The UK Open University

The undergraduate students of the UK's Open University are nearly all studying part-time at home through distance learning, with about 70 per cent in employment. For most courses, no previous qualifications are required and there is no upper age limit to study. Students are adults who study for personal as well as career-related reasons, and most combine their studies with work, family and other commitments.

OU courses (self-contained modules) are planned and produced by teams of academics, educational media designers and editors working at the OU headquarters in Milton Keynes. Courses use a range of media from print to web-based e-learning and are designed to function both as standalone entities and as components of programs leading to awards. Undergraduate courses are offered at levels 1, 2 and 3, corresponding approximately to first, second and third year study at a conventional UK university. Students choose their own pathways through the available courses to accumulate credit towards OU awards (certificates, diplomas and degrees) to suit their needs. The structure is fundamentally open and flexible; students need no formal qualifications to register for a course and have considerable autonomy over what is studied and when it is studied. This openness is a central feature of the OU's educational philosophy.

To support its students the OU has thirteen Regional Centres throughout the UK and a network of coordinators in many countries in the European Union. Regional Centres organize tutorial and other support for students in their geographical area. Staff tutors (full time regional academic staff) appoint part-time tutors, called associate lecturers (ALs), in their regions to support the OU's teaching. There are now over 7000 ALs tutoring over 600 courses produced by the University's faculties of Arts, Social Science, Education and Language Studies, Health and Social Care, Science, Mathematics and Computing, Technology, and the OU Business School.

Students taking a course are assigned to an associate lecturer who will have a group of up to 20 students. Depending on the course and the geographical distribution of the students, ALs provide face-to-face tutorials and day schools, telephone tuition, and on-line support via email or conferencing. The AL will also mark the assignments (known as tutor-marked assignments, or TMAs) of the students in their group and give feedback on performance. In some courses, students also complete computer-marked assignments (multiple-choice questions known as CMAs).

TMAs and CMAs are continuous assessment components of a course, and provide opportunities for both formative feedback and summative grading. To gain credit for their course students also complete an 'examinable component' which may be a conventional examination¹ or, increasingly, a portfolio, report or extended essay. This may be marked by the student's tutor but it will also be marked independently, usually by another tutor randomly selected from the tutors on that course.

The assessment strategy, the continuous assessment tasks (TMAs and CMAs) and the examinable components associated with a course are designed and written (and renewed each time the course is presented - which may be once, twice or several times a year) by the central course team. The course team also provides advice and guidance to help students prepare for and tackle the assessment, as well as providing marking guidance to support the ALs in grading and giving feedback on their students' work.

¹ Held at local centres to minimize travelling distances for students - but which may be specially arranged to take place anywhere under appropriate invigilated conditions if, for example, the student is disabled, posted away from the UK as a member of the armed forces or, as in a few cases, in prison.

اخر الاخبار

اخبار العتبة العباسية المقدسة

متحف الكفيل يباشر صيانة منسوجات تراثية تابعة للعتبة العسكرية المقدسة

العتبة العباسية المقدسة تستذكر مظلومية الإمام الكاظم (عليه السلام) عبر مجلس عزاء

قسم العلاقات العامة يناقش مع منتدى شباب الإسكان إقامة مهرجان تكريم طالبات المدارس المرتديات العباءة في القادسية

سماحة السيد الصافي يدعو إلى توحيد الجهود في تحقيق التراث لضمان الرصانة والدقة وخدمة الساحة العلمية

المزيد

الآخبار الصحية

6 فواكة تساعدك على الشعور بتحسّن عند المرض

حفاظا على صحة العين.. هذا أفضل وقت لتناول فيتامين أ

الاستخدام اليومي لسماعات الأذن.. أخطر مما تتصور !

هل توقيت نشاطك اليومي يؤثر على صحة دماغك؟.. العلماء يجيبون

المزيد

الآخبار التكنلوجية

ابتكار ألماني قد يغيّر مستقبل صناعة البلاستيك

تحديثات وأرباح عبر المشاهدات.. ما الذي تخطط له "لينكد إن"؟

"الكوكايين الوردي".. مخدر جديد يثير قلق السلطات الأميركية

دراسة: تغيّرات في أسلوب القيادة قد تكشف مبكرا عن الخرف !

المزيد

مواضيع ذات صلة

Parents with Learning Disabilities CONCLUSION

PROVISION OF SUPPORT

CARING FOR CHILDREN

EUGENICS AND ETHICAL ISSUES

PARENTING

DISCRIMINATION AND DIVERSITY

THE HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

Parents with Learning Disabilities

Legislation and Learning Disabilities CONCLUSION

LEGAL SAFEGUARDS

MENTAL CAPACITY ACT 2005

THE HUMAN RIGHTS ACT 1998