Free courses
Produced by The Open University, a world leader in open and distance learning, all OpenLearn courses are free to study. We offer nearly 1000 free courses across 9 different subject areas. Our courses are available to start right away.
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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 ...
Science, Maths & Technology
Personal development planning for engineering
This free course, Personal development planning for engineering, has been written in keeping with the requirements of UK-SPEC and the professional engineering institutions (e.g. ImechE, IET etc). It will provide you with a range of relevant information and guidance in critically assessing and scrutinising your career development aspirations.
Science, Maths & Technology
Squares, roots and powers
From paving your patio to measuring the ingredients for your latest recipe, squares, roots and powers really are part of everyday life. This free course reviews the basics of all three and also describes scientific notation, which is a convenient way of writing or displaying large numbers.
Health, Sports & Psychology
Forensic science and fingerprints
This free course, Forensic science and fingerprints, covers how science can make fingerprints easier to study, how they are used in court and some of the questions about the extent to which fingerprint identification is sound and scientific. Students will learn the principles used in classifying and matching fingerprints (often called marks).
Science, Maths & Technology
Practising science: Reading the rocks and ecology
Have you ever wondered how scientists analyse the environment? This free course, Practising science: Reading the rocks and ecology, introduces you to the techniques used by science students at residential schools. You will learn how to determine where rocks have come from and how they were made. You will also examine the processes involved in ...
Science, Maths & Technology
Cell signalling
This free course, Cell signalling, explains the general principles of signal transduction and specifically, how even the simplest organisms can detect and respond to events in their ever-changing environment.
Science, Maths & Technology
Approaches to software development
This free course, Approaches to software development, presents an engineering approach to the development of software systems – a software engineering approach. The course pays particular attention to issues of software quality, in terms of both product (what is built) and process (how we build it).
Science, Maths & Technology
Group theory
This free course consolidates and builds on group theory studied at OU level 2 or equivalent. Section 1 describes how to construct a group called the direct product of two given groups, and then describes certain conditions under which a group can be regarded as the direct product of its subgroups. Section 2 describes the key properties of the ...
Science, Maths & Technology
What is the genome made of?
Genomes are composed of DNA, and a knowledge of the structure of DNA is essential to understand how it can function as hereditary material. DNA is remarkable, breathtakingly simple in its structure yet capable of directing all the living processes in a cell, the production of new cells and the development of a fertilized egg to an individual ...
Science, Maths & Technology
Introduction to number theory
This free course, Introduction to number theory, is a branch of mathematics concerned with the properties of integers. Section 1 introduces Euclid’s algorithm, which is used to find the HCF of two integers, and the idea of congruences, mathematical statements used to compare remainders when two integers are each divided by another integer. ...
Science, Maths & Technology
The search for water on Mars
The possibility of water on Mars has captured human imagination for over a century. In this free course, The Search for Water on Mars, find out more about how scientists have found evidence for water in the red planet’s past and present, and what this might mean for the possibility of life beyond Earth.
Science, Maths & Technology
Introduction to analysis
This free course is an introduction to analysis which looks at real numbers and their properties, with a particular emphasis on inequalities. Section 1 starts by revising rational numbers and their decimal representations. Then, real numbers are introduced as infinite decimals. Section 2 looks at rules for manipulating inequalities and finding ...