AEC)PO Box 805 NL-3500AV Utrecht The Netherlands

Tel +31.302361242 Fax +31.302361290Email aecinfo@aecinfo.org Website www.aecinfo.org

handbook

implementation and use of credit points

in higher music education

evert bisschop boele

The Polifonia project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views of its authors and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which might be made of the information contained therein.

A free electronic version of this handbook is available through www.polifonia-tn.org.

handbook

implementation and use of credit points

in higher music education

evert bisschop boele

Contents

foreword1. introduction2. credit point systems 2.1 Whatisacreditpointsystem? 2.2NationalcreditpointsystemsandtheEuropeanCreditTransferand AccumulationSystem 2.3Basicfeaturesofacreditpointsystem 2.4Advantagesanddisadvantagesofcreditpointsystems3. how to build a credit point system 3.1 Fromrelativeimportancetocreditpoints 3.2Fromabsoluteworkloadtocreditpoints 3.3Fromcontacttimetocreditpoints 3.4Whichsystemtochoose? 3.5Specificproblemsincreditpointsystems4. credit point systems in a wider context 4.1 Creditpointsystemsandcurriculumdevelopment 4.2Creditpointsystemsandinternationalisation 4.3Creditpointsystemsandinternalqualityassuranceappendicesappendix a: Listofrelevantwebsitesappendix b: SomeEuropeanexamplesofcreditpointtables

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Foreword

ThisdocumenthasbeendevelopedintheframeworkoftheERASMUSThematicNetworkforMusic“Polifonia”1,thelargestEuropeanprojectonprofessionalmusictrainingtodate.Thisprojectinvolved67organisationsinprofessionalmusictrainingandthemusicprofessionfrom32Europeancountriesand30expertsin5connectedworkinggroupsinanintensive3-yearworkprogrammefromSeptem-ber2004–October2007.Theproject,whichwascoordinatedjointlybytheMalmöAcademyofMusic–LundUniversityandtheAssociationEuropéennedesConservatoires,AcademiesdeMusiqueetMusikhochschulen (AEC),receivedsupportfromtheEuropeanUnionwithintheframeworkoftheERASMUSProgramme.Theaimsoftheprojectwere:

1. To study issues connected to the Bologna Declaration Process, such as the development oflearningoutcomesfor1st(Bachelor),2nd(Master)and3rdcyclestudiesthroughthe“Tuning”2methodology,theuseofcreditpointsystems,curriculumdevelopment,mobilityofstudentsandteachers,andqualityassuranceinthefieldofmusicinhighereducation.

2. Tocollect informationon levels inmusiceducationother than the 1st (Bachelor)and the2nd(Master)studycycles,inparticularpre-collegetrainingand3rdcycle(Doctorate/PhD)studiesinthefieldofmusic.

3. Toexploreinternationaltrendsandchangesinthemusicprofessionandtheirimplicationsforprofessionalmusictraining.

WiththeaimtoparticipateinthediscussionstakingplaceinthehighermusiceducationsectorandintheframeworkoftheBolognaprocess,theAECformedwithin“Polifonia”agroupwiththefollow-ingexperts:

• JeremyCox(Chair-RoyalCollegeofMusic,London)• HannuApajalahti(SibeliusAcademy,Helsinki)• EvertBisschopBoele(HanzehogeschoolGroningen)• CristinaBritodaCruz(EscolaSuperiordeMúsicadeLisboa)• BrunoCarioti(ConservatorioStatalediMusica“AlfredoCasella”,L’Aquila)• GrzegorzKurzynski(K.LipinskiAcademyofMusic,Wroclaw)• JörgLinowitzki(MusikhochschuleLübeck)• JacquesMoreau(CNSMDdeLyon)

1 Moreinformationabout“Polifonia”canbefoundatwww.polifonia-tn.org.

2 Formoreinformationaboutthe“Tuning”methodologypleaseseehttp://www.tuning.unideusto.org/tuningeu/index.php?option

=content&task=view&id=172&Itemid=205.

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InordertoassisthighermusiceducationinstitutionswiththerequirementsproposedbytheBolognaprocess,the“Polifonia”projectissuedaseriesofpublicationsthatcanbeusedbytheinstitutionsinthedevelopmentoftheirstudyprogrammes:

• Severalpracticalhandbookson: - CurriculumDesignandDevelopmentinHigherMusicEducation - ImplementationandUseofCreditPointsinHigherMusicEducation - InternalQualityAssuranceinHigherMusicEducation• Adocumententitled“SummaryofTuningFindings–HigherMusicEducation”,whichcontainsthe

AECLearningOutcomesforthe1st,2ndand3rdcycles,aswellasthe“Polifonia/DublinDescrip-tors”asmentionedinparagraph3.2.6ofthishandbook

• Atrilingualwebsitecalled“BolognaandMusic”(www.bologna-and-music.org),whereallrele-vantdocumentationinrelationtotheBolognaprocessseenfromtheperspectiveofhighermusiceducationcanbefound.

Inaddition,theAECproject“AccreditationinEuropeanProfessionalMusicTraining”3producedsev-eralimportantdocumentsaddressingexternalqualityassuranceandaccreditationinmusic.

3 Moreinformationaboutthisprojectcanbefoundatwww.bologna-and-music.org/accreditation.

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1 . IntroduCtIon

1.1 TheintroductionofcreditpointsystemshasbeenanimportantissueinthecontextoftheBolognaprocess, which seeks to create a harmonised area of higher education across Europe. In highermusiceducation,acreditpointsystemissomethingrelativelynewformanyinstitutions.Thegoalofthispublicationistoserveasapracticalandeasilycomprehensibleguideforthedevelopmentandmaintenanceofacreditpointsysteminhighermusiceducationinstitutions:conservatoires,musicacademies,Musikhochschulenandthelike.

1.2 Ifyou,thereader,arestartingtomastertheins-and-outsofcreditpointsystems,itmaybeagoodideatoreadthisbrochureoncecompletely.Thatway,onegetsanoverviewofthesubject,andques-tionswhichoccurtoyouwhilereadingmayturnouttohavebeenansweredbytheendofeachchap-terorbytheendofthebrochure.Asanextraaidtoorientation,ashortoutlineoftheotherchaptersofthepublicationisgiveninaboxatthebeginningofeachchapter.Particularlyproblematicconceptsarethendealtwithattheendofeachchapter.

1.3 Finally,IwouldliketoexpressmygratitudetoMrJeremyCox(RoyalCollegeofMusic–London)forreadingthefirstdraftofthisdocumentandmakingmanyhelpfulsuggestionstothetext.

InChapter2youwillfind:- ashortdefinitionofacreditpointsystem- somehistoricalaspectsofcreditpointsystems- adescriptionofthebasicfeatures,advantagesanddisadvantagesofcreditpointsystems

InChapter3youwillfind:- three different models which you might use when building a credit point system in your institution- someremarksonspecificproblemswhenbuildingacreditpointsystem

InChapter4youwillfind:- remarksonthewidercontextofcreditpointsystems:theirrelationtocurriculumdevelop- ment,internationalisationandqualityassurance.

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2. CredIt poInt systems

Inthischapterwewillexplainthebasicfeaturesofcreditpointsystems.Wewillstartwithashortdefinitionandabasicexample(2.1).Inordertomakeclearwhycreditpointsystemsarearealissueinhighereducationtodayand,especially,whytheECTS-systemissoimportant,wewillbrieflyoutlinesomehistoricalaspects(2.2).Wewillfinishwithadescriptionofthebasicfeatures,advantagesanddisadvantagesofcreditpointsystems,withECTSasanexample(2.3).

InChapter3youwillfind:- threedifferentmodelstousewhenbuildingacreditpointsysteminyourinstitution- someremarksonspecificproblemswhenbuildingacreditpointsystem

InChapter4youwillfind:- remarksonthewidercontextofcreditpointsystems:theirrelationtocurriculumdevelop- ment,internationalisationandqualityassurance.

2.1 what is a credit point system?

2.1.1 Basically,acreditpointsystemis:asysteminwhichthetotalvolumeofstudycarriedoutbyastudentduringtheyear(taughttimeplusindependentstudytime)isgivenanumericalvalue.Thisvalueisthensubdividedtocorrespondtothevarioussubjects,unitsormoduleswhichthestudenttakes.4

2.1.2 Togiveasimpleexample:letussaythatanaveragestudentinaparticularhighermusiceducationinstitutionisexpectedtostudyfor42weeks,eachof40hours.Thetotalamountofstudytimeperyearis1680hours.Supposeastudentisexpectedtotake5subjects.Eachsubjecthas1lessonperweeklasting2hours–2hoursofcontacttimeperweek.Forfivesubjectsthismakesatotalof10hoursperweek.Foreachofthe5lessons,thestudentisexpectedtostudyindependentlyforafur-ther6hoursperweek.Thistotals30hoursofindependentstudytimeperweek.Foreachsubject,thestudentisexpectedtostudyforatotalof8hoursperweek(2+6hours).Ifthissubjectistaughtacrossthewholeyear,thismeansthatthestudentisexpectedtospendatotalof336hoursonthesubject(8hoursx42weeks).Ifthe1680hours(thetotalamountofstudytimeinoneyear)isgiventhevalueof60creditpoints,onecreditpointequals28hours.Eachofthefivesubjectshasavolumeofstudyof336hours;thisequals12creditpoints(12creditpointsx28hours=336hours).

4 TheOnlineAECHandbookon“TheEffectsoftheBolognaDeclarationonProfessionalMusicTraininginEurope”canbefoundat

www.bologna-and-music.org.

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Contacttime/

week

Independent

study/week

Totalstudy/week Totalstudy/year Credits

SubjectA 2 6 8 336 12

SubjectB 2 6 8 336 12

SubjectC 2 6 8 336 12

SubjectD 2 6 8 336 12

SubjectE 2 6 8 336 12

Total 10 30 40 1680 60

Ifastudentinthesameinstitutionwereexpectedtotakeonlyfoursubjects,butoneofthesesubjectsinvolveddoubletheamountofcontacthoursandindependentstudytime,andiftheyearweredividedintotwoequalsemesters,thetablewouldlooklikethis:

Contact

time/week

Independent

study/week

Totalstudy/

week

Totalstudy/

year

Credits/

year

Credits

sem.I

Credits

sem.II

SubjectH 2 6 8 336 12 6 6

SubjectI 2 6 8 336 12 6 6

SubjectJ 2 6 8 336 12 6 6

SubjectK 4 12 16 672 24 12 12

Total 10 30 40 1680 60 30 30

2.2 national credit point systems and the european Credit transfer and Accumulation system

2.2.1 Tosome, itmayseemasthoughcreditpointsystemsarearecentphenomenon inhighermusiceducation,connectedwiththesigningofthe“BolognaDeclaration”andtakingtheformofECTS.Infact,though,creditpointsystemshavebeenusedlongbeforetheBolognaDeclaration(1999)andeven before the introduction of ECTS (1988). The Norwegian Academy of Music introduced creditpointsin1975;intheNetherlandscreditpointshavebeeninusesince1992;GreatBritainhasatleastanominalnationalcreditpointsystemsincethe1980s.Allthesecreditpointsystemsuseddifferentnumericalscales.Forexample,thetotalvolumeofstudyperyearinNorwayequalled20credits,thatintheNetherlands42creditsandthatinGreatBritain120credits.

2.2.2 Asinternationalco-operationandstudentexchangestartedtobecomeanincreasinglysignificantis-sue-specificallyintheEuropeanCommunitybutalsooutside-questionsconcerningtherecognitionofstudyresultsandtheinternationalcomparabilityof(higher)educationbecamemoreandmoreurgent.TofostercomparabilityandexchangewithintheEuropeanCommunity,aEuropeanCreditTransferandAccumulationSystemwasdeveloped.5

5 Relatedtoolsforinternationalexchangearealsobeingdeveloped.Inthefieldofcompetenciesandqualifications,forexample,

there is thesuggested“Europass”-portfolio,which includes,amongstotherelements, theEuropeanCurriculumVitae, the

Mobili-pass,theDiplomaSupplement,theCertificateSupplementandtheEuropeanLanguagePortfolio.

