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Taking your first steps into higher education
Taking your first steps into higher education

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Week 1: First steps

Introduction

Welcome to Week 1 of Taking your first steps into higher education. This week introduces you to the course and encourages you to think about what you might get out of it.

Watch the introductory video from the lead author Jonathan Hughes as he introduces the course and this week.

Jonathan also gives a brief introduction to the two social science weeks. You will need to return to this part of the video clip, or you could make a note of any thoughts you have about social science. You will use these in the first activity in Section 4.

Download this video clip.Video player: he1s_1_wk1_part1_640x360.mp4
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In this first week you will:

  • learn about the assumptions this course is based on
  • gain an understanding of the importance of personal expectations about university
  • consider some important questions you should ask
  • start to recognise some differences between broad subject areas.

The course draws on carefully selected material from The Open University’s Access modules [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] . Access modules and other Open University courses are different from this course in some important ways:

  • they have to be paid for (but there are fee waivers for the 30-credit Access modules, so the majority of students receive support to study Access modules for free)
  • once you have progressed beyond the 30-credit Access module, the credits can be counted towards a degree or other qualification
  • they start and finish at set times
  • study is supported by a tutor who marks your assignments.

The Open University would really appreciate a few minutes of your time to tell us about yourself and your expectations for the course before you begin, in our optional start-of-course survey. Participation will be completely confidential and we will not pass on your details to others.