Sample course materials

Introduction
Whichever subject you choose to study, there will be new vocabulary to learn and a range of text types (e.g. reports, essays, research articles) to work with. 
In this activity you will
•	read a sample extract from OU Level 1 course materials
•	identify the main points in a short summary of your own.
You can repeat the activity with as many samples as you wish; each sample may take you about 30 to 45 minutes to complete.
Select a study area that interests you and print out the sample piece of writing associated with it.  Then work through the questions to find out how well you have understood the material. 

Questions
For each piece of writing, consider these questions: 
Which of these sentences best summarises your experience of reading the extract?
a)	I could understand the text quite well without the use of a dictionary and was able to pick out the main ideas.
b)	Although I could follow the main ideas of the text, there were many words and phrases that I could not understand.
c)	I could not really understand the text and found it difficult to identify the main points.
How many times did you have to read the material to understand most of it?
a)	Once
b)	Two or three times
c)	More than three times

If you found it difficult to understand, what gave you problems? You may select more than one option. If you had no major problems, simply select the final option.
a)	There were many specialised words and phrases whose meanings I didn’t understand.
b)	I am not familiar enough with English grammar to work out the structure of some of the sentences.
c)	I could understand individual words in a sentence but was unable to get the meaning of a whole sentence.
d)	The style of writing was so different from day-to-day English that I found it difficult to understand what it meant
e)	I do not have the cultural background to understand what the text was referring to.
f)	I had no major problems in understanding this extract. 
Your summary
Now try to summarise the main ideas of the extract in a few key words or sentences.  Once you’ve submitted your answer, you’ll be able to compare it with a sample summary we have already prepared for this extract. 

Sample summaries
These are the sample summaries for each of the subject areas:
Arts and Humanities
What is poetry?
•	A writer develops the form of a poem from the example of other poets and an exploration of known techniques.
•	The form can be traditional (e.g. a sonnet) or free verse.
•	Free verse may create its own rules to establish rhythm and meaning.
•	Traditional poetry may also break existing rules.
•	We write by imitating others until we find our own voice.
With each new poem, a poet explores how form relates to content.

Business and Management
Businesses have obvious ‘high-level’ symbols (e.g. buildings or logos) or more subtle ‘low-level’ ones, including
•	practices: in-house events such as office parties or award ceremonies
•	communications:stories or slogans that summarise an organisation’s culture and values  
•	physical forms: design of work and leisure spaces
•	a common language:short-hand jargon used by employees.

Education
•	‘Successful’ or ‘effective’ schools not only achieve exam success but develop children into socially responsible individuals.
•	Sammons et al (1994) identified key factors for success, highlighting 
o	focused, flexible teaching, to make best use of learning time 
o	pupils with high aspirations in an engaging and orderly learning environment
o	positive feedback and effective monitoring of progress.
•	Successful schools also rely on a wider range of stakeholders, including 
o	administrative, site management and support staff
o	volunteers and employed staff involved in pastoral care
o	the school’s governing body
o	agencies such as healthcare or multi-faith organisations. 
Health and Lifestyle
Social sciences
Much of social work is rooted in
•	sociology  (study of societies)
•	psychology  (study of human mind and behaviour)
•	social policy (study of tax benefits and service provision).
Law
Social work practice is bound by law.
•	Specific legislation defines a social workers’ role, especially their duties (what they must do) and powers (what they are allowed to do). 
•	Supporting official guidance spells out what this means in practice.
Find out how the law affects your own practice and setting.  

IT and computing
•	Many companies use loyalty cards (offering discounts, vouchers or other rewards) to persuade customers to continue buying products or services.
•	When you apply for a loyalty card, may need to supply contact details plus other information linked to your purchasing power (e.g. your salary range).
•	Your loyalty card is swiped through a reader for every purchase, and gives information on your buying habits, which can influence how companies market and present products.

Mathematics and Statistics
Understanding the question
•	Read the question and understand what you are being asked to do.  Instructions like ‘find’, ‘show’, ‘write down’ and ‘determine’ have a precise meaning. 
•	Check how many marks are associated with a question. The higher the number, the more detailed your answer needs to be.
•	In a calculation, show your working because even if your final answer is wrong, you can still gain marks for using a correct method.

Science and Nature
Ecological health
•	Studying ecosystems and their relationships is vital because 
o	understanding the biosphere emphasises wonder of nature
o	knowledge of ecosystems is vital to preserving and sustaining them.    
•	We are unique in our ability to adapt to and alter our environment through 
o	use of biological resources e.g. hunting, fishing
o	use of physical resources e.g. rock quarrying
o	use of energy resources e.g.  burning fossil fuels such coal, oil
o	creation of artificial ecosystems e.g. towns, cities, farmlands.    
•	As the human population increases, so will its demands on the environment. 
•	Need to understand impact of our activities on ecosystems and their relationships in order to manage and protect them.

Society
The development of gender identity
•	Children develop a sense of gender by grouping activities, people and objects into gender categories.
•	This process is part of a search for certainty, and refined as they grow older.
•	Four key questions 
o	When do children start behaving as though they use gender categories?
o	When do they begin to group people into gender categories?
o	How do their gender categories differ from those of adults?
o	As children mature, how do these gender identities change?   
•	Children as young as two choose toys generally considered appropriate to their gender. By the age of three or four, can group toys as suitable for boys or girls, and choose accordingly.

Technology
A product design specification checklist
Anything that might affect the design of a product should be included in its specification, such as
•	Nature of product 
o	performance
o	visual impact and ease of use
o	quality and safety
o	target cost.
•	Market factors 
o	target customer
o	competing products.
•	Manufacturing issues 
o	materials
o	package and distribution
o	environment during manufacture, storage and use.
•	Copyright and branding 
o	patent issues
o	consistency with company brand.

Points to consider
You should have been able to read and understand the Level 1 course materials in the subject area you chose. If you had any difficulties with reading and understanding, think about whether it was due to
•	the grammar and structure of individual sentences
•	the style of the writing
•	the use of specialised vocabulary.
You may wish to compare the notes you made for the extract with the sample summary provided in the activity. This will give you an indication of how well you grasped the main points of the extract. Are there key ideas that you left out? Is there anything you misunderstood?