TheEuropeanCreditTransferandAccumulationSystemconsistsofseveralelements:• astandardoutlineforanECTSinformationpackagewhichhelpseachinstitutionto• describetheformandcontentoftheeducationitoffers;• anECTScreditpointsystemwhichcanbeusedasameans to translateonenationalcredit- pointsystemintoanother;• anECTSgradingscalewhichcanbeusedasameansoftranslatingonenational• gradingscaleintoanother;• several standard documents to be used in external exchange: a student application form, a learningagreement,arecognitionsheetatranscriptofrecords.Closelyconnectedwith thoseECTS instruments is theDiplomaSupplementwhichdescribes thecontentandlevelofthecourse.TheECTSinstrumentsandtheDiplomaSupplementarebothex-plainedintheECTSUsers’Guide.6

2.2.3TheEuropeanCreditTransferandAccumulationSystemisthereforemorethanjustacreditpointsystem.ThecreditpointsystemusedinECTSwasinitiallyjustmeanttobeatranslationtoolbetweenvariousnationalcreditpointsystemsandisonlyoneoftheelementsofECTS.TherehasbeennoobligationwithinEuropetouseECTS,butitsusehasbeenpromotedextensively.Sinceitsinceptionin1988,ECTShasbeenintroducedinmoreandmorehighereducationinstitutions,withthehelpofnationalECTScounsellorsandanECTSUsersGuide,availableontheinternetinmanylanguagesoftheEuropeanCommunity.When,in1999inBologna,ministersresponsibleforhighereducationin29countrieswithinandoutsidetheEuropeanCommunitysigned(oftheirownfreewill)adeclarationinwhichtheyproclaimedthattheyintendedtoestablishaEuropeanAreaofHigherEducationby2010,theyproposed,amongstotherthings,thatallcountriesthatweresignatorieswouldadoptasystemofcreditpointsthatwouldbecompatiblewithECTS.

2.2.4 IntheECTScreditpointsystem,thetotalamountofstudyinonelearningyearequals60creditpoints,oftendividedintotwosemestersof30creditseachorthreetermsof20creditseach.CountrieswhichhadnotpreviouslyusedacreditpointsystemoftenchosetoadoptasystemcorrespondingtoECTSitself,withatotalamountofstudyperyearof60creditpoints.Somecountriesthatalreadypos-sessedtheirowncreditpointsystemdecidedtochangeitsothatitwouldcorrespondtoECTS–theNetherlands,forexample,changedfroma42-pointsystemtoa60-pointsystemin2002.ThegrowingnumberofcountriessigningtheBolognaDeclaration,andthegrowingnumberofcountriesadopt-inga60-pointsystem,hasled,ineffect,toECTSbecomingincreasinglyseenasthepredominantEuropeancreditpointsysteminitsownright.Infact,atthe2003BerlinconferenceconnectedtotheBolognaprocess,theMinistersoftheparticipatingcountriesdeclaredthattheywould: encourage further progress with the goal that the ECTS become not only a transfer but also

an accumulation system, to be applied consistently as it develops within the European High-

er Education Area.7

6 Seehttp://ec.europa.eu/education/programmes/socrates/ects/doc/guide_en.pdf.

7 “Realising the European Higher Education Area”, Conference of Ministers responsible for Higher Education in Berlin on 19

September2003,p.5.

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Inthispublicationallexampleswillbegiveninrelationtoa60-pointsystem;nevertheless,itremainsthecasethatcountriesarefreetousetheirownsystems,solongastheyarecompatiblewithECTS(e.g.theUK’s120-pointsystemconvertseasilytoECTSbydividingcreditvaluesby2).

2.3 Basic features of a credit point system

2.3.1 WhendevisingacreditpointsystemthatisECTS-compatible,itisessentialtokeepsomebasicfea-turesinmind:• Thecentral conceptofanycreditpoint system isworkload.Thiscanbedefinedas “the total

volumeofstudyexpectedfromanaveragestudent,measuredintime-units”.Thismeansthatallthestudy-relatedactivitiesofastudentcount,andallactivitiescountequally–onejustaddsto-getherallthehoursastudentisexpectedtowork.Forexample:astudenttakesa10-weekcourseofmusichistory.Duringthefirsteightweeks,heorsheattendstwolessonsaweekof2hourseachandisexpectedtoreadliteratureandstudyindependentlyfor4hoursaweek.Intheninthweek,heorsheisexpectedtopreparefortwodaysforanexamination–16hoursintotal.Inthetenthweektheexaminationitselftakesplace,lasting2hours.Thetotalworkloadofthiscoursewouldthereforebe82hours:

16(8x2)lessonsof2hours 32hours

8x4hoursreading/studyindependently 32hours

16hourspreparationofexamination 16hours

2hoursexamination 2hours

Total 82hours

Note that there is no direct relationship between the contact time between the student and teacherontheonehandandtheworkload/creditpointsontheotherhand.Creditpointsystemsinprinciplejustmeasuretime,notthewaythetimeisspent.Twosubjectswiththesameamountofcontacttimemaybeallottedquitedifferentamountsofcreditpoints,dependingontheamountofindependentstudyexpected.

• Thetotalvolumeofstudyperyearmaydifferfromcountrytocountryandfrominstitutiontoinsti-tution.Forexample:ifthetotalvolumeofstudyperyearequals60creditsandthetotalamountofstudyperyearexpectedfromanaveragestudentis42weeks,eachof40hours,60creditswouldequal1680(42x40)hours.If,however,astudy-yearconsistsofonly30weeks,eachof40hours,60creditswouldequal1200(30x40)hours.IntheECTSUsers’Guideitisstatedthat“thestudentworkloadofafull-timestudyprogrammeinEuropeamountsinmostcasestoaround1500-1800hoursperyearandinthosecasesonecreditstandsforaround25to30workinghours”(Formoreremarksonthistopic,seeparagraph3.6.).

• Thebasicunitofmeasurement,thecreditpoint,isthereforenotabsolutebutrelativebecauseitdependsonthetotalvolumeofstudyperyearexpectedfromtheaveragestudent.Forexample:if60creditsequal1680(42x40)hours,onecreditequals28(1680dividedby60)hoursofwork.However,inacasewhere60creditsequal1200(30x40)hours,thenonecreditwouldequal20

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hours.Amusichistorycoursewithatotalvolumeofstudyof82hourswould,inthefirstcase,equalapproximately3creditpoints(3x28=84hours);inthesecondcase,itwouldequalap-proximately4creditpoints(4x20=80hours).Thusitcanbeseenthatcreditpointsfunctiononlyasarelativeindicatorofthequantitativeimportanceofindividualsubjectscomparedtothetotalvolumeofstudyperyear.

• Ifastudyyearissubdividedintoequalparts,thetotalamountofcreditpointswillbesubdividedintoequalpartsaswell.Ifastudyyearconsistsoftwoequalsemesters,eachsemestercorre-spondsto30credits;iftheyearisdividedintothreeequalterms,eachtermstandsfor20credits,etc.Generallyspeaking,thedivisionoftheyearintotwosemestersseemstobebecomingthenormforhighermusiceducation,especiallygiventhefactthatinternationalexchangeinhighermusiceducationoftentakesplaceforperiodsofhalfayear.

• Whendefiningstudentworkloadonehastokeepinmindanaveragestudent.Theaveragestu-dentisnotexceptionallygifted;heorsheisnotsomekindof‘ideal’student.Norisheorshenecessarilyaweakstudent–averageisnotthesameasmediocre.Thissameaveragestudentisalsonotnecessarilythekindofstudentwhomostcloselyresemblesthestaffofyourinstitutionwhentheywerestudents–itmightwellbethatcurrentstaffrepresentanabove-averageselec-tion!Theaveragestudentisthestudentwho,withoutmuchtroubleandwithanormalworkpat-tern,willbeabletopasshisorherexamssatisfactorily.Suchastudentshouldmeritadiplomaattheendofhisorherstudiesinsuchawaythattheinstitutionwouldhavenoproblematallinacknowledgingthemasaformerstudent.Theconcept“average”thereforeishighlydependentonthestandardstheinstitutionitselfsets,attheendofstudies(finalexaminations)aswellasatthebeginning(entranceexaminations).Theconceptof“average”isexplicitlymeanttobetheaveragetheinstitutionsets,nota“Europeanaverage”orevena“nationalaverage”–unless,ofcourse,theinstituteitselfdecidesotherwise.

• Whenawardingcreditpointstoastudentonehastobearinmindthat,althoughthereisadirectrelationshipbetween the total volumeofstudy foracertainsubjectand theamountofcreditpointsconnectedtothatsubject,itisnotenoughthatastudentcanproveheorshehasactuallystudiedfortheindicatedamountoftimeforthecreditpointstobegranted.Thequestionisnotsomuchwhetherornotanindividualstudenthasinvestedtheindicatedamountoftime(theindicat-edamountoftimeisattachedtotheconceptoftheaveragestudent,andnoindividualstudentisaverage…)thequestioniswhetherornotheorshehasattainedthefinallevelexpected.Inotherwords,awardingornotawardingastudentthecreditpointsassociatedwithacertainsubjectisapass/fail-indicator.Astudentwhopassesamusichistoryexaminationbuthasonlyspenthalfoftheindicatedtimestudyingthesubjectisstillawardedalltheassociatedcreditpoints;astudentwhofailstheexaminationbuthasspentdoubletheamountoftimeindicatedisnotawardedanycreditpointsatall.

• Thereisnorelationbetweenawardingcreditpointsandastudent’slevelofsuccess,otherthanthepass/fail-indicationmentionedabove.Astudentwhojustpassesamusichistoryexaminationwiththeminimummarksrequiredandastudentwhopassesthesameexaminationbrilliantlyareeachawardedthesamenumberofcreditpoints.Thedifferenceinlevelofachievementcanbeindicatedbythegradesconnectedtotheexamination,butnotinthenumberofcreditpointsawarded.

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2.4 Advantages and disadvantages of credit point systems

2.4.1 Formanypeople,theintroductionofacreditpointsystemmayseemalessthanexcitingenterprise–perhapsevenaratherboringone.Forsome,itmayevenseemtoposeathreattothecharacterofhighermusiceducation.Highermusiceducationisfirmlyrootedinideasaboutartisticlevel–ideassharedbytheinternationalcommunityofprofessionalmusicians.Theintroductionofaseeminglypurelyadministrativeandratherbureaucraticcreditpointsystemmaybefeltasbeinginconflictwiththeessenceofhighermusiceducation,whichmustalwaysbethenurturingofmusicianshiptothehighestlevel.

2.4.2Thereareindeedsomedangersassociatedwiththeintroductionofacreditpointsystem.Ifacreditpointsystemispresentedasamechanismbywhichitispossibletocapturetheessenceofanytypeofeducation,letalonehighermusiceducationwithallitspeculiarities,manyofthoseinvolvedwillbedisappointedandmaypossiblyturnagainstthesystem.Theywillfindnoshortageofargumentstocombatit:forinstance,theymayarguethatitisimpossibletodefinethecharacteristicsofthe“averagestudent”,ortheymaywellfeelthatacreditpointsystemingeneralimposesyetmorebu-reaucracyuponinstitutions.

2.4.3Bothargumentsmayhaveanelementoftruth,buttheyarenotargumentsagainstthesystemperse;theyareconnectedtoanimplicitcost-benefitanalysisthatpresumesthatacreditpoint-systemis,initself,ameansofmakinganintegraldescriptionofhighermusiceducation.Itisnot.Itisonlyameanstomakeexplicittheaverageworkloadpersubjectinthecurriculum.Introducing,andthenoperating,thesystemcostsadministrativeeffort.Thisshouldalwaysbemadeclearfromthebegin-ning,andshouldbepresentedalongsidetheadvantagesacreditpointsystemmayoffer,suchasthefollowing:• Acreditpointsystemmaygiveinsightintotheinternalstructureofthecurriculumasawhole.It

highlightshowmanysubjectsthestudentissupposedtopursueatacertaintime,howsubjectsfolloweachotherandhowintegratedorfragmentedacurriculumis.Italsomakesclearthatcur-riculumchangeneedstobeaboutreplacingoldsubjectsbynew,notjustaboutaddingsubjectstoacurriculum–andthereforethatitiscrucialtoconductadebate,notonlyaboutwhyoneshouldaddtoacurriculumbutalsoaboutwhysomethingsshoulddisappearfromacurriculum.

• Morespecifically,acreditpointsystemgivesinsightintotheamountoftimespentbystudentsondifferentsubjects.Acreditpointsystemthereforeencouragesustorecognisewhatwe,asteach-ersinourinstitutions,demandfromstudents.Asaresult,itturnsourattentionfromteachingtolearning.Inthisway,itmayfunctionasatoolforestablishingagreementbetweentheinstitution,teacherandstudent:theinstitutiontellseachteacher,bymeansofitscreditpointsystem,howmuchtimeheorshecanexpecttheaveragestudenttospendonaparticularsubject,thusendingthestruggleamongteachersfortheirstudents’time.Ontheotherhand,italsotellsthestudenthowmuchstudytimeheorsheisexpectedtodevote,onaverage,toaparticularsubject.

