The Open University on iTunes U - Research

stained glass window

Building on History

How will the church maintain its identity in the face of religious decline in the modern world?

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Robotic eye

Designing with vision

The Design with Vision project illustrates how eye tracking technology can be combined with shape generation software to create a radically new...

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student

The Student Expereince

If you have not studied for a long time, doing an OU course can seem a daunting prospect. Find out what’s really involved by listening to these...

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Subject introduction

Research

The founding Chancellor of the Open University, Lord Crowther, proclaimed that the OU would be open as to people, open as to places and open as to methods and ideas, and this holds true as much for our distinctive research as it does for our teaching methods.

Subject highlights

Pro Vice Chancellor on research at the Open University Pro Vice Chancellor Brigid Heywood discusses the foundations on which the Open University research is based and how this research is fundamental for the vision of the future.	The Oldest Generation project Using diary excerpts, this audio track documents the lives of older people, how and why certain family relationships endure or change over time, and how these processes affect the lives of members of the oldest generation.
The hidden history of learning disability A collection of stories and interviews with academics and people with learning disabilities, recorded at the Social History of Learning Disability Conference in July 2009, led by the Open University's Professor Dorothy Atkinson.	How ambient displays affect behaviour A behind the scenes look at the design process of the Clouds research project at the Jennie Lee Building in Milton Keynes, in which is a unique ambient information display is being built to see how it will affect peoples behaviour.
Black British Jazz What is Black British Jazz? The Open University’s Dr Jason Toynbee traces the history of jazz in Britain, looking at the key figures involved from as far back as 1919 right through to the present day.	Sensory augmentation devices How can new technology help you to play a new musical instrument? The E-Sense research programme, which is building novel augmentation devices to explore sensory, bodily and cognitive extension, will begin to explain this through a short, insightful video.

Subjects

Arts and humanities

The Aurelianic wall

The renewed threat of barbarian invasion led to the construction of the Aurelianic wall - the second fortification in the history of Imperial Rome.

Artificial Intelligence

Philosophy professor Tim Crane explains what he sees to be the main philosophical issues in the area of Artificial Intelligence

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Business and Management

Calderdale: preparing the bid

Members of the Calderdale NHS trust and the private consortium discuss the affordability of the new hospital.

Sorting out strategies

How a group makes decisions and deals with discord.

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Childhood and Youth

Creativity and early years

Using interviews and a live recording of a learning environment, creativity is defined and discussed as both a central aspect of the curriculum and a developmental tool.

Making Music Together

Recording a DJ set, designing a cd cover, and a guitar lesson. Behind the scenes the facilitators discuss the group's teamwork.

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Computing and ICT

Adding text to video

Titles and visuals are a quick and simple way to give the audience more information.

Why go robotic?

Benefits for the cows, the farmer and his family.

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Education

TESSA - Anything for School

Adjua wants to go to school, even though she is sick

TESSA - Something Good

Jude's snap decision costs him money

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Engineering and Technology

A MIDI composer talks about his career and the equipment in his studio.

IDEO: Encouraging Ideas

How to manage small teams and ways to create innovative ideas.

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Environment, Development and International Studies

Women's roles in the war

Women were involved in various ways in war, and their roles both as perpetrators and in peace-building should not be under-estimated.

The Impact of Science

A discussion with scientists about the nature of scientific knowledge, and it's relationship to policy making regarding climate change

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Health and Social Care

Carers from Minority Ethnic Groups

The specific needs of carers from minority ethnic groups with emphasis on the Chinese Welfare Association in Belfast

Gate Control Theory

Doctors and patients at the Royal Free Hospital's Pain Clinic and at the Real Health Institute explain how chronic pain works

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Languages

Talking to the waiter

Beginners' German Introduction

A series of short tracks giving speaking, pronunciation and listening practice on the theme of Food and Drink.

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Law

Further reading

A list of further readings.

Freedom of speech

A current affairs journalist, a human rights lawyer and an academic debate issues around freedom of speech and to what extent the law should intervene to restrict it.

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Mathematics and Statistics

Taking a bearing

Discover how to get your bearings with a compass and a map.

The Open University's Alan Graham shares his knowledge on the link between music and math, and his band Betty's Kitchen perform several songs and talk us through their instruments.

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Psychology

Identical twinset

Linda, Sharon and their mother discuss their similarities as identical twins.

Discursive Psychological Research

Professor Margaret Wetherell discusses her pioneering research into the language of racism.

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Science

Focusing on fungi

Dr Sarah Watkinson reveals the role of fungi in breaking down dead leaves.

Waves: Electro magnetic waves

How radio waves work and their use at sea.

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Social Sciences

Migration: controlling borders

In Algeciras in southern Spain, the arrival of undocumented migrants from North Africa is a daily occurrence.

Working in partnership

Joan Devlin on how Belfast Healthy Cities is a model for further partnership initiatives.

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Research

Spectacular Flirtations

Open University Art History researcher, Gill Perry takes us through The National Portrait Gallery and explores the relationship between 18th Century art and theatre and the notion of actresses and their portraits as seductive, beguiling objects. Gill also looks at paralells in the ways contemporary female stars use media images to promote themselves as celebrities.

Building on History: the Church in London

Short documentary outlining a new Open University research project involving the Diocese of London and Kings College University in which existing c19th church history research is used to inform current strategies for the Church of England as part of a Knowledge Transfer Process.

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The OU on iTunes U

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