- An undergraduate course
in
Science.
Investigative and mathematical skills in science
- On this page
| Course facts | |
|---|---|
| About this course: | |
| Course code | S141 |
| Credits | 30 |
| OU Level | 1 |
| SCQF level | 7 |
| FHEQ level | 4 |
| Course work includes: | |
| 3 Tutor-marked assignments (TMAs) | |
| 1 Interactive computer-marked assignment (iCMA) | |
| End-of-module assessment | |
| No residential school | |
Designed to follow our key introductory course in science – Exploring science (S104) – this course focuses on developing your experimental, investigative and mathematical skills. You’ll gain confidence in using mathematics as a scientific tool by working through questions in a study book with worked examples. You’ll investigate weather patterns and events around the world, and develop your observational skills by studying your local weather to make your own short-term forecast. And you’ll learn key scientific skills by doing experiments at home, and working online with a small group to discuss experimental design, collect data and compare results.
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What you will study
This course has three components.
Understanding the weather concentrates on the physical processes that operate together in the atmosphere to produce various types of weather system. This will give you a better understanding of the information conveyed by weather maps. You will also learn about the ways in which meteorological data are collected and fed into the computer models that underlie weather forecasting. This will enable you to understand how the professional weather forecasts for your area have been made and how reliable they are likely to be. You will be able to apply this knowledge in making your own short-term predictions of your local weather. You will develop a range of study skills associated with retrieving and interpreting information in the form of tables, charts, maps and graphs. You will be required to undertake some small projects in which you will develop your ability to observe your local weather in a systematic way and to interpret forecasts. You will also consider some of the ways in which typical variations in the weather and extreme weather events affect a wide range of human activities.
At the same time you will be working through a Maths For Science study book in which mathematical techniques are explained. Worked examples are included, but the main emphasis is on providing examples for you to try for yourself. As you work through the questions you will be able to revise the mathematical skills you already have, as well as learning and practising new ones, and your confidence in handling maths should increase.
Finally, you will learn about designing and planning experiments. By carrying out experiments yourself and discussing both the design and the results with other students in your group, you will learn practical skills in making measurements and observations accurately. You will also learn about the process of reaching conclusions that are supported by the experimental results. You will get an opportunity to design and carry out an experiment with your group. This will help you to understand the role of hypotheses in experiments and that detailed planning is necessary for successful and safe experimentation. By working in groups you will appreciate the role of group work and discussion in science. An online interactive text, the Good Experiments Guide, provides an explanation of the different phases of designing experiments, carrying them out, analysing the results and communicating the outcomes. It is illustrated with case studies taken from the published work of professional scientists.
Entry
Level 1 courses provide core subject knowledge and study skills needed for both higher education and distance learning, to help you progress to courses at Level 2. As this course builds on the skills and knowledge developed through the study of Exploring science (S104), we strongly advise you to study S104 first, but it can be studied alongside S104 if you wish.
You should have basic mathematical skills (including drawing and interpreting graphs, and measurement and use of angles, using degrees). You should also have an understanding of basic scientific concepts. Both skill sets are covered in Exploring science.
If you have any doubt about the suitability of the course, please contact our Student Registration & Enquiry Service.
Regulations
As a student of The Open University, you should be aware of the content of the Module Regulations and the Student Regulations which are available on our Essential documents website.
If you have a disability
Written transcripts of any audio components and Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) versions of the printed study material are available. Some Adobe PDF components may not be available or fully accessible using a screen reader and mathematical and scientific materials may be particularly difficult to read in this way. The printed books (Maths for science and, Understanding the weather) are available in a comb-bound format. In addition a significant proportion of the study material is delivered online but will include printable versions of web pages for students to print off should they wish to do so. Other alternative formats of the study materials may be available in the future. Our Services for disabled students website has the latest information about availability.