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• Notonlydoesacreditpointsystemtellussomethingaboutabsolutestudy time; italso tellsussomething(althoughnoteverything)abouttheimportanceofthedifferentsubjectsinacur-riculumandabouttheirrelativeweight.Althoughthereisnodirectrelationshiphere,thereisanindirectone,putforwardexcellentlybyHaraldJørgensen:

[Q]ualitativeaspectsoflearningarerelatedtotimeaspectsandeffortonbehalfofthelearner,and…adiscussionofqualityisabortivewithoutaconsiderationofhowmuchtimethelearnerisallowedtoinvestinhislearningproject.Inaninstitutionwherebothstudentsandteachershaveabiographywithahighquantityofworkontheirmajorinstrument,thistypeofargumentis,forthemostpart,readilyunderstood.8

• Finally,acreditpointsystemmakesiteasier(butstillnotentirelystraightforward-moreonthatinchapter4)tocomparecurriculafromdifferentinstitutionsandtofacilitateexchange,withinonecountryorbetweencountries.

8 ReportAECAnnualCongress2002,pages17-18.Thisreportcanbedownloadedatwww.aecinfo.org/previouscongresses.

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3. How to BuIld A CredIt poInt system

Thischaptercontainsa“do-it-yourself”kitforbuildingacreditpointsystem,suggestingdifferentlogical steps and various alternatives. In fact, it explains three different strategies for building acreditpointsystem:onebasedonrelativeimportance,oneonabsoluteworkload,andoneoncontacttime.Thechapterwillendbypointingoutsomemorespecificproblemswithcreditpointsystemsinhighermusiceducation.

InChapter2thefollowingtopicswerediscussed:- ashortdefinitionofacreditpointsystem- somehistoricalaspectsofcreditpointsystems- adescriptionofthebasicfeatures,advantagesanddisadvantagesofcreditpointsystems

InChapter4youwillfind:- remarksonthewidercontextofcreditpointsystems:theirrelationtocurriculumdevelopment, internationalisationandqualityassurance.

3.1 From relative importance to credit points

3.1.1 Thefirstwaytodeviseacreditpointsystemisbytranslatingthe“relativeimportance”ofdifferentsubjectswithinthecurriculumintocreditpoints.Basically,onedoesthefollowing:• definehowimportantthedifferent(groupsof)subjectsinacurriculumareincomparisontoeach

other;• expressthisscaleofrelativeimportanceinpercentages;• translatethesepercentagesintocreditpoints;• workfromgreaterunits(groupsofsubjects)tosmallerunits(individualsubjects).

3.1.2 Suppose,forexample,youofferacurriculumwiththreemaingroupsofsubjects.Onegroupis“MainStudy”,onegroupis“Theory”andonegroupis“SecondaryPracticalSubjects”.Eachgroupissub-dividedintoseparatesubjects.Thegroup“Theory”issubdividedintothesubjects“AuralTraining”,“GeneralMusicTheory”and“Harmony”.

3.1.3 Thefirstthingyoudoistoaskyourselfhowyouwoulddefinetherelativeimportanceofthedifferentgroups.YoumightcomeupwiththeanswerthattheMainStudygroupshouldcountforhalfofthetotalimportanceoftheyear,whiletheothertwogroupscounttogetherfortheotherhalf,butwiththeTheorygrouphavingslightlymoreimportancethantheSecondaryPracticalSubjectsgroup.

3.1.4 Inpercentagesthiscouldmean:MainStudy50%,Theory30%,SecondaryPracticalSubjects20%.Withatotalof60creditsperyear,thiswouldmean:

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Groupofsubjects Percentages Credits

MainStudy 50% 30

Theory 30% 18

SecondaryPracticalSubjects 20% 12

3.1.5 Thenextstepwouldbeasubdivisionwithinthegroups.Inourexample,wecouldsubdividetheThe-orygroupbystatingthatwithinTheory,AuralTrainingisbyfarthemostimportantsubject,HarmonyandCounterpointareequallyimportantbutlessimportantthenAuralTraining,andGeneralMusicTheoryistheleastimportant.Inpercentagesandcreditpointsthiscouldbetranslatedas:

Group:Theory Percentages Credits(total=18!!)

AuralTraining 50% 9

Harmony 20% 3.6

Counterpoint 20% 3.6

GeneralMusicTheory 10% 1.8

3.1.6 Wecouldthanmaketwomoredecisions.Thefirstonecouldbeonlytoworkwithwholecreditpoints.Inthatcase,wewouldprobablygiveGeneralMusicTheory2credits,andwouldhavetodecidewheth-erHarmonywouldget4creditsandCounterpoint3creditsortheotherwayaround.WemightthinkthatHarmonyisslightlymoreimportantthanCounterpoint,soHarmonywouldgetthe4credits,andwewouldendupthus:

Group:Theory Percentages Credits

AuralTraining 50 9

Harmony 20 4

Counterpoint 20 3

GeneralMusicTheory 10 2

3.1.7 Theseconddecisionwecouldtakeisthatwewoulddividetheyearintotwoequalsemesters.Againwewouldhavetomakedecisionsonsubdividing:Counterpointtakes3credits,dividedovertwose-mesters,thiswouldresultin2x1.5butwewantedtoworkonlywithwholecredits.Inthatcase,weshoulddecideona2-1ora1-2distribution.Thechoiceisarbitrary,aslongasweendupwith30cred-itspersemester–ourdeparturepointwasthatthesemestersareequal!Wemightendupthus:

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Semester1 Semester2

MainSubject 15 15

Theory

-AuralTraining 4 5

-Harmony 2 2

-Counterpoint 2 1

-GeneralMusicTheory 1 1

SecondaryPracticalSubjects 6 6

Total 30 30

3.1.8 Theadvantageof thissystemis itssimplicity. It iseasy tobuildacreditpointsystemthisway, itdoesn’ttaketoomucheffort,anditgivesinsightintowhatweconsidermoreimportantinacurricu-lumandwhatweconsiderlessimportant.However,italsohassomedisadvantages.Thebiggestoneisprobablythatcreditpointsinthissystemarenotexplicitlyattachedtoworkload.Creditpointsdonotofferanyinsightintotherealworkloadoftheaveragestudent;theyonlytellustherelativeimportanceattachedtoeachsubject.Inthissystem,creditpointscannotbeusedforseveralofthegoalsweidentifiedinChapter2.Forexample,creditpointscannotserveasareal“contract”betweentheteacher,thestudentandtheinstitution;norcantheygiveinsightintothepossibleoverloadingofstudents.

3.1.9 Anotherproblematicaspectofthiswayofoperatingisthattheresultmaydependverymuchonthedeviserofthesystem.Whatarethecriteriausedtodetermine“importance”?Whosetsthecriteria,whodetermines the importance?Arewe talkingabout therelative importanceof thesubject forfutureprofessionalpractice, importance in termsof theestimatedamountofhoursofstudypersemester,importanceintermsoftheacademicesteemofthesubject(orintermsoftheacademicesteemoftheteacher)?Orarewetalkingaboutsomethingelseagain?And,inanycase,whodefinestheimportance:theteacher,thestudent,theinstitution’smanagement?Itmaybewisetothinkthisoverbeforehandandtobeveryclearaboutthesestartingpoints, inordertoensurethattheveryfoundationsofthecreditpointsystemarenotshaky.

3.2 From absolute workload to credit points

3.2.1 Asecondwaytodeviseacreditpointsystemistomakeanexactmeasurementoftheworkloadpersubject for theaveragestudent,and then to translate thedifferentnumbersofhours intocreditpoints.Theprocedureisasfollows:• definehowmanyhours’worktheaveragestudentissupposedtodevotetoeverysubject;• calculatethetotalworkloadperyearinhours(seetheremarksinparagraph3.6);• calculatethenumberofcreditpointspersubject.

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Inthisprocedureonedoesnotwork“topdown”,frombiggertosmallerunits,but“bottomup”,be-ginningwithindividualsubjectsandbuildingupthetotalworkloadfromthese.

3.2.2 Suppose,forexample,thecurriculumyouteachconsistsofthefollowingsubjects:• MainStudy:violin;• Theory:auraltraining;harmony;counterpoint,generalmusictheory;• SecondaryPracticalSubjects:piano;choirsinging.

Foreverysubject in thecurriculum, youdetermine theamountofhours youexpect theaveragestudenttostudy.Thisincludes:contacttimefortheactuallessons,independentstudytime,timeforprojectsandotherspecialactivities,timetopreparefortheexamination,timefortheexaminationitself.

3.2.3Letussaythat,inthisexample,onesemesterconsistsofsixteenweeksofteachingfollowedbytwoweeksofexaminations.Inthisexample,wewillconsiderthefirstsemesteronly,sothetotalamountofcreditpointstobegiventothetotalworkloadis30credits.Forthevarioussubjects,theworkloadcouldlooklikethis:

violin:• contacttime:16teachingweeksx1.5hours=24hours• selfstudytime:4hoursadayfor4daysaweekinthe16teachingweeksofthesemesterplus2

hoursadayforonedayperweek(thedayonwhichthelessontakesplace)alsofor16weeks:(4x4x16)+(1x2x16)=288hours

• timeforspecialprojectsandactivities:oneconcertof1hour,8hourspreparation:9hours• examinationtime:1hour• preparationtimeforexamination:8hours• total: 330 hours

aural training:• contacttime:16teachingweeksx1hour=16hours• selfstudytime:18weeks(practicegoesoninexaminationweeks)x4daysperweek(nopractice

takesplaceonthedaythelessontakesplace)x1hour=72hours• timeforspecialprojectsandactivities(excursionstoorchestrasandensembles):4hours• examinationtime:1hour• preparationtimeforexamination:0hours(butnormalpracticegoesoninexaminationweeks;

seeabove)• total: 93 hours

harmony: • contacttime:16teachingweeksx2hours=32hours• selfstudytime:16weeksx3hoursperweek=48hours

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• timeforspecialprojectsandactivities:0hours• examinationtime:2hours• preparationtimeforexamination:20hours• total: 102 hours

counterpoint:• contacttime:16teachingweeksx2hours=32hours• selfstudytime:16teachingweeksx2hours=32hours• timeforspecialprojectsandactivities:0hours• examinationtime:2hours• preparationtimeforexamination:20hours• total: 86 hours

general music theory:• contacttime:16teachingweeksx2hours=32hours• selfstudytime:16teachingweeksx4days(nopracticeonthedayoftheweeklylesson)x1hour

=64hours• timeforspecialprojectsandactivities:0hours• examinationtime:2hours• preparationtimeforexamination:4hours• total: 102 hours

piano:• contacttime:16teachingweeksx1hour=16hours• selfstudytime:16teachingweeksx4daysx2hoursplus16teachingweeksx1dayx1hour(on

thedayoftheweeklylessonthestudentpractisesless)=144hours• timeforspecialprojectsandactivities:0hours• examinationtime:1hour• preparationtimeforexamination:20hours• total: 181 hours

choir singing:• contacttime:16teachingweeksx2hours=32hours• selfstudytime:0hours• timeforspecialprojectsandactivities(variousconcerts):8hours• examinationtime:0hours• preparationtimeforexamination:0hours• total: 40 hours

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Thetotalamountofhoursofwork,theworkload,ofthissemesteris934hours.Thisequals30cred-its,onecreditthereforestandsfor934:30=31hours.Thetotalofcreditsforthissemesterwouldthenbeasfollows:

totalhours/

semester

Credits Creditswholepoints

Violin 330 10.6 11

Auraltraining 93 3.0 3

Harmony 102 3.3 3

Counterpoint 86 2.7 3

Generalmusictheory 102 3.3 3

Piano 181 5.8 6

Choirsinging 40 1.3 1

Total 934 30 30

3.2.4Thereareseveralwaysofdefiningtheexactworkloadtheaveragestudentshouldspendonthevari-oussubjects.Oneistomeasureitbyaskingstudentstodotime-recordingexercisesoveracertainperiodoftimeinordertofindouthowmuchtimetheyreallyspendonthesubjects.Themorestu-dentsandthelongertheperiod,themoreeffortthistakesbutthemorereliabletheoutcomeswillbe.Anotherwayisnottomeasure,buttoaskstudentshowmuchtimetheythinktheydevotetothevarioussubjectand,ifpossible,combinethiswithquestionstoteachersinordertogetagoodinsightintotheestimatedandexpectedworkload.Inthiscase,too,theaveragesbecomemorereliablethemorestudentsandteachersyouask.Theadvantageofthissystemisitsprecision.Itisbasedonmore-or-lessexactmeasurementsandcontainsadirectcorrelationwithworkload–thatis,withtheactualhoursastudentisexpectedtowork.Itcanthereforebeapowerfulinstrumentinthemanagementoftheexpectationsofstudentsandteachersalike.

