4 What should I study?

So far in this first week of Taking your first steps into higher education, the focus has been on why you might be thinking about HE and the range of places that now provide university level opportunities. These are aspects that you should explore in more detail for yourself.

The focus of Taking your first steps into higher education is to help you make a well-informed choice about what to study. To get you thinking about this, watch the introduction video again, but this time pay particular attention to the part that introduces Weeks 4 and 5. Then come back here and watch the following short videos which include the other two authors of this course: John Butcher and Laura Hills. These videos outline some of the key features of the broad subject areas.

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John Butcher – Author

Hi there. My name’s John Butcher and I've been principally working on the arts and humanities material that you'll come across in Weeks 2 and 3. One of the approaches I've taken is to explore what it’s like to learn in the arts and humanities in higher education, to make sure that you can come to an informed decision about whether the arts are right for you.

In Week 2, we’ll be studying poetry to illustrate what it’s like to read literature at university, and we’ll be moving from personal responses to a more critical reading. And in Week 3, we’ll move onto art history, and look at some contemporary artworks from Turner Prize winners and explore the approaches taken to study in art history in higher education.

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Laura Hills - Author

Hello, my name is Laura Hills and I've been involved in developing the science, technology and maths materials for this course. The aim of this particular part of the course is to encourage you to think about any preconceptions you might have about science, technology and maths, and also to gain a better understanding of how we use these subjects in our everyday lives.

So Week 6 is about understanding what science, technology and maths are, both as subjects to study and in our everyday lives. You will also have the chance to explore some of the particular language these subjects use, to read scientific texts, and also to interpret diagrams and graphs.

Week 7 is about the role of water in our life. We rely on water to live, and the population of the world is determined by the existence of water in different parts of the world. Despite this, we tend to use water without even thinking about it, and so this week you'll be able to calculate your own water usage, and also to consider ways, including the use of technology, in which you can reduce that water consumption.

So we’ll be bringing together science, technology and maths in a way to better understand our impact on the world around us.

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A key aim of this course is to introduce the important differences, and to reflect on the overlaps, between learning in the arts, the social sciences and the sciences. So, this course will help you consider what fits best to your interests and aspirations.

Jonathan and John and Laura each outline what they see as the key features of the broad subject areas:

John, Jonathan and Laura talk about their subject areas in order to encourage you to see this as an area of study that you might be interested in. This means each subject area is presented really positively.

Once you have watched the video clips please do the following activity.