This course explores how individual needs for safety and security, for stable forms of attachment and for orderly and predictable behaviour are, and sometimes fail to be, met by the social worlds in which they live.
topThis course is suitable for students who have recent experience of higher education in a related subject area (this could include sociology, media studies, social policy, geography, history, psychology, business studies or law), preferably within the Open University. It is a third level course and students therefore should already have completed 60 points at Level 1 and 120 points at Level 2. The skills you need include understanding and using abstract ideas, reading, extracting and developing your own arguments. The course focuses on further developing your skills to build transferable independent research skills. Accordingly the course features information handling and presentation skills assessment and a 3000 word independent desk based project assignment in place of an examination.
topThe Course Guide introduces the content, themes and concerns of the course; explains why the course is structured in the way that it is; describes and sets out the function of the various course materials including the course companion, the DVD, the course books, the audio CDs and the VLE (virtual learning environment).
Please note – a number of images have been removed from this document whilst copyright clearance for them is obtained.
This sample study calendar shows how the workload for this course is organised, the range of course materials and the deadlines for the assignments.
“What Makes Social Worlds Work?”
(Quicktime format, 2.23Mb)
Extract from Block 1 Passports: Registering the Individual: getting to the airport
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Extract from Block 1 Passports: Registering the Individual: the South African Passbook System
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Once you have registered on a course you will have access to Learning with the OU at www.open.ac.uk/learning. This link provides information on topics such as getting started, study strategies, personal and career development, planning studies and moving on.