3.2.5Thestrengthofthesystemmayalsobeitsweakness.Theapparentprecisionofthemeasurementsunderlyingthesystemgivestheimpressionthatitisanexactdescriptionofreallife.Weareofcourseonlytalkingaboutrelativeprecision:wemustneverforgetwearetalkingaboutthe“averagestu-dent”.Ifthissystemisnotclearlypresentedasawell-foundedbutstillonlyrelativesystem,itmaygiverisetoendlessbureaucraticandquasi-legaldiscussions.Anotherdisadvantageofthissystemisthatitistime-consuming.Goodpreparation,andawillingnessonthepartofthosewhoarecreatingthesystemtospendalotoftimeonit,arepre-requisitesforitssuccess.Itisespeciallyimportanttobeawarethat,althoughfollowingwell-definedmeasurementproceduresmayseemobjective(or,viewednegatively,formulaicandbureaucratic)theseproceduresdonottakedecisionsoutofyourhands.Everybodyinvolvedmustbeclearaboutthissoastoavoidconfusionand disappointment. Once the “measuring” is done, someone has to decide whether the resultsareacceptableandwhetherornotadjustmentshavetobemade.Quiteoften,onfirsttakingthese

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measurements,youmayfindthattheactualcurriculumonofferleadstoaratherhigh(sometimesanincrediblyhigh)expectedstudentworkload.Indeed,thismayexplainyourteachers’complaintsabouttheirstudents’tendencytochoosestrategicallywheretoplacetheirtimeandeffortamongtheelementsofthecurriculum.Inthatcase,decisionshavetobemade.Thesystemdoesnotdecideforyou.

3.2.6 Theexamplewegaveaboveleadstoayearlyworkloadof1868hoursandaworkweekofabout52hours(1868hoursspreadover36weeks),whichlieswellabovethemaximumamountofhourssug-gestedontheECTS-website.Andeveninthisexamplesomemaythinkthattheworkinghoursex-pectedfromastudentinhighermusiceducationwere,ifanything,underestimated.Moreover,thesecalculationsdonottakeintoaccountthefactthatmanyofuswouldexpectastudent,atleastinhisorherMainStudyarea,tostudynotforfivebutforsixorsevendaysaweek,andnotfor36butfor46oreven50weeksayear!Sowemighthaveendedupwithevenhigheramountsofworkinghours.Goingoutsidetherecommendedrangesisnot“forbidden”byECTS.Nevertheless,theexerciseofcalculat-inghoursmaygiveusgreaterinsightintotheenormousamountofworkweexpectfromstudentsandmayevenforceustoconsiderhowrealistic-orunrealistic-someofourexpectationsare.

3.2.7 Afterusinganapproachsuchasthisfordevisingacreditpointsystem,wemay,inanycase,expecttheretobesomeseriousdiscussionswithintheinstitutionaboutwhattheimplicationsareandwhatsortofdecisionsneedtobemade.Onemustbepreparedforthat.Butifadepartmentisveryclearaboutitsexpectations,bothfromstudentsandfromitsteachers,andifco-operationbetweenman-agement,teachersandstudentsisgood,thesystemcandeliverexcellentresults.

3.3 From contact time to credit points

3.3.1 Thethirdwaytodevelopacreditpointsystemisadirecttranslationofthecontacthoursbetweenstudentandteacherintocreditpoints.Forexample,inagivensemesterastudentmayspendthefollowingtimesperweekactuallyinlessons:

• Violin,120minutes;• Auraltraining:60minutes;• Harmony,60minutes;• Counterpoint,90minutes;• Generalmusictheory,120minutes;• Piano,30minutes;• Choir,90minutes.

Thetotalamountoflessonsthisstudentreceivesinthissemesteris570minutes(9.5hours)perweek. As a semester contains 30 credits, every credit stands for 19 minutes (570 divided by 30).Therefore,thetotalamountofcreditspersubjectwouldbeasfollows:

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Subject Contacttime(minutes) Credits Creditswholepoints

Violin 120 6.3 6

Auraltraining 60 3.2 3

Harmony 60 3.2 3

Counterpoint 90 4.7 5

GeneralMusicTheory 120 6.3 6

Piano 30 1.6 2

Choir 90 4.7 5

Total 570 29.9 30

3.3.2Atfirst,thisprocedureseemstoleadinevitablytoinappropriateresults.Intheexamplegiven,theMainStudy(violin)isawardedthesamenumberofcreditpointsasistheGeneralMusicTheoryles-son.This iscontradictsour intuitivesenseoftheirrelative importance;anyoneworkinginhighermusiceducationwouldprobablyagreethat,fromtheviewpointofrelativeimportanceaswellasfromtheviewpointofabsoluteworkload,theMainStudyshouldgetfarmorecredits.

3.3.3Thesystemcanberefined,however,leadingtomorerealisticresults.Therefinementthatcanbeintroducedisnottoworkwithcontacttimealone,buttousetheconceptof“individualcontacttime”-theamountofcontacttimedividedbythenumberofstudentsamongwhomthecontacttimeisshared.Thepresumptionunderlying thisconcept is that themore importantasubject, themoreindividualattentionastudentwillgetfromteachers.

3.3.4Supposingthenumberofstudentsineachlessonwereasfollows:

• Violin,120minutes,individuallesson=120minutesindividualcontacttime;• Generalmusictheory,120minutes,groupof20students=6minutesindividualcontacttime;• Auraltraining:60minutes,groupof6students=10minutesindividualcontacttime;• Harmony,60minutes,groupof10students=6minutesindividualcontacttime;• Counterpoint:90minutes,groupof10students=9minutesindividualcontacttime;• Piano,30minutes,individuallesson=30minutesindividualcontacttime;• Choir:90minutes,groupof45students=2minutesindividualcontacttime.

Thetotalamountofindividualcontacttimeis183minutesthat,acrossthesemester,correspondsto30credits.Onecreditthereforeequals6.1minutesofindividualcontacttime.Thetotalamountofcreditscanthenbedistributedasfollows:

Subject Individualcontacttime

(minutes)

Credits Creditswholepoints

Violin 120 19.7 19(20?)

GeneralMusicTheory 6 1.0 1

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Auraltraining 10 1.6 2(1?)

Harmony 6 1.0 1

Counterpoint 9 1.5 1(2?)

Piano 30 4.9 5

Choir 2 0.3 1(0?)1

Total 183 30 30

3.3.5Thisprocedurehasthebenefitsofbeingsimpleandobjective.Thereisnoscopeforargumentoveranyofthecreditallocationsmade,andnoadditionalmeasurementsneedbeundertakenbeyondthelessontimes.Thecreditpointsystemisjustastraightforwardmathematicalexpressionofthelessontimesastudentreceivesdividedbythenumberofstudentsparticipating.

3.3.6Ofcoursethemajordrawbackliesinthefactthatthissystemhasnoexplicitrelationeitherwiththerelativeimportanceofsubjectsorwiththeactualworkloadofthestudents(inthatitignoreshowmuchtimetheyareexpectedtospendonasubjectinbetweenthelessons).IntheECTSUsers’Guidethisprocedureisthereforeexplicitlypointedoutasa“wrongway”ofallocatingcredits.Inourview,itmayhoweverhasitsuse,aswillbecomeclearinthenextparagraph.

3.4 which system to choose?

3.4.1 Whichofthethreesystemsofferedshouldbeused?Ofcoursethisdependsonyoursituation.Letuscomparethecharacteristicsofthethreesystemsonsomepoints:

RelativeWorkLoad AbsoluteWorkload Contacttime

Timeneeded Moderate High Low

Manpowerneeded Lowtomoderate High Low

PartiesinvolvedindesigningManagement;

possiblyteachingstaffManagement,

teachingstaff,studentsManagement

Ifthereisgreattimepressure,itiswisetouseeitherastrategybasedonthedirecttranslationofcontacthoursorastrategybasedontherelativeimportanceofsubjects.If,however,thereissuf-ficienttime,onemightconsiderdesigningasystembasedonrealworkloadmeasurements.

3.4.2Formanyinstitutions,itmaybeagoodideatocombinedifferentstrategiesinadevelopmentalwayacrossafewyears.Itmaybehardtostartwithasystembasedonrealworkloadwhenthereisnoexperiencewithcreditpointsystems.Therefore,youmightconsiderstartingbydesigningaroughoutlineofacreditpointsystemonthebasisofcontacttime,andthen,inadiscussionwithstaff,andpossiblywiththehelpofstudentsaswell,refiningittoreflecttheinstitution’sviewoftherelativeimportanceofsubjects.Oncethishasledtoanacceptablecreditpointsystem,thesystemmightbeusedforayearortwoandthenbefurtherrefinedonthebasisofactualmeasurementsofstudent

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workloadandreconcilingthiswiththestudentworkloadexpectedbyteachers.Gradually,amoreac-curatecreditpointsystemmightbegrownwithintheinstitutioninthisway.

3.5 specific problems in credit point systems

3.5.1 Therearemanyproblemsthatwillbeencounteredonceyouareworkingwithacreditpointsystem.Everyproblemdemandsitsownsolution.Thefollowingsixproblemsareprobablythosemostfre-quentlyencountered.

3.5.2 Yearly workloadIntheexampleinparagraph3.2wehavealreadypointedoutthatinhighermusiceducation,theaver-ageworkloadperyearthatissuggestedontheECTS-website(letaloneintheTuning-project–seeparagraph2.3)oftendoesnotcorrespondtothespecialtraditionsandexpectationsofourdiscipline.Thereasonsare:• often,especiallyforthemainsubject,thelearningyearisnotconfinedto36or40weeks;the

internationalprofessionalmusiccommunitywouldprobablyexpectastudentmusiciantoworkforatleast46weeksperyear;

• especiallyforthemainsubjectbutalsoforotherpracticalsubjects,thelearningweekisnotre-strictedtofivedays;againtheprofessionalcommunitywouldexpectastudenttopractiseforatleastsix,ifnotseven,daysaweek.

3.5.3 Therearenodefinitivesolutionstothisproblem;neitherarethereinternationalregulations.Insomecountries,institutionsofhighermusiceducationmaybeforcedtoadoptfigureswhicharepartoflawsorregulationsforhighereducationingeneral;intheNetherlands,forexample,allconserva-toiresaresupposedtoworkwithayearthatconsistsof42weeksof40hours’work,thusleadingtocreditsof28hoursofworkloadandtheassumptionthateverystudenthas10weeksofholidayperyearinwhichheorshedoesnotstudyor,atleast,inwhichhisorherworkisnotconsideredrelevanttotheformalprogrammeofstudy.Inothercountries,highermusiceducationmaybefreer,butitisstilldesirabletohavesomekindofconsistency.

3.5.4Ifinternationalcomparability,atleastattheEuropeanlevel,istobeattained,atsomestagetherewillneedtobeagreementonthisissue.Thefollowingmodestandpracticalsuggestionmightbeawayofproceeding:• acknowledgethefactthatmusiciansaresupposedtomaintaintheirpracticalskillsthroughout

thedaysoftheweekandthroughouttheweeksoftheyear;• countasstudyweeksforthepurposesofcreditweightingonlythoseweeksastudentspendsin

formalstudy,fromthebeginningofastudyperiod(usuallyasemester,buttermsorwholeyearscanalsobeunitsofmeasurement)untiltheexaminationattheendofthatstudyperiod;

• countastheamountofworkastudentissupposedtoundertakeperweekanumberofhoursthatisinsomewayconnectedtothegeneralregulationsconcerningthemaximumamountofworkinghoursperweekinthecountryunderconsideration.

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3.5.5 If these suggestions were followed, it is unlikely that, across Europe as a whole, the differenceswouldbeparticularly large–andmodestdifferencesshouldbenoproblem,consideringthe factthat,underthetermsoftheBolognaDeclaration,thereisexplicitrespectforthediverseeducationaltraditionsofeachcountry.

3.5.6Ofcoursethereisanotherreasonwhytheyearlyworkloadofastudentinaparticularhighermusiceducationinstitutionmightturnouttobeveryhigh:anoverloadedcurriculumandunrealisticexpec-tationsofthestudents’workingethos.Inthatcase,curriculumreformistheonlysolutionbutthecreditpointsystemhasnotcreatedtheproblem,merelybroughtittolight.

3.5.7 IntheECTSUsers’Guide,oneexceptionisgiventotherulethattheacademicyearcounts60credits.Theguideseemstorefertothoseprogrammesthatforexamplerequireafullyearofstudies–52weeks,includingthesummerholiday.Thistypeofprogrammeisfoundforexampleinintensiveone-yearMaster-programmes.

3.5.8 project weeks Inhighermusiceducation,thebasicstructureofteachingismostoftenaweeklypatternoflessons

deliveredoveraperiodoftime.However,thispatternisveryoftenalternatedwithprojectweeks,examinationweeks,etc.Whenoneseekstooperatewithadirectrelationbetweenworkloadandcreditpoints,projectweekscanaffectthecreditpointsallottedtosubjects.Forexample,inHollandonecreditstandsfor28hoursofwork.Bylaw,thestudyyearconsistsof42weeks,eachcontaining40hours,fortheaveragestudent.Thismeansthat,intheory,1creditpointcorrespondstoabout0.7hoursofstudyperweek:42minutes.