Students with hearing or visual impairments may have difficulty participating in the audio conferences but should be able to participate fully in online forum discussions. Transcripts of audio-visual clips will be included in the study materials. Students with manual dexterity problems or hearing or visual impairments may need assistance to complete some experiments. Students with visual impairments may have difficulty in participating fully in some of the observational activities. For example, you need to undertake simple observations of the weather in your locality for a period of several consecutive days. Parts of the course rely heavily on coloured images, complicated maps and charts, and direct observations of the sky. One of the aims of the course is that students should develop an ability to interpret cloudscapes, weather maps, satellite images and their own observations. No textual descriptions of diagrams will be available and the use of a sighted assistant to interpret the images or describe the sky may conflict with some of the course learning outcomes. The assessment will only require students to demonstrate that the majority of course learning outcomes have been achieved. You should consider if you will find achieving these learning outcomes challenging and contact the Student Registration & Enquiry Service for advice before registering for this course.
If you have particular study requirements please tell us as soon as possible, as some of our support services may take several weeks to arrange. Visit our Services for disabled students website for more information, including:
- help to determine your study requirements and how to request the support that you need
- Disabled Students' Allowances (DSAs)
- using a computer for OU study
- equipment and other support services that we offer
- examination arrangements
- how to contact us for advice and support both before you register and while you are studying.
Study materials
What's included
A large proportion of the study materials will be delivered only online. Two printed books (Maths for science, Understanding the weather), study guide, website, online video and audio activities, other online materials including the online Good Experiments Guide, and online discussion forums for interaction with other students.
You will need
A few items of household equipment for practical work.
A basic scientific calculator. It is important that you either know how to use your calculator fully or still have its operating instructions. You should check that your calculator performs calculations in the mathematically correct order. You will learn more about this during your studies, but for now check the answer that your calculator gives to the calculation 3 + 2 × 4. The correct answer is 11. If your calculator gives the incorrect answer of 20 it does not ‘understand’ the rules and you should not use it for this course. If you should decide to buy a new scientific calculator, one of the following would be particularly suitable – a Casio fx-83GT PLUS, a Casio fx-85GT PLUS or a Sharp EL-W531 (‘Writeview’) – and should not cost more than about £10.
A webcam or digital camera is highly desirable to show images of experiments.
You will need a certain amount of space to perform some of the experiments, and for one you will need access to soil. You should be prepared to set aside several periods of up to half a day for completing some of the experiments. This course may not be suitable for you if you are unable to study regularly, need to take frequent breaks from study of five days or more, or will not have regular access to the internet.
Computing requirements
You will need a computer with internet access to study this course as it includes online activities, which you can access using a web browser.
- If you have purchased a new desktop or laptop computer since 2007 you should have no problems completing the online activities.
- If you’ve got a netbook, tablet or other mobile computing device check our Technical requirements section.
- If you use an Apple Mac you will need OS X 10.6 or later.
You can also visit the Technical requirements section for further computing information including the details of the support we provide.
Teaching and assessment
Support from your tutor
You will have a tutor who will help you with the study material, experiments and observations, who will lead online tutorials and whom you can ask for academic advice and guidance.
Contact our Student Registration & Enquiry Service if you want to know more about study with The Open University before you register.
Assessment
The assessment details for this course can be found in the facts box above – please note this may be subject to change.
You must use the online eTMA system to submit your tutor-marked assignments (TMAs) and end-of-module assessment (EMA) and you must work online to complete the interactive computer-marked assignment (iCMA).
Assessment is an essential part of the teaching, so you are expected to complete it all.
Future availability
The details given here are for the course that starts in October 2013. We expect it to be available once a year.
Students also studied
Students who studied this course also studied at some time:
How to register
To register a place on this course return to the top of the page and use the Click to register button.
Distance learning
The Open University is the world’s leading provider of flexible, high quality distance learning. Unlike other universities we are not campus based. You will study in a flexible way that works for you whether you’re at home, at work or on the move. As an OU student you’ll be supported throughout your studies – your tutor or study adviser will guide and advise you, offer detailed feedback on your assignments, and help with any study issues. Tuition might be in face-to-face groups, via online tutorials, or by phone.
For more information read Distance learning explained.
Undergraduate
| Course facts | |
|---|---|
| About this course: | |
| Course code | S141 |
| Credits | 30 |
| OU Level | 1 |
| SCQF level | 7 |
| FHEQ level | 4 |
| Course work includes: | |
| 3 Tutor-marked assignments (TMAs) | |
| 1 Interactive computer-marked assignment (iCMA) | |
| End-of-module assessment | |
| No residential school | |
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