Teaching assistants are an important resource in education. This unit looks at how this role has developed over time. You will also explore why this workforce is predominately female and why there is a marked under-representation of minority ethnic assistants. Finally you will explore what the...

Professor Michael Sandel, the 2009 Reith Lecturer, is one of the most influential political theorists of our time. In this short introduction to Sandel's philosophy, two prominent British political theorists, Michael Sayward of The Open University, and Matt Matravers of the University of York,...

How does music help to engage disaffected or disadvantaged young people? How can taking to the streets help build rapport with the youth community? This album is packed with positive examples of youths who've turned their lives around with the help of youth workers. At Madcap Arts they build...

Fourier analysis encompasses a vast spectrum of mathematics which is often deemed confusing and sometimes frightening to those studying it. The tracks in this album aim to de-mystify the ideas behind the Fourier series and illustrate some of the numerous applications that exist, from telephony to...

What are the key issues for sustainable resource management? How do companies operate while maintaining corporate social responsibility? From understanding the need for sustainability, and environmental auditing to learning how organisations integrate health and safety policy. This...

This unit introduces some of the main themes and issues in discourse research using Martin Bashir's famous interview with Diana, Princess of Wales as a case study. Through this it examines the role of discourse in shaping social interaction and its psychological implications for the study of...

The Severn Valley Railway is one of Britain's best known steam railways. Over much of its length, there is only a single track, with passing points at various points along the line. As with any commercial rail operation, the timetable needs to meet passenger needs and health and safety...

This is the first course in the University’s Diploma in Spanish. It extends the language skills developed in previous intermediate and introductory courses and includes a compulsory residential school in Spain. The themes of the course range from talking about the past to urbanism. The course is...

The idea that human activities could influence global climate first emerged more than a hundred years ago, when the Swedish scientist Arrhenius warned that burning coal could lead to global warming. The tracks on this album take a historical look at the systematic study of weather and climate,...

Jupiter has long been an object of wonder, with its dramatic Great Red Spot, its numerous and varied satellites and the stunning collision of the comet Shoemaker Levy 9 with the Jovian atmosphere in 1994. This unit will introduce you to our solar system's largest planet and its major satellites...

Playing badminton is like playing chess at 200 miles per hour, it requires a combination of explosive power, speed, agility and strategy. The physiological demands that badminton places on the body requires intense fitness preparation. So what training is vital to ensure high performance? In a...

This innovative album introduces one of the biggest, and most complex, of today’s environmental problems – climate change. It features the hard-hitting, "Who Will Pay", selected as a finalist in an international film competition on "Vulnerability Exposed: The Social Dimensions of Climate Change"...

Have you thought about the journey water makes to get to your taps? What processes has it undergone to make it safe to drink? The tracks in this album examine issues of water supply and treatment in the UK, where each of us uses approximately 150 litres a day! We hear from different parties...

How have discoveries in modern genetics vindicated Darwin's theories? Does the study of DNA reveal the process of evolution? And how is the modern science of genetics evolving? In this album, Sean Carroll, Professor of Molecular Biology and Genetics at the University of Wisconsin, reveals how...

How do we define being a citizen? In what ways has the idea of citizenship expanded? At a time when tumultuous world events, from Israel to India, call for a deeper understanding of the purpose and power of citizenship Dr Engin Isin, Professor of Citizenship at The Open University leads a team...

This album tackles the complex relationships social workers experience in the wide spectrum of their work, from those with families affected by social deprivation to those with judges, lawyers and other members of the legal system. The tracks analyse the role of the family in Scottish life in...

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder (COPD) is an extremely debilitating disease. For the sufferer, everyday activities become impossible - from walking to the shops, to cleaning their teeth - because they can't get enough oxygen into their lungs. The 4 video tracks on this album look at the...

Why does each musical instrument have its own unique sound? What exactly distinguishes a guitar from a fiddle? Follow the story as we find out exactly how a musical note is produced and how to create the sound of silence. This material forms part of The Open University course MU120 Open mathematics.

The adaptation of H.G. Wells’ novel ‘The War of The Worlds’ in 1938 showed the power of radio to capture listeners’ imagination through science-fiction - and in doing so demonstrated how mass media could be used to communicate science to different audiences. For decades, print and broadcast...

2009 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin and the 150th anniversary of the publication of On The Origin Of Species. This album introduces Darwin's great revelation: that species change and adapt according to their environment. Apparently diverse specimens and fossils reveal...

What happens when you bring the best of two famous brands together? What sorts of innovations can emerge, and how is a brand image created for the new product? The Smart car came about as a result of a collaboration between car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz and Swatch, the Swiss watch maker. This...

The Science Behind the Bike is a series of films that investigate how science and technology have transformed the sport of cycling. We talk to Olympic gold-medallists Chris Boardman and Rebecca Romero, and Paralympian gold-medallist Sarah Storey, take a trip to a wind tunnel, consult with Team GB...

What happens when one of the worst terrorist attacks in history strikes the densest cluster of networks on the planet? How did the largest communications provider in the United States handle the surge in demand? Despite surviving earthquakes, hurricanes and other man-made and natural disasters,...

This series of tracks concentrates on an ancient city, Thugga, and looks at the influence of the Roman Empire on the city and the existing culture. Material is taken from The Open University Course AA309 Culture, identity and power in the Roman empire.

What are cyborgs? Would a cyborg future deliver positive human advances or a Hollywood-style nightmare in which human beings have become a sub-species? Could we one day download our minds? This album gives an insight into the development of cybernetics and how it is used to fuse technology and...