3.5.9Inpracticehowever,thesituationmaybedifferent.Forexample,letusimagineacertaininstitutionwhere3ofthe42weeksarenotusedforformallearningatallbecausetheyhavetobeusedformeetingswhereteacherstalkaboutstudents’progress.Addedtothat,thereare4differentprojectweekswithdifferentguestteachers.Inthisinstitution,therefore,thereareactuallyonly35regularlessonweeks.Thismeansthat,sinceaswehaveseen,onecreditpointstandsfor28hoursofwork,soperweekthisis28dividedby35=0.8hoursofstudy:48minutes.Ifaregulartaughtsubjectgets4creditpoints,thismeanstheaveragestudentshouldstudy4x48minutes=3hoursand12minutes,andnot4x42minutes=2hoursand42minutes.Adifferenceofhalfanhourperweek!

3.5.10Ofcourseifcalculationssuchasthisarecarriedtoofartheyleadusintotherealmsofadvancedmathematicsandbeyondthelevelsofcomprehensionofanyoneapartfromspecialistswithcalcula-tors.Itisprobablynotagoodideatotroubleeveryonewithinaninstitutionwithalltheseintricacies.Butespeciallyinthedesignphaseofacreditpointsystem,factorsliketheseneedtobetakenintoaccount.Ifyourinstitutionispreparingtoestablishacreditpointsystemthatislinkedtoabsoluteworkload,itmaythereforebewisetoexplainbeforehandwhattheexactrelationisbetweencreditpointsandworkload,howmayhoursofworkare representedbyonecreditpoint,andwhat thismeansforstudents’weeklystudypattern.

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3.5.11 optional subjects Optionalsubjectsinacurriculummaybecomeaproblem.Oneshouldkeepinmindthattheoverall

amountof60creditsstandsforthetotalworkloadperyearastudentisobligedtofulfil.Itthereforefollowsthattherearebasicallytwowaysoftreatingoptionalsubjects.Ifastudentisobligedtotakeacertainnumberofoptionalsubjects,theyformanintrinsicpartoftheworkloadheorsheisobligedtofulfil.Theyshouldberegardedaspartoftheregularcurriculumandshouldhavecreditsallocatedtothem.Ifastudentmaytakeoptionalsubjectsbutdoesnothaveto,theyarenotpartofthetotalworkloadthestudentisrequiredtofulfil(heorshemaydowithoutthemandstillmeetthedemandsthathavebeensetforcompletingthecourse).Underthesecircumstancesoptionalsubjectsmaybeleftoutoftheregularcreditpointsystem(but,ofcourse,theymaybementionedonthediplomasupplementas“extrasubjects”).

3.5.12 differentiation Differentiationwithinaprogrammemaybeproblematic.Forexample,aparticularinstitutionmay

offeratrainingprogrammeinclassicalmusicwith26differentMainStudyinstrumenttypes.Therequiredstudytimeperinstrumentmayvary(apianistcan–indeed,probablymust-studymorehoursperdaythanatrumpetplayer)and,accordingtotheinstrumentbeingstudied,differentsub-jectsmaybeaddedtoorleftoutofthecurriculum.Theinstitutionneedstodecidewhetheritdesigns26differentcurriculawith26differentcreditpointtables(whichleadstomoreaccuratecreditpointtablesbutalsotomuchmoreworkandpaperwork)orwhetheritdesignsonlyonecreditpointtableforall26instrumentswithintheprogramme(whichkeepstheprocesssimplebutalsomoregener-alisedandlessprecise).Thenagain,theinstitutionmaytakeanintermediatepositionanddeterminealimitedamountofgroupsofinstrumentswherealltheinstrumentsinagivengroupcanbetreatedthesameway.

3.5.13 Inpractice,differentiationbyinstrumentcanleadtoacurioussideeffect.Becausesomeinstru-mentsrequiremoresupportingsubjectsthanothers,fewercreditpointsremaintobegiventothemainstudy,whereaswedon’tnecessarilyexpectstudentsofthoseinstrumentstostudyless.Atitsmostextreme,themainstudycanbecomeakindof“remainder”category,allocatedthehoursleftoverwhenalltheotherstudieshavebeenaccountedfor!Needlesstosay,thisfeelsastrangephe-nomenoninaconservatoire...

3.5.14 individual study routes Individualstudyroutescanbeveryproblematic.Studentswhowantexemptionfromsubjectsthey

havealreadytakeninotherinstitutions,whoneedorwanttotakeextrasubjects,orwhowanttopursue more than one programme simultaneously, always require some complex mathematicalcalculations.Thereisnothingthatcanbedoneaboutthis,andtheproblemsraisedbysuchcasesal-readyexistedbeforecreditpointsystemswereintroduced,eveniftheywerepreviouslymorelogisti-calthanmathematical.Certainly,creditpointsystemscannotbeexpectedtoresolvesuchproblems,althoughtheveryfactoftheirbeingnumericallyquantifiedmaybehelpful.Asensibleapproachis

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probablytoconsiderhowfrequentlyaparticularindividualroutearises.Ifthesameexceptioncropsupalmostonanannualbasis,makeitarulebydevisingaspecialvariantofthecurriculum,prob-ablywithitsowncreditpointtable.Ifnot,atleastmakeclearregulationsconcerningwhattodowithexceptions.

3.5.15 modularisation Although there is in factnostrictconnectionbetween the two, the introductionofacreditpoint

system often leads to the simultaneous expectation that the curriculum will be “modularised”.Modularisationissaidtoleadtomoreflexibility,andoftentomoreefficiencyaswell.Modularisationmeansthatthecurriculumisdividedintoseparatebuildingblockscalled“modules”.Inthestrictestandmost“pure”versionsofthemodularconcept,thesemodulescan,inprinciple,befollowedinanyorder(inpractice,eveninthestrictestmodularschemes,somemodulesaredesignatedas“pre-requisites”forothers,controllingtheorderinwhichtheyaretaken).Whenastudenthascompletedallthemoduleswithinacurriculum,heorshegetsthedesireddegreeordiploma.

3.5.16 Researchhasshownthatstrictmodularisationdoes indeedleadtogreaterefficiency–studentsconclude theirstudies in less time than incurriculawhicharebasedona fixedorder.Commonsense,however,tellsusthatinhighermusiceducation(butthesameargumentisvalidinsomewayformosteducation)therecanneverbeaquestionofmodularisationinitsmostfullyinterchangeablesense.Highermusiceducationisfirmlybasedonatwo-prongednotionofdevelopment:develop-mentsofskillsanddevelopmentofartistic/aestheticcompetencies.Bothofthesetaketime;botharelongitudinalprocessesrequiringacurriculumthatissimilarlysequentialanddevelopmental.Moreover,theseprocessesdifferfromindividualtoindividual.Progressisoftenpainfullyslowandlaborious,thenitgainsmomentumandsometimespositivelyleapsforward;butwhatforoneindi-vidualmaytakeyears,sometimesforanothermaytakeonlyhours-andviceversa.

3.5.17 Thecombinationoflongitudinaldevelopmentalprocessesandindividualisationmeansthat,specifi-callyfortheMainStudyandotherskill-basedsubjects,therecanbenoquestionofshorter,inter-changeablemodules.Forsomeothersubjects,modularisationisfeasible;musichistoryandtheorycanbemodularised,althoughquiteoftenonewouldwish tomaintainsome formof fixedorder.Inamodularcurriculum,fixingtheorderinwhichmodulesaretakenmeansusingthesystemofpre-requisitesreferredtoabove,wherecompletionofacertainmoduleisanentryrequirementforanothermodule.

3.5.18 Ifthecurriculumofaconservatoireistobemodularised,thisisonlypossiblewhereonecanusequiteanextensivesystemofpre-requisites. Insuchasystem, themainstudyareaofa4-year-curriculumcould, forexample,bedivided into8“modules”,eachofonesemester, inwhich thepre-requisiteforthemodule“MainStudy2” isthecompletionofthemodule“MainStudy1”,thepre-requisitefor“MainStudy3”isthecompletionofthemodule“MainStudy2”,etc.

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3.5.19 Providedthatthelearningoutcomesforeachmoduletaketheformofclearlydescribedskillsorcompetencies(whichisveryhardgiventheindividualcharacterofhighermusiceducation)thenastudentwhocanshowthatheorshealreadypossessesthoseskillsorcompetenciesmightbegivenexemptionfromcertainmodules–apracticewhich,ofcourse,alreadyexistsinmanyconservatoireswherestudentscanbeplaced“inthethirdyear”onthebasisofanentranceexamination.However,itremainshardtoimagineacurriculuminwhichastudentcantakeinrandomorderthemainstudymodules.Especiallybecausewearetalkingaboutindividualisedlongitudinaldevelopmentalproc-esses,modularisationiftakentosuchanextreme,wouldloseitsmeaninghere.

3.5.20Thereisoneotherargumentagainstthestrictestformofmodularisationofacurriculum.Modularcurriculaarebasedontheassumptionthatlearningconsistsofbeingabletodemonstrateforeachmodulethatonehasacquiredatleasttheminimalrequirementstopassthatmodule.Inthisre-spect,theyrepresentakindofminimalistapproachtolearning;beingabletodemonstratethemini-malrequirementsleadstoadegreeordiploma.Justas,whentalkingaboutworkload,weneededtospeakofanaveragestudent,so,here,thedesignphilosophyisbasedaroundtheideaofastudentwhois‘justgoodenough’togainthequalification.Ofcourse,thisiswhatalreadyhappensinhighermusiceducation–somestudentswillbejustgoodenoughtograduatebutstillgettheirdegreeordiploma.Butatthesametime,anyoneworkinginhighermusiceducationhasanotherassumption:thatastudentshouldstrivetomaximisethefulfilmentofhisorhertalents.Thisisexpressedintheattitudeofverymanyconservatoirestudents.Theiraimisnottospeedthroughthecurriculumasquicklyaspossiblebut,quiteoften,tostudyaslongaspossibleinordertomaximisetheirmusi-caldevelopment.Someofthekeyargumentsbehindmodularisation–speedandefficiency–arethereforefeltascontrarytothefundamentalapproachtohighermusiceducationsharedbymostprofessionalmusicians.

3.5.21 Again,acreditpointsysteminitselfcanneverprovidealltheanswers.Creditpointsystemscanexistinmusiceducationwithoutstrictmodularisation,andcreditpointsystemscanfulfilausefulrolenotonlyinminimalistbutalsoin“maximalist”philosophiesofeducation.Itisimportanttoseparatetheintroductionofacreditpointsystemfromotherdiscussions,otherwisecreditpointsystemswillbefeltbymanytobeathreattothecorevaluesofhighermusiceducation.Ifthishappens,theintroduc-tionofacreditpointsystemwillalmostcertainlyfail,preventingonefrombenefitingfromtheusefulaspectsofsuchasystem.

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4. CredIt poInt systems In A wIder Context

Wefinishthispublicationwithsomeremarksonthewidercontextofcreditpointsystems.Creditpointsystemsarenotanisolatedphenomenon,butmustalwaysbeseeninthewidercontextoftheeducationofferedbytheinstitutionandthesurroundingsinwhichitoperates.Acreditpointsystemin itself isnoautomaticpanaceafor theproblemsweall typically face inour institutions.Ontheotherhand,usingacreditpointsystemintelligentlymayprovideanextratoolinsolvingsomeoftheproblemsyouexperience.Inthischapterwewillbrieflypointouttherelationofcreditpointsystemstothreeareas:curriculumdevelopment,internationalisationandqualityassurance.

InChapter2thefollowingtopicswerediscussed:- ashortdefinitionofacreditpointsystem- somehistoricalaspectsofcreditpointsystems- adescriptionofthebasicfeatures,advantagesanddisadvantagesofcreditpointsystems

InChapter3thefollowingtopicswerediscussed- threedifferentmodelstousewhenbuildingacreditpointsysteminyourinstitutionsomere marksonspecificproblemswhenbuildingacreditpointsystem

4.1 Credit point systems and curriculum development

4.1.1 Thedesignanddevelopmentofanycurriculumcanbecarriedoutperfectlywellwithouthaving,orintroducing,acreditpointsystem.Educationhasmanagedwithoutcreditpointsystemsformostofitshistory,andthereisnoneedtothinkthatitwouldhaveendedupindeeptroublewithouttheirinvention.

