The Sudoku Effect: Universities in the Vicious Circle of Bureaucracy

This book shows that the introduction of the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) of credit points as a new accounting unit at universities has led to increased bureaucracy and the schoolmaster-style regimentation of Bachelor’s and Master’s courses. It explains how, due to the pressure of having to plan every single working hour of studying in advance, a ‘Sudoku Effect’ is created by the necessity to combine courses, exams and modules in such a way that the points ‘add up’. An unintention...