Researcher Mahesh Anand of The Open University's Centre for Earth, Planetary, Space and Astronomical Research (CEPSAR) is undertaking analysis of lunar basalt collected during the moon landings of the late 1960s and 1970s. The results may provide clues into the origins of the earth. To find out...

What does the future hold for our working lives? This album explores the ways in which organisations are changing; the breaking down of traditional hierarchical structures, the increasing emphasis on self-management, customer-orientated teams, the use of technology to enable more remote working...

Within the field of social sciences the terms social construction and social constructionism are frequently used, particularly in relation to social policy. This unit will enable you to achieve a greater definition and understanding of these terms. This study unit is just one of many that can be...

What is the future for global health policy? How are the old paradigms being replaced by new ones? What are the key issues in the new globalised world? Ilona Kickbusch reviews the rapidly changing world of global health. In the past there were relatively few organisations involved and there was a...

What does the future of learning look like? For over 40 years The Open University has pushed the boundaries of teaching and learning to deliver a dynamic learning experience to people all over the world. ‘University of The Future’ shows how the OU has harnessed new and emerging technologies to...

This unit looks deeper into the entanglements of welfare, crime and society. It encourages you to think through these entanglements through a focus on ‘problem populations and problem places’. It includes treatment of the victims of Hurricane Katrina that hit the US in 2007, and also of the...

Sex scandals, divorce, alleged links to the mafia, showman, entrepreneur, and as some might describe him – the politically incorrect politician. The Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has been sworn in four times since 1994, but is Berlusconi a glimpse of political leadership of the future?...

What makes a ‘nation’ and what makes peoples strive for nationhood? This unit will provide you with an introduction to studying political ideas by looking at how people who see themselves as nations challenge the existing order to assert their right to a state of their own. This study unit is...

This album examines the revolution in scientific thinking that overthrew classical physics in favour of quantum physics. Called the crown of the twentieth century, quantum mechanics is a blueprint for how everything behaves on an atomic level. Seven video tracks presented by Robert Llewellyn...

How do you get to be one of the great operatic divas? Catherine Rogers might just have what it takes to be a famous opera singer, but she still has lots of work to do. This album gives us an insight into the immense effort it requires to become a musical performer. As well as singing, acting,...

This series of tracks introduces the basics of helicopter flight, quantum theory, special relativity, wave mechanics and particle physics, providing practical applications of physics and historical footage of Albert Einstein and Niels Bohr. Material is taken from The Open University course S207...

Is your science teaching very ‘Western-oriented’? This unit is aimed at those teachers who would like to give a more global feeling to their teaching. You will learn how to source scientific articles with a greater emphasis on science and technology beyond the Western world and experience how...

We are all likely to experience pain at some stage in our lives. But, how do you deal with constant, chronic pain? Learning to manage severe pain on a daily basis takes a phenomenal amount of mental and physical strength. The 7 video tracks in this album introduce patients and doctors at the...

Human resources consultancies have become invaluable to businesses looking for improvements and efficiencies in their operations. This unit explores the issues surrounding how you might go about selecting and using a consultant, examining the risks involved in the venture, fitting the consultant...

What are the differences between individual and minority rights? How did the League of Nations and United Nations attempt to address the topic of human rights? Right now, we define human rights as the rights to which all people are inherently entitled to as a result of being a human being. From...

What is ecological restoration? How will it change lives in the developing world? Leading Open University academics Joe Smith and Vince Gauci introduce this three part film ‘Hope in a Changing Climate’ which focuses on restoration projects in China, Ethiopia and Rwanda. Local villagers work...

How has the English language spread internationally - and is the worldwide influence of English a cause for celebration or concern? How is it changing in response to social, cultural, and technological developments? ‘Worlds of English’ investigates these notions by looking at the expansion of...

If you wonder why, when so much development action is taking place, life seems to stay so bad for so many people and you want to be involved in managing development better, this unit is for you. It is a taster of course materials from the Development Management masters programme. This study unit...

How does a large supermarket chain expand into new markets? How does it adapt to new cultural values and consumer preferences? This album tells the story of leading UK retailer Tesco, which has increasingly become an international player in markets such as South-East Asia and Eastern Europe. The...

This series of tracks looks at evidence of geological change in the field. Using examples in the UK and the USA they examine how geologists can map past activity from geological evidence. Material is taken from The Open University course S369 The geological record of environmental change.

Are you aware of the environmental impacts of the stuff you buy? Is that chair you bought made from wood from a sustainable forest, or was it illegally logged ? Or perhaps your TV set's inner parts are too difficult to recycle or cause pollution when it’s dismantled at the end of its life. All...

How does what you say come to mean something? Does what you say inherently represent what you, the speaker, think it means, whatever that might be, or does what you say carry its own meaning, separate from your intentions in saying it? This unit introduces you to the key questions about how...

This series of tracks focuses on geological phenomena, Gaia theory and volcanoes. Included is a discussion on Climate Change and whether the uplift of Tibet caused global cooling. Material is taken from The Open University Course S269 Earth and Life.

What is it like to study a distance learning course? What are the challenges of being a modern student? This Student Life is a drama following three students through their experiences on DD102. Each episode takes a look at life from the perspective of contemporary students studying social...

Energy from sources other than fossil and nuclear fuels is to a large extent free of the concerns about environmental effects and renewability that characterise those two sources. Each alternative source supplies energy continually, whether or not we use it. This unit considers one of these...