4.1.2 However,acreditpointsystemcanbeaveryhelpful tool incurriculumdevelopment. Itmaygiveinsightintovariouscrucialcharacteristicsofthecurriculumandofitsdevelopmentovertheyears.Thesearesomeofthewaysinwhichitmightdothis:

• Designingacreditpointsystemmaygiveyouinsightintopossibleoverloading(or“underloading”–althoughthisrarelyhappensinhighermusiceducation)ofthecurriculum.Oneindicationofoverloadingmaybetheneedtodividethecreditpointsintomanysmallunits(2creditsorless).Whenthecreditpointsystemisbasedonabsoluteworkload,overloadingusuallymeansthatfor,severalsubjects,theallottedcreditpointsdonotcoverwhatwouldbearealisticestimationoftheaveragetimeneeded.Forsubjectswithonlyonecreditpersemester,forexample,itisquiteoftenthecasethathardlyanytimeforindependentstudyisleftafteronehascalculatedthetimeinvestedincontacthours,examinationandpreparationfortheexamination.

30 31

• Acreditpointsystemmakesoneverymuchawareofthe“subjectin–subjectout”principle.Ifanewsubjectisintroducedintoacurriculumandnosubjectsaretakenout,thisautomaticallymeansashiftinworkload:thecreditpointsallottedtothenewsubjectmustbeextractedfromthecreditpointsallottedtoexistingsubjects.Thismeansthatthestudentwillnotbeabletoinvestasmuchtimeasbeforeintheexistingsubjects.Ofcourse,thisiscommonsense,butatthesametimeexperiencetellsusthat,quiteoften,newandimportantsubjectsareintroducedas“extras”totheexistingcurriculumwithoutanychangesintherestofthatcurriculum.

4.1.3 Thesubjectsintheexistingcurriculumwillusuallyhavejustifiedtheirexistenceovertime,theteach-ersattachedto themareoftenspecialistswhowillarguestrongly in favourof the importanceof“their”subject,andeventhestudentsquiteoftenprotestwhenasubjectisthreatenedwithbeingtrimmeddownortakenoutofthecurriculum!However,leavingthingsastheyareisnotthesolution–implicitly(and,whenusingacreditpointsystem,explicitly)addingasubjecttothecurriculumwith-outtakingcompensatorymeasureselsewheremeansthatoneexpectsthatstudentswill“justworkalittleharder”.Theconsequencewillusuallybethatstudentswillnot“justworkalittleharder”,butwillmaketheirownstrategicdecisionsaboutwheretheywillcutthetimetheyinvestinothersub-jects.Ifthisgoesonfortoolong,thediscrepancybetweenteachers’expectationsofworkloadandtheworkloadactuallyinvestedbystudentswilldiffersomuchthatanyrealisticdiscussionbecomesimpossible.Studentsandteachersarethenlivingintwodifferentworlds.Intheend,thiswillbeasourceofconflictandleadtounhappystudentsandfrustratedteachers.

• Whenworkingonacurriculumand finding,or trying toprevent,overloading, thediscussionsonthecreditpointspersubjectquiteoftenturnintodiscussionsaboutcontent.Iftherearetoomanysubjectsinthecurriculumorifwewanttointroduceanewsubject,wehavetoanalysethecurriculumnotjustintermsofcredits,butintermsofcontent.Aretheresubjectswhichhavebecomeredundantorwhichhavelosttheirrelevanceincomparisontoearliertimes?Aretherepossibilitiestoliftsubjectsoutofthecorecurriculumandturnthemintooptionalsubjects(whichmay,asaside-effect,leadtomoremotivatedstudentsandabetterqualityofteaching)?Aretheresubjectswhichoffermoreorlessthesamecontentorwhichoperateinthesamedomainandwhichcanthereforeco-operate(forexampleinjointexaminations)?Canthesesubjects,infact,becompletelyintegratedandthereforemoreefficientlytaught?And,lookingatthingstheotherwayround,arewesuretherearenobiggapsinthecurriculumwhichshouldbefilled?

• Onespecificfindingofworkingwithacreditpointsystemmaybethatoverloadingisaproblembecause,intheinitialphasesofthecurriculum,onehastoallotsignificanttimetosubjectswhichwewouldthinkthatstudentswouldalreadyhavemasteredbeforeenteringtheconservatoire.Theconclusiontobedrawnfromthismaybethatwearecompensatingwithinthecurriculumforlowentrancelevelsinsomesubjectsandthatitmightbeanoptiontoinvestinthequalityofpre-entranceeducationsothat,withinthehighermusiceducationcurriculum,sufficienttimecanbedevotedtomoreadvancedandimportantissues.

30 31

4.1.4 Allofthismayleadtoalotofthoughtsaboutchangingthecurriculum,sometimesquiteradicalones.Changeandcontinuityshouldbeinbalancewithinanyinstitution–ifthecurriculumchangesdrasti-callyeveryyear,studentswillhavetochangetheirexpectationseveryyear,teacherswillnotbegiventhechancetobuildupexperienceandadministrativeprocesseswillneedrevisingeveryyearaswell.Anadditionalproblemwithannualchangesincurricula(andcreditpointsystems)isthatstudentswho,forsomereasonorother,experiencesomekindofdelayintheirstudywillfinditdifficulttomakeupforthatdelayintheyearsfollowing.Thecurriculumwillhavechanged;subjectspreviouslyofferedmayhavedisappearedorbetaughtinanewwaywithnewworkloads.Thisisoneofthesitua-tionswhichcanleadtorequeststotheadministrationofallkindsofexceptionstoexistingrules.Themanagementofaninstitutioncanpreventcontinualtamperingwiththecurriculumbyoperatingasystemof“periodicreview”.Forexample,theymightstatethatonceeveryfiveyears(thisisacom-monperiodforreview),eachcurriculumonofferwillbescrutinisedthoroughlyandmaybechangedsubstantially,butthatbetweenthesemajorreviews,onlyminimaladaptationstothecurriculumareallowed.

4.2 Credit point systems and internationalisation

4.2.1 Aswasstatedintheintroduction,ECTSwasoriginallyconceivedasanexchangetool-atoolforcon-versionbetweendifferentcreditpointsystems.Moreandmore,however,ECTShascometoreplacethevariousnationalcreditpointsystems,andastheBolognaprocessworkstowardscompletionin2010,itseemsmoreandmorelikelythatECTSwillbecomethestandardEuropeancreditpointsys-teminitsownright.

4.2.2Anycreditpointsystemmayplayanimportantroleininternationalrelationsbetweenconservatoires.Forexample,lookingatthecreditpointsystemofanunfamiliarinstitutionimmediatelygivessomebasicinformationontherelativeimportanceofdifferentsubjectsinthecurriculumofthatinstitution.Itthereforetellsussomethingindirectlyabouttheinstitution’sartisticviewanditsteachingphiloso-phy.

4.2.3However,oftensomethingmorethanthisrathergeneralisedinformationisneeded.Forexample,ifastudentwantstospendsometimeatanotherinstitution,muchmoreinformationthanthecreditpointsystemusedisnecessarytomakeagoodcomparisonofthetwocurricula.Infact,creditpointscanonlyplayaroleinstudentexchangeifwearesureabouttwootherimportantthings:thework-loadbehindthecreditpointsandthelevelattachedtothecreditpoints.

4.2.4Ontheissueofworkload:behindanycreditpointsystem,theconceptofaverageyearlyworkloadisimportant.Traditionally,thelengthoftheacademicyearcandifferfromcountrytocountry.Thismayhindercomparisonand (international)exchange. Inreality,differenceswillprobablynotbeenor-mous.Whencooperatingwithaforeigninstitution,itmaybewisetoinformeachotheraboutthedurationoftheacademicyear,butwhenthedifferencesarenottoolargeitiswisetoleaveitatthat,

32 33

especiallygiven thegeneralconsensuswithin the internationalcommunityofprofessionalmusi-ciansastothe(high)amountofworkamusicstudentneedstocarryout.

4.2.5As forquestionsabout level, theserepresentanotherseriouspoint.Even if theworkloadbehindcreditpointsisthesame,howcanwebesurethattheworkrequiredisofthesamelevel?Inotherwords,whatisthesupposedlevelofthefamous“averagestudent”attheheartofthesystem?Creditpointswillnotgiveaclue.Eventhereassuringthoughtthatconservatoiresareallinstitutesoperat-ingathighereducationleveldoesnotnecessarilymeanthattheywillalwaysagreeineverycaseonquestionsconcerning,forexample,examinationlevels,beitentranceexaminationsorfinalexamina-tions.

4.2.6Thismayseemtobeareasontoignoreanycreditpointsystemaltogether.Ifacreditpointsystemdoesnotclarifyquestionsaboutworkloadandlevel,whatuseisit?Thiswould,however,beshort-sighted.Wemustkeepinmindthatasystemofcreditpointsisneverabletosolvequestionslikethisonitsown.Itisnotarealisticexpectation,andcreditpointswereneverdevisedforthat.LookingattheECTSsystem,itisclearthatthecreditpointsystemisonlyasmallpartofabiggerpackage,whichshouldservetomakecomparisonpossible.OtherpartsofthisECTS-packagewerealreadymentionedearlier:customizeddescriptionsofsubjectsonoffer,agradingsystemtranslationtool,andseveralstandarddocumentstobeusedininternationalexchange.Othertendencies,suchasthemovetowardsacommonBachelor/Mastersystemor,onacompletelydifferentlevel,learningagree-mentsforexchangestudentswithinSocrates,arealsopartsofabigefforttomakeeducationmorereadilyandreliablycomparable.Creditpointsaloneneverleadtoeasycomparability.Theycanbeofhelpbutothermeansmustbeadded.Theintroductionofageneralcreditpointsystemishelpful,maybeevennecessarywithinthelandscapeofEuropeanhighereducationenvisagedbytheBolognaprocess,butnotsufficientinitselftosolveallproblems.

4.3 Credit point systems and internal quality assurance

4.3.1 Internalqualityassuranceproceduresarethoseproceduresthataremeanttoensurethequalityofprocessesandthequalityoffinaloutcomeswithinaninstitution.Aspointedoutabove,creditpointsystemscanfulfilaroleininternalqualityassuranceprocedures.Forexample,aspartoftheproce-durebywhichaninstitutemakesathoroughreviewofitscurriculumeveryfiveyears,theycanhelptoensurethat,asthequalityofthecurriculumismodifiedtokeepituptodate,studentworkloadsdonotbecomedistorted.

4.3.2Creditpointsystemsmayfunctioninthiswayininternalqualityassurance.Especiallywhencom-binedwithotherelementswithinandoutsidetheECTSscheme,suchasstandardizedcurriculumdescriptions,internationallycomparablegradingsystems,standardizeddiplomasupplements,etc,creditpointsystemsmayformapowerfultoolinqualityassurancegenerally.

32 33

4.3.3.However,onehastobeawareofthelimitationsofusingacreditpointsystem.Creditpointsystemsarenotmeanttocapturethecompleteessenceofteaching,noraretheyabletodoso. Inhighermusiceducation,wearetalkingaboutartisticeducation,artisticlevel,artisticexchangeandartisticcomparison.Upuntilnow,despitealltheeffortsofourpredecessors,nosystemhasemergedthathasbeenabletodescribeartisticexperiencecompletelyobjectively.Ofcourse,artisticexperiencecanbeevaluated;itisnotcompletelysubjective.Thestandardprocedureofevaluatingartisticqualityliesininter-subjectivity:groupsofhigh-levelprofessionalmusiciansformulatingjudgmentstogeth-er.Outsiderswhodonotunderstandwhywedon’tdevelopamoreeconomicalsystemofevaluationsometimesridiculeit,butthesimpletruthissuchamoreeconomicalsystemdoesnotexist.

4.3.4 Creditpointsystemsarenotanabsolutenecessityinhighermusiceducation.Theworldhasdonewithoutthemforgenerations,andwithnoapparentilleffects.However,creditpointsystemsdonowseemtobeheretostay;theycanmakecertainaspectsoflifeeasierinhighermusiceducation,andthereforetheydeserveaplace in it.Thatplaceshouldbefirmandsolidbutwithoutexaggeratedexpectations.Creditpointsystemsareapowerfultool,especiallywhencombinedwithothertools,incurriculumdesign,internationalisationandqualityassurance.But,ashasbeensaidinmanywaysthroughoutthispublication,theydonotsolvealltheexistingproblemsandpeculiaritiesofhighermusiceducation.

