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level 1: introductory icon
Science, Maths & Technology
Design thinking
Are you ever frustrated with something that you thought you could design better? This free course, Design thinking, will show you how to structure your natural creativity to come up with solutions to all kinds of problems, and have fun in the process too!
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level 3: advanced icon
Science, Maths & Technology
General principles of cellular communication
Learn about how cells sense and respond to extrinsic stimuli, a capacity that allows them to communicate with each other and to respond to changes in their environment. This free course, General principles of cellular communication, explains cell signalling pathways in general terms and identifies some of the universal characteristics of ...
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level 1: introductory icon
Science, Maths & Technology
Galaxies, stars and planets
This free course, Galaxies, stars and planets, is a general introduction, including scale of the universe from the very large to the very small; orbits and gravity; the Solar System; the Sun and other stars; galaxies and the composition of astronomical objects.
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level 1: introductory icon
Science, Maths & Technology
Exploring data: Graphs and numerical summaries
This free course, Exploring data: graphs and numerical summaries, will introduce you to a number of ways of representing data graphically and of summarising data numerically. You will learn the uses for pie charts, bar charts, histograms and scatterplots. You will also be introduced to various ways of summarising data and methods for assessing ...
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level 1: introductory icon
History & The Arts
Forth Road Bridge
Scotland's Forth Road Bridge may not be the most beautiful bridge over the Firth of Forth, but it is an incredible feat of engineering and is integral to the economy of the entire area. However, rust is threatening to destroy the cables that suspend the road. This free course uses video to explore the issues associated with the potential demise ...
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Science, Maths & Technology
Science for everyone as £1m pledge supports new Open University courses
People from all walks of life with an interest in science have been able to access a range of new courses by The Open University completely free of charge, thanks to a pledge in 2013 of more than £1m from Dangoor Education, the educational arm of The Exilarch’s Foundation.
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level 1: introductory icon
Science, Maths & Technology
Diagrams, charts and graphs
Diagrams, charts and graphs are used by all sorts of people to express information in a visual way, whether it's in a report by a colleague or a plan from your interior designer. This free course will teach you how to interpret these tools and how to use them yourself to convey information more effectively.
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level 1: introductory icon
Science, Maths & Technology
Design
This free course looks at the process of design, from assessing the complexity of design as an activity to exposing the difficulty in making general conclusions about how designers work. You will be able to identify innovation in a wide variety of designed objects and evaluate the impact of this innovation.
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level 1: introductory icon
Science, Maths & Technology
Basic science: understanding numbers
This free course, Basic science: understanding numbers, explains how you can use numbers to describe the natural world and make sense of everything from atoms to oceans.
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level 2: intermediate icon
Science, Maths & Technology
Bayesian statistics
This free course is an introduction to Bayesian statistics. Section 1 discusses several ways of estimating probabilities. Section 2 reviews ideas of conditional probabilities and introduces Bayes’ theorem and its use in updating beliefs about a proposition, when data are observed, or information becomes available. Section 3 introduces the main ...
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level 1: introductory icon
Science, Maths & Technology
Assessing risk in engineering, work and life
Risk is something that must be taken into account at all times when practising as an engineer. We accept risk as part of everyday life so there is a need to balance the risks of an activity against the benefits that it brings. This free course, Assessing risk in engineering, work and life, investigates how we can manage risks at work, in the ...
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level 2: intermediate icon
Science, Maths & Technology
Babylonian mathematics
This free course looks at Babylonian mathematics. You will learn how a series of discoveries has enabled historians to decipher stone tablets and study the various techniques the Babylonians used for problem-solving and teaching. The Babylonian problem-solving skills have been described as remarkable and scribes of the time received a training ...