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Science, Maths & Technology
Mastering systems thinking in practice
This free course, Mastering systems thinking in practice, provides a primer for someone wanting to take the postgraduate qualifications in Systems Thinking in Practice. It will help you develop new ways of thinking about and approaching situations that cross multiple discipline and skill boundaries. You will learn to think more holistically about complex and messy situations, understanding the roles other people play, taking account of the interconnectedness of all the components making up the problem situation and working more collaboratively
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Science, Maths & Technology
Astronomy with an online telescope
This free course shows you how to navigate the night sky, and introduces the wide variety of objects it contains. You will develop a hands-on understanding of telescopic observations using the Open University’s own robotic telescope facility COAST sited on the island of Tenerife. Supported by your own measurements we illustrate how stars evolve, and study variable stars. For those new to astronomy and/or the use of robotic telescopes this course provides a practical introduction and will prepare you for further OU study where remotely operable telescopes feature.
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Science, Maths & Technology
Kinematics of fluids
This free course examines the basic kinematics of two-dimensional fluid flows. Section 1 introduces the differential equations for pathlines and streamlines. Section 2 introduces a scalar field, called the stream function, which for an incompressible fluid provides an alternative method of modelling the flow and finding the streamlines. Sections 2 and 3 derive the stream functions for several simple two-dimensional flow types (the uniform flow, source, doublet and vortex), and suitable combinations of these are used to model more complicated flows. Section 4 introduces the idea of differentiation following the motion, and Euler’s equation is developed in Section 5.
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Science, Maths & Technology
Models and modelling
Models are mechanisms for communication. This free course, Models and modelling, looks at what a model is and what the process of modelling is about. The techniques discussed here are applicable to a wide range of systems and have one thing in common: they are all commonly used diagramming techniques. The five techniques are: data flow diagrams, use case modelling, activity diagrams, entityrelationship diagrams and state machines.
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Science, Maths & Technology
Dynamics
This free course is concerned with moving objects, that is, dynamics. Section 1 introduces concepts like position, velocity and acceleration, which describe the way an object moves. Section 2 discusses Newton’s laws of motion, which predict the motion of an object when the forces acting on it are known. Section 3 shows how Newton’s second law of motion can be used to predict the motion of objects. Section 4 concerns modelling some of the forces that occur in nature, which enables more realistic situations to be analysed. Section 5 looks at motion in more than one dimension.
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Science, Maths & Technology
Exploring depression
This free advanced level course, Exploring depression, serves as an introduction to masters level study in neurosciences and mental health. Focusing on depression, you will consider key issues concerning diagnosis, causes and interventions. You will also begin to explore theoretical models, biological and psychological explanations, and look at a range of pharmacological and psychological therapies for depression.
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Science, Maths & Technology
Exploring the relationship between anxiety and depression
This free advanced level course, Exploring the relationship between anxiety and depression, serves as an introduction to masters level study in neurosciences and mental health. Focusing on anxiety and depression, you will consider key issues concerning diagnosis, causes and interventions, exploring how these conditions relate to each other. You will also explore some of the more contemporary and controversial findings within the field.
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Science, Maths & Technology
Assessing contemporary science
Effective communication is essential in science, but do you ever wonder whether articles written about science in the news are thorough, unambiguous and objective? Rigorous assessment is at the heart of good science. This free course, Assessing contemporary science, will introduce methods of examining reports and reaching the ‘science behind the news’.It will explore the ways in which scientific knowledge develops, undergoes peer review and is communicated. The second half of the course will focus more closely on a specific scientific topic – plastics – and give you a chance to practise these skills by considering the topic's social impact, building a glossary of unfamiliar terms, and evaluating relevant information sources.
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Science, Maths & Technology
Medical statistics
This free course is concerned with some of the statistical methods used in epidemiology and more widely in medical statistics. Section 1 introduces cohort studies in which individuals are classified according to their exposure and followed forward in time to evaluate disease outcomes. Section 2 looks at models for cohort studies. Section 3 introduces case-control studies in which individuals are selected according to their disease status and past exposures are then ascertained. Section 4 covers testing for no association in cohort studies and case-control studies.
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Science, Maths & Technology
Manufacturing
How are designs turned into products? What resources, materials and methods are used and what set of activities goes under the heading of 'manufacturing'? This free course will introduce manufacturing as a system and will describe some of the many different ways of making products. We will illustrate how the required properties of the materials in a product influence the choice of manufacturing process used.
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Science, Maths & Technology
Learning, thinking and doing
How do we learn? Understanding how is the key to learning more effectively. This free course, Learning, thinking and doing, looks at the three main categories of theories: the acquisitive, constructivist and experiential models of learning. There is no right way to learn but developing an active approach will ensure that you are open to new ideas.
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Science, Maths & Technology
Living with diabetes
Living with diabetes is a free course that introduces the parts of the body and processes involved in the development of diabetes.