34 35

34 35

AppendICes

AppendIx A lIst oF relevAnt weBsItes

aec

http://www.aecinfo.org

the bologna declaration process

TheAEConlineBolognahandbook:

http://www.bologna-and-music.org

OfficialBolognawebsite:

http://www.ond.vlaanderen.be/hogeronderwijs/bologna/

TheEUAandBologna:

http://www.eua.be/index.php?id=36

ects

http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/programmes/socrates/ects_en.html

(alsoavailableinmanyotherEuropeanlanguagesviahttp://europa.eu)

tuning

http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/policies/educ/tuning/tuning_en.html

36

AppendIx B some examples of credit point tables used by institutions for profes- sional music training in europe.

please note that the information in these tables is subject to change

lithuanian music academy bachelor of music degree study programme (string instruments)

Type

ofs

ubje

cts

Gro

upo

f

subj

ects

Subject Code

ECTS

Cre

dits

Cour

seh

ours

per

wee

k

Dur

atio

n:y

ears

Dur

atio

n:

sem

este

rs

Fina

leva

luat

ion

O SE MajorInstrument IVB049 55,5 2 4 8 Exam

S SE

Alternatives:

ChamberEnsembleor

StringQuartet

IVB050

IVB051

24 1 4 8 Exam

O SE ChamberEnsemble IVB050 4,5 1 1 1 Exam

O SE Orchestra IVB052 25,5 6 3 6 Credittest

O SE StudiesofOrchestralLiterature IVB053 10,5 1 3 6 Credittest

O SE MethodsofTeachingStringInstru-

ments

IVB055 6 2 1 2 Credittest

O SE HistoryofStringInstruments IVB056 6 2 1 2 Exam

O SE PedagogicalSeminarsandPedagogi-

calPractice

IVB057

IVM040

18 2-3 2 4 Exam

O GAE EarTraining FMB083 6 2 1 2 Exam

O GAE LanguageofMusic FMB084 15 2,3 3 5 Exam

O GAE InterdisciplinaryPiano FMB075 6 1 1 2 Exam

O GAE GeneralMusic-History1 FMB085 3 2 1 1 Credittest

O GAE GeneralMusic-History2 FMB086 3 2 1 1 Exam

S GAE GeneralMusic-History3or

AlternativesofMusicHistory

FMB087

FMB089 3 2 1 1 Exam

S GAE GeneralMusic-History4orAlterna-

tivesofMusicHistory

FMB088

FMB089 3 2 1 1 Exam

O GAE HistoryofLithuanianMusic FMB090 6 2 1 2 Exam

O GAE PsychologyofPedagogy FMB091 6 2 1 2 Credittest

E GAE Electivecourses LP-137 12 2 2 4 Credittest

O GHSE Philosophy BH01 6 3 1 2 Exam

O GHSE Aesthetics BH02 6 3 1 2 Exam

S GHSE AlternativesofPhilosophyandCul-

turalStudies

BH03 6 Seecoursedescriptions

O GHSE ForeignLanguage BH06 6 2 1 2 Exam

O GHSE CultureofLanguage BH10 3 2 1 1 Credittest

GHSE Sports 4 1 2

TOTAL: 240 4 8

37

master of music degree study programme (string instruments)

Type

ofs

ubje

cts

Gro

upo

f

subj

ects

Subject Code

ECTS

Cre

dits

Cour

seh

ours

per

wee

k

Dur

atio

n:y

ears

Dur

atio

n:s

emes

ters

Fina

leva

luat

ion

O SE MajorInstrument IVM032 34,5 2 2 4 Exam

S SE

Alternatives:

ChamberEnsemble

StringQuartet

IVB050

IVB051

13,5 1 2 4 Exam

O SE Thesis IVM034 12 1 1 2 Exam

O SE Orchestra IVM035 12 6 2 3 Credittest

O SE StudiesofOrchestralLiterature IVM036 4,5 0,5 1 2 Credittest

O SE PedagogicalPracticeandPedagogi-

calSeminars

IVM038

IVM040

12 3 2 4 Exam

O GAE FundamentalsofResearch FMM092 3 2 1 1 Credittest

O GAE HistoryandTheoryofInterpretation FMM093 4,5 2 1 2 Credittest

O GAE SeminarsofInterpretation IVM069 6 2 1 2 Credittest

E GAE Electivecourses LP-137 3 Credittest

O GAE PsychologyofPedagogy-2 IVM094 6 2 1 2 Credittest

S GHSE AlternativesofPhilosophyand

CulturalStudies

MH05 6 2 1 2 Credittest

TOTAL: 120 2 4

38

bachelor of music degree study programme (symphony orchestra and opera conducting)

Type

ofs

ubje

cts

Gro

upo

f

subj

ects

Subject

Code

ECTS

Cre

dits

Cour

seh

ours

per

wee

k

Dur

atio

n:y

ears

Dur

atio

n:s

emes

ters

Fina

leva

luat

ion

O SE Conducting IVB031 40,5 2 4 8 Exam

O SE ScoreReading IVB032 18 1 3 6 Exam

O SE Instrumentation IVB033 18 1 3 6 Exam

O SE RehearsingWorkswithOrchestra IVB034 9 1 2 4 Credittest

O SE BowingsandArticulationofOrchestral

Instruments

IVB035 3 2 1 2 Credittest

O SE OrchestralStyles IVB036 13,5 2 2 4 Credittest

O SE PracticeinOperaRehearsing IVB037 6 2 1 2 Credittest

O SE OrchestraandScore IVB038 9 2 1 2 Exam

O GME EarTraining FMB083 6 2 1 2 Exam

O GME InterdisciplinaryPiano FMB075 12 1 2 4 Exam

O GME HistoryofLithuanianMusic FMB098 6 2 1 2 Exam

O GME MusicHistoryofAncientCivilizationsand

Middle-Ages

FMB099 4,5 4 1 1 Exam

O GME MusicHistoryofArsNovaandRenais-

sance

FMB100 4,5 4 1 1 Exam

O GME BaroqueMusicHistory FMB101 4,5 4 1 1 Exam

O GME MusicoftheAgeofEnlightenment FMB102 4,5 4 1 1 Exam

O GME MusicHistoryoftheRomanticPeriod FMB103 9 4 1 2 Exam

O GME Musicofthe20thCenturyI FMB104 4,5 4 1 1 Exam

O GME Musicofthe20thCenturyII FMB105 4,5 4 1 1 Exam

O GME SpecialMusicAnalysis FMB107 6 2 1 2 Exam

O GME StylesofHarmony FMB108 12 4 1 2 Exam

O GME Polyphony FMB109 12 3 1 2 Exam

O GME PsychologyofPedagogy-1 FMB091 6 2 1 2 Credittest

O GHSE Philosophy BH01 6 3 1 2 Exam

O GHSE Aesthetics BH02 6 3 1 2 Exam

S GHSE AlternativesofPhilosophyandCultural

Studies

BH03 6 Seecoursedescriptions

O GHSE CultureofLanguage BH10 3 2 1 1 Credittest

O GHSE ForeignLanguage BH06 6 2 1 2 Exam

GHSE Sports 4 1 2

TOTAL: 240 4 8

39

40 41

master of music degree study programme (symphony orchestra and opera conducting)

Type

ofs

ubje

cts

Gro

upo

f

subj

ects

Subject

Code

ECTS

Cre

dits

Cour

seh

ours

per

wee

k

Dur

atio

n:y

ears

Dur

atio

n:s

emes

ters

Fina

leva

luat

ion

O SE Conducing IVM022 36 2-3 2 4 Exam

O SE PracticeinRehearsingaSymphony

Orchestra

IVM023 9 1 2 3 Credittest

O SE PracticeinOperaRehearsing IVM024 9 1 2 3 Credittest

O SE Thesis IVM025 12 1 1 2 Exam

O SE ConductingtheSymphonyOrchestra

Concert

IVM026 4,5 1 1 1 Credittest

O SE ConductingtheOperaPerformance IVM027 4,5 1 1 1 Exam

O GAE FundamentalsofResearch FMM092 3 2 1 1 Credittest

O GAE HistoryandTheoryofInterpretation FMM093 6 2 1 2 Credittest

O GAE OperaDramaturgy IVM018 6 2 1 2 Exam

O GAE Acoustics FMB074 6 2 1 2 Credittest

O GAE MusicPsychology FMM094 3 2 2 2 Credittest

S GAE AlternativesofGeneralMusicHistory FMB089 3 2 1 1 Credittest

E GAE Electivecourses LP-137 6 2 1 2 Credittest

O GAE PsychologyofPedagogy-2 FMM094 6 2 1 2 Credittest

S GHSE AlternativesofPhilosophyandCul-

turalStudies

MH05 6 2 1 2 Credittest

TOTAL: 120 2 4

40 41

bachelor of music degree study programme (Jazz)

Type

ofs

ubje

cts

Gro

upo

f

subj

ects

Subject

Code

ECTS

Cre

dits

Cour

seh

ours

per

wee

k

Dur

atio

n:y

ears

Dur

atio

n:s

emes

ters

Fina

leva

luat

ion

O SE MajorInstrument IVB085 42 2 4 8 Exam

O SE ChamberEnsemble IVB086 6 1 1 2 Credittest

S SE Bigband IVB087 36 6 4 8 Exam

O SE

Alternatives(from2ndyear):

ChamberEnsemble

Conducting

IVB086

IVB088

24 0,5 3 6 Credittest

O SE SecondInstrument IVB089 6 1 1 2 Exam

O SE JazzHistoryandAnalysis IVB090 6 2,5 1 2 Exam

O SE PedagogicalPractice IVB091 6 2 1 2 Credittest

O SE PedagogicalSeminars IVB068 6 1 1 2 Exam

O SE JazzArrangement(Composition) IVB092 9 2 2 3 Credittest

O SE MethodsofTeachingImprovisation IVB093 6 2 1 2 Credittest

O SE Singing IVB094 6 0,5 1 2 Exam

O SE SoundRecording IVB095 6 2 1 2 Exam

E GAE Electivecourses LP-137 12 Seecoursedescriptions

O GAE RhythmicandEarTraining IVB096 6 2 1 2 Exam

O GAE LanguageofMusic IVB097 12 2,5 2 4 Exam

O GAE Piano IVB098 6 1 1 2 Exam

O GAE GeneralMusic-History1 FMB085 3 2 1 1 Credittest

O GAE GeneralMusic-History2 FMB086 3 2 1 1 Exam

S GAE GeneralMusic-History3or

AlternativesofMusicHistory

FMB087

FMB089 3 2 1 1 Exam

S GAE GeneralMusic-History4orAlterna-

tivesofMusicHistory

FMB088

FMB089 3 2 1 1 Exam

O GAE HistoryofLithuanianMusic FMB090 6 2 1 2 Exam

O GAE PsychologyofPedagogy FMB091 6 2 1 2 Credittest

O GHSE Philosophy BH01 6 3 1 2 Exam

O GHSE Aesthetics BH02 6 3 1 2 Exam

O GHSE ForeignLanguage BH06 6 2 1 2 Exam

O GHSE CultureofLanguage BH10 3 2 1 1 Credittest

GHSE Sports 4 1 2

TOTAL: 240 4 8

42 43

mAlmö musIC ACAdemy

• performance 120 credits (180 ects-credits) • performance 121-200 credits (181,5-300 credits)

(in ects-credits) Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 total bfa Year 4 Year 5 total mfa

Maininstrument/

Musicalstudies

andinterpretation 30 30 30 90 37,5 37,5 165

Chambermusic/

Ensemble/

Orchestra 12 15 12 39 15 15 69

Eartraining 4,5 6 — 10,5 — — 10,5

Harmony/

Counterpoint 4,5 6 — 10,5 — — 10,5

Piano/

otherinstrument 6 — — 6 — — 6

Historyofmusic 3 3 3 9 — — 9

Communication

music — — 7,5 7,5 — — 7,5

Freeoption/

Concerts/

Degreeproject — — 7,5 7,5 7,5 7,5 22,5

total 180 300

42 43

performance – JaZZ/improvisation 120 credits (180 ects-credits)

(in ects-credits) Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 total bfa

Maininstrument 15 15 15 45

Ensemble 15 15 15 45

Theoryofjazz

improvisation 4.5 — — 4.5

Eartraining/jazz 4.5 4.5 — 9

Jazzharmony/

jazzarranging 7.5 4.5 — 12

Piano/jazz 3.5 3.5 — 7

Thehistoryof

jazzmusic 3.5 3.5 — 7

Projects7.5 7.5 15 30

Freeoption — 7.5 15 22.5

total 180

performance – diploma 80 credits (120 ects-credits). (mfa in music is reQuired for this programme!)

(in ects-credits) Year 1 Year 2 total

Maininstrument/

musicalstudies 45 45 90

andinterpretation

Concerts/

degreeproject 15 15 30

total 120

44 45

national university of music BucharestNationalUniversityofMusicBucharest

ects credits – orchestra instruments

1styear 2ndyear 3rdyear 4thyear

Compulsorysubjects Sem.1 Sem.2 Sem.3 Sem.4 Sem.5 Sem.6 Sem.7 Sem.8

Maininstrument 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10

Accompaniment 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Chambermusic 5 5 4 4 5 5 6 6

Orchestra 3,5 3,5 3,5 3,5 3 3 4 4

Artisticpractice 3 3 2,5 2,5 3 3 3 3

Musictheory 2 2

Harmony 2 2 1,5

Polyphony(Counterpointand

Fugue) 1,5 1,5

Formsandanalysis 1,5 2 2

Musichistory 2 2 1,5 1,5 2

Folklore 2

Foreignlanguage 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Sports 0,5 0,5 0,5 0,5

Preparinggraduationdiploma 2 3

Electivemodules

ModuleI

Culturehistory 3 3

Management 3 3

Aesthetics 3 3

ModuleII

Electedinstrument 3 3

Baroquemusic 3 3 3 3

ModuleIII

Contemporarymusic

styles&languages 3 3

Contemporarymusic 3 3 3 3

ModuleIV

Jazz 3 3 3 3 3 3

total:

30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30

240

44 45

ects credits – piano, organ, harpsichord

1styear 2ndyear 3rdyear 4thyear

Compulsorysubjects sem.1 sem.2 sem.3 sem.4 sem.5 sem.6 sem.7 sem.8

MainInstrument 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10

ChamberMusic 5 5 4 4 6 6 7 7

Accompaniment 4,5 4,5 3,5 3,5 4 4 5 5

Artisticpractice 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2

Musictheory 2 2

Harmony 2 2 2

Polyphony(Counterpointand

Fugue 2 2

Formsandanalysis 2 2 2

Musichistory 2 2 2 2 2

Folklore 2

Foreignlanguage 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Sports 0,5 0,5 0,5 0,5

Preparinggraduation-diploma 2 3

Electivemodules

ModuleI

Culturehistory 3 3

Management 3 3

Aesthetics 3 3

ModuleII

Electedinstrument 3 3

Baroquemusic 3 3 3 3

ModuleIII

Contemporarymusic

styles&languages 3 3

Contemporarymusic 3 3 3 3

ModuleIV

Jazz 3 3 3 3 3 3

total:

30 30 30 30 30 30 30 30

240 c.p.

46 47

prince claus Conservatoire

classical music Year 1

Year 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Semester I II I II I II I II I II I II I II

Mainsubject Song String

players,wind

players

Percussio-

nists

Harp Piano Organ Clavi-

chord

main subject

Mainsubject 13 14 13 14 14 14 15 16 17 17 13 13 15 15

Masterclasses

workshopsreper-

toireandperform-

ancepractice

1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Correpetition 1 1

Ensembleandduo

play

2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1

Continuoplay 2 2 2 2

Piano(minor

subject)

2 2

Italian 2 1

Chamberorchestra,

bigwindinstru-

mentsensemble

andprojects

1 2 3 3 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2

Percussionen-

semble

1 2

Choir 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1

Orientationonthe

musicalprofession

2 2 2 2 2 2 2

general subjects

Developmentmusi-

calimaginaryability

4 3 4 3 4 3 4 3 4 3 4 3 4 3

CTS 2 3 2 3 2 3 2 3 2 3 2 3 2 3

Pianopractice 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1

IntroductionICT 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

46 47

classical music year 2

Year 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

Semester I II I II I II I II I II I II I II

Mainsubject Song Stringplay-

ers,wind

players

Percus-

sionists

harp piano organ Clavichord

main subject

Mainsubject 9 9 9 9 7 8 11 11 13 12 9 8 11 10

Masterclasses/

workshops

Repertoireandper-

formancepractice

1 1 1 1 1 1 1

Correpetition 1 1

Ensembleandduo

play

2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1

Continuoplay 2 2 2 2

Piano(minor

subject)

2 2

Italian 2 1

Chamberorchestra,

bigwindensemble

andprojects

2 1 4 2 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1

Percussionen-

semble

2 1

Drums 2 2

Choir 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1

general subjects

Developmentmusi-

calimaginaryability

2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

CTS 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

Creativewriting 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

Pianopractice 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1

Themusicianasan

entrepreneur

2 2 2 2 2 2 2

teaching subjects

Internalteaching

practiceperiod*

3 3 3 3 3 3 3

General

methodology*

2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1

Professional

methodology*

2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1

48 49

classical music year 3

Year 3 3 3 3 3

Semester I II I II I II I II I II

Mainsubject Song Stringinstru-

mentswind

instruments

Percussionists Harp,piano,organ Clavichord

main subject

Mainsubject 16 15 14 14 13 12 16 16 14 14

Masterclasses

repertoireandper-

formancepractice

1 1 1 1 1

Correpetition 1 1

Ensembleandduo

play

2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1

Continuoplay 2 2

Chamberorchestra,

bigwindensemble

andprojects

2 1 4 2 2 1 2 1 2 1

Percussionen-

semble

1 2

Drums 2 2

general subjects

CTS 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

Themusicianasan

entrepreneur

op-

tional

op-

tional

op-

tional.

op-

tional

op-

tional

op-

tional

op-

tional

op-

tional

op-

tional

op-

tional

teaching subjects

Externalpermanent

andblockteaching

practice*

5 1 5 1 5 1 5 1 5 1

Projectteaching

practice*

2 2 2 2 2

General

methodology*

2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1

Educational

methode*

4 4 4 4 4

Methodologyexam* 1 1 1 1 1

48 49

classical music year 4

Year 4 4 4 4 4

Semester I II I II I II I II I II

Mainsubject Song Stringinstru-

mentswind

instruments

Percussionists Harp,piano,

organ

Clavichord

main subject

Mainsubject 26 26 24 25 25 25 26 27 24 25

Masterclasses/

workshopsreper-

toireandperform-

ancepractice

1 1 1 1 1

Correpetition 1 1

Ensembleandduo

play

2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1

Continuoplay 2 2

Chamberor-

chestra,bigwind

ensembleand

projects

2 1 4 2 2 1 2 1 2 1

Percussionen-

semble

1 2

general subjects

Themusicianasan

entrepreneur

op-

tional

op-

tional

op-

tional

op-

tional

op-

tional

op

tional

op-

tional

op-

tional

op

tional

op-

tional

50 51

Jazz music year 1

Year 1 1 1

Semester I II I II I II

Mainsubject Piano Vocals Other

main subject

Mainsubject 13 13 11 11 11 12

MasterclassUSA-teacher 2 1 1 2 1

Minorsubjecttechniques 2 3 2 3 2 3

Stageexperience 2 1 2 1 2 1

Ensembles 2 3 2 3 2 3

Professionalorientation 2 2 2

Choir 2 1

general subjects

Solfège 1 2 1 2 1 2

Basictheory 1 1 1 1 1 1

Practicaltheory 2 2 2 2 2 2

Historyclassicalmusic–

introduction

1 1 1

Historyjazzmusic 2 2 2

ListeningSessions 1 1 1 1 1 1

Pianopracticalclass 2 1 2 1

IntroductionICT 1 1 1 1 1 1

Jazz music year 2

Year 2 2 2

Semester I II I II I II

Mainsubject Piano Vocals Other

main subject

Mainsubject 10 11 10 9 9 9

MasterclassUSA-teacher 2 1 1 2 1

Minorsubjecttechniques 3 2 3 2 2 3

Stageexperience 2 1 1 1 2 1

Ensembles 2 3 2 3 2 3

Choir 1 1

general subjects

Solfège 2 1 2 1 2 1

Basictheory 1 1 1 1 1 1

Practicaltheory 2 2 2 2 2 2

50 51

Historynon-westernmusic–intro-

duction

1 1 1

ListeningSessions 1 1 1 1 1 1

Pianopracticalclass 2 1 2 1

Themusicianasanentrepreneur 2 2 2

teaching subjects

Internalteachingpracticeperiod* 3 3 3

Generalmethodology* 2 1 2 1 2 1

Professionalmethodology* 2 1 2 1 2 1

* Followingtheteachertrainingcourseinstrumental/vocalisoptional.Iftheteachingsubjectsarenotchosen,thecreditpoints

relatedtotheteachingsubjectswillbeaddedtothemainsubject.Additionalassignmentsshouldbemadeforcompensation

purposes.

Jazz music year 3

Year 3

Semester I II

main subject

Mainsubject 9 9

MasterclassUSA-teacher 2 1

Minorsubjecttechniques 2 3

Stageexperience 1 2

Ensembles 2 3

general subjects

Solfège 2 1

Practicaltheory 2 1

Arranging 2 1

ListeningSessions 1 1

Themusicianasan

entrepreneur

Optional optional

teaching subjects

Externalpermanentandblock

teachingpractice*

5 1

Projectteachingpractice* 2

Generalmethodology* 2 1

Educationalmethod* 4

Methodologyexam* 1

*Followingtheteachertrainingcourseinstrumental/vocalisoptional.Iftheteachingsubjectsarenotchosen,thecreditpoints

relatedtotheteachingsubjectswillbeaddedtothemainsubject.Additionalassignmentsshouldbemadeforcompensation

purposes.

52 53

JazzMusicyear4

Year 4

Semester I II

main subject

Mainsubject 19 20

MasterclassUSA-teacher 2 1

Minorsubjecttechniques 2 3

Stageexperience 2 1

Ensembles 2 3

general subjects

CompositionarenaJazz 2 1

Arranging 1 1

Themusicianasanentrepreneur Optional optional

52 53

norwegian music Academy

undergraduate study programme and course units

Courses(inECTS-credits) Year1 Year2 Year3 Year4

MainInstrument 21-30 21-30 37-41 37-41

Forum 3-4,5 3-4,5 3-4,5 3-4,5

Improvisation 3-4,5 4,5

ChamberMusic 6-9 3-9 3-9

Orchestra 6 6 6 6

ChamberOrchestra 6

Piano,SecondaryInstrument 3 3 6

InductionCourse,NorwegianFolkMusic 0

OccupationalPhysiology 1,5

AuralTraining 6 6

HistoryofMusic 6 6

Analysis 3 3

Harmony 6 6

Instrumentation 6

MusicPerformanceandCommunicationSkills 1,5 3

subjects for special instruments:

recorder:

Harpsichord/Figuredbass 6

guitar:

Interpretation 3 3

Ensemble/Duo 3 6 6

PracticalHarmony 6

harpsichord:

Continuo 6 6

Piano:

Accompaniment 9

PracticalHarmony 6

RehearsalTechnique 3

OptionalSubjects 6 6

percussion:

PercussionEnsemble 4,5 4,5 4,5 4,5

54 55

vocal:

Choir 6

AnatomyandVoicePhysiology 3

SeminarinCommunicationSkills 1,5 1,5 3 3

Choir 6

DramaIandII 3 3 3

Phonetics 3 3

Rhythmics 1,5 1,5 1,5 1,5

Song/LiedSeminar 6 6

OratorioSeminar 6

VocalEnsemble 6

OperaSeminar 6

TextAnalysis 4,5

postgraduate study programmes and course units

music performance with emphasis on a special subject

Courses(inECTS-credits) Year1 Year2

MainSubject

MainInstrument(vocal)andinterpretation 30 30

Thesis 15 15

SupportingSubject

Research-training,literature 6

OptionalSubjects 12 12

advanced solo studies

Courses(inECTS-credits) Year1 Year2

PrincipalInstrumentandInterpretationSeminars 45 45

Seminars 6 6

OptionalSubjects 9 9

54 55

orchestral conducting

Courses(inECTS-credits) Year1 Year2

OrchestralConducting/ConductingTechnique 30 30

Piano 1,5 1,5

MusicalAesthetics 6

ScorePlaying/Reading 4,5 4,5

Auraltraining 6

Orchestration 6

OptionalSubjects 15 15

chamber music with principal study

Courses(inECTS-credits) Year1 Year2

ChamberMusic 22,5 22,5

PrincipalInstrument 28,5 28,5

InterpretationSeminars * *

MusicPerformanceandCommunicationSkills 6

Seminars 6 6

choral conducting

Courses(inECTS-credits) Year1 Year2

ChoralConducting 9 9

ChoralDidactic 22,5 22,5

ChoralPractice 0 0

WrittenAssignement/MethodCourse/Tuition 9

VocalTuition 3 3

ChoralSinging 4,5 4,5

OrchestralConducting 4,5 4,5

AuralTraining 6 6

ScorePlaying/Analysis 6

Harmony/Arranging/Instrumentation 6

Seminars:

StageManagementforChoir 0

PerformancePractice 0

DidacticforChildren’sChoir 0

Phonetics 0

56

diploma course in composition

Courses(inECTS-credits) Year1 Year2

major subjects 45 45

Composition

Diplomathesis

Specialproject

Compositionforum 4,5 4,5

optional subjects 10,5 10,5

postgraduate course for pianists in accompaniment/chamber music

Courses(inECTS-credits) Year1 Year2

main subject 45 45

Repertoire

Specialisation

supporting subjects

Orchestralarrangements(Innstudering) 12

PrimaVista 3

GeneralSeminar(Emneseminar) 6

optional subjects 9

Differfromyeartoyear

Association Européenne des Conservatoires,Académies de Musique et Musikhochschulen (AEC)PO Box 805 NL-3500AV Utrecht The Netherlands

Tel +31.302361242 Fax +31.302361290Email aecinfo@aecinfo.org Website www.aecinfo.org