The University of Warwick is a public research university in Coventry, England. It was founded in 1965 as part of a government initiative to expand access to higher education.
##This free online course will explore the complex web of supply chains that bring goods or services to you.Take, for example, eating your cereal in the morning. The cereal and milk have gone through a seamless chain of processes to get from the field to your kitchen table. The bowl and spoon also had to be manufactured from raw materials and retailed to you. Did you go to a shop to buy these things, or did you have them delivered?This course is aimed at everyone who has an interest in finding out more about supply chains and their management. No prior knowledge about supply chains is required and we recommend you spend between 2 to 4 hours per week on the course materials.It will provide insight to those whose roles may not be directly involved in the supply chain, but wish to see how their role interacts. It will also benefit those currently working within one part of a supply chain, who wish to understand the broader supply chain context.
Get a headstart in the world of teaching with this introductory courseThe PGCE is a Postgraduate Certificate in Education that proves your credentials as a teacher in England, and can also allow you to teach abroad.As a potentially important qualification to gain, preparing yourself to study for it is important. On this course, you’ll examine the academic literature around what teaching and learning in schools look like.Based upon the University of Warwick’s successful PGCE programme, you’ll learn observational teaching skills – along with key legal knowledge – that will stand you in great stead for the PGCE to come.This course is aimed at anyone who has accepted a place on an English PGCE course or is preparing for a teaching career in higher or further education
Explore the forces shaping human behaviourWe are often told that our minds are shaped by ‘deep’ factors – subconscious motives or hidden beliefs that can be uncovered through therapy, lab experiments, or brain scanning.While not entirely incorrect, the brain also improvises – inventing these motives at the moment of decision. Understanding this could help make the world a better place.On this course, you’ll explore why we take risks, and why we fear them. You’ll learn from top behavioural experts in numerous fields about how our minds are ‘flatter’ than we think, uncovering the influence of marketing and peer behaviour in the process.Now an award-winning book: The Mind is Flat: The Illusion of Mental Depth and The Improvised Mind (Winner, American Association of Publishers PROSE award for best book in Clinical Psychology, 2019).No special knowledge or previous experience of studying is required.
William Shakespeare is one of the most famous authors of all time. 2016 marked the 400th anniversary of his death, his words have inspired and moved people from around the globe for centuries.How much do we know about Shakespeare’s cultural background and influences and why his works have endured? To get a real sense of how the Bard’s world would have actually looked and felt, renowned Shakespearean academic Professor Jonathan Bate will be exploring the acclaimed collections of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. Professor Bate is also the Lead Educator, with Dr Paula Byrne, on the new Literature and Mental Health: Reading for Wellbeing FutureLearn course from Warwick.Each week, Professor Bate will examine a particular play and a cultural theme alongside a selection of treasures from the Trust’s archives in Stratford-upon-Avon. Weekly learning material will be broken down into six video segments, each examining a variety of artefacts and play extracts. The course will open with an introduction to Shakespeare and his living and working environment, moving onto broader cultural themes and issues examined in his plays and ending with an exploration of his legacy.This course is the result of an exciting new collaboration between the University of Warwick and the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, the world’s leading charity in promoting the works, life and times of William Shakespeare. The course will provide unprecedented access to the Trust’s fascinating historical collections of museum, library and archive items. You will have the chance to look inside the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust vaults where thousands of artefacts are kept. The course will also take you into some of the key locations associated with Shakespeare which are looked after by the Trust, including the house where he was born and grew up.This is a great opportunity to engage with a topic that has captivated people for centuries, learn from a world expert in the field and enjoy exclusive access to behind-the-scenes historical material.Success and Feedback from the courseOver 55,000 learners from across the world have previously joined Jonathan Bate and the teams from the University of Warwick and the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust to explore Shakespeare, his plays, and the world in which he lived. Below are some examples of the impact the course had:“This has been an enlightening and thoroughly enjoyable course. Thanks to everyone involved in bringing it to new learners, and special thanks to Jonathan for bringing alive the course materials - your passion and knowledge of your subject was infectious. I’d like to do it all over again.” Natalie Gillett“Thank you, thank you, thank you! I loved this course because not only did I learn so much about Shakespeare, but also because I enjoyed learning, reading, investigating and getting to know so much people around the world with the same interest, with so much knowledge and passion about the Bard. I admire each of the people who make this course possible, I thank them to make it possible for people around the globe. It was a wonderful experience. THANK YOU!” Paula Mascheroni“This has been a marvellous course, I am so sorry that it has to end. I have learned an enormous amount and can look at Shakespeare’s plays with a much more inquiring mind than before. It is not enough just to read theme, you need to research the background too. Thank you Professor Bate and Jennifer for making the course so alive and interesting.” Caroline GrahamThis course is aimed at anyone with an interest in Shakespeare; you might be a high school student or a university student, or a regular play-goer who wishes to learn more about Shakespeare. No prior knowledge of Shakespeare life, theatre and world is assumed: that is what you will learn from the course. The only pre-requisite is a willingness to read and watch the plays.
##Good organisational leadership can be key to influencing positive strategic outcomes, driving improvement and innovation across organisations.On this course, you’ll learn about the general concept of leadership, going on to explore practical examples of innovative management across a range of healthcare settings.You’ll examine real-life case studies of improvement and innovation projects drawn from a global context – including the UK, North America, Australia and Africa – to better understand patient and public leadership, as well as the need for great healthcare leadership on the front line.This course would appeal to anyone with an interest in healthcare improvement. You do not have to work in healthcare, merely have an interest in how innovation can be encouraged in the sector.If you have experience of healthcare (either as a professional or as a service user) you will have the opportunity to share your own knowledge with others as the course progresses.
##The great 18th century writer Dr Samuel Johnson, who suffered from severe bouts of depression, said “the only end of writing is to enable the reader better to enjoy life or better to endure it.”Taking Johnson’s phrase as a starting point, this course considers how poems, plays and novels can help us understand and cope with times of deep emotional strain.Along the way, you’ll hear from doctors, who offer a medical perspective, and from people who have turned to literature at moments of crisis, including such well-known figures as Melvyn Bragg, Mark Haddon, Sir Ian McKellen and Stephen Fry.This course is open to anyone with an interest in literature or mental health. No previous experience or qualifications are required. The reading load will be flexible, and you will have the opportunity to exchange ideas and feelings via the online discussions with other learners.
What influences a child’s developing mind from conception through infancy?We will take you on a journey that begins in pregnancy, exploring the importance of the ability of the mother-to-be to think about her baby while still in utero, alongside the impact on the unborn baby of mental states such as anxiety and depression.We will then explore what the research tells us about the way in which the parent’s emotional and cognitive mind, can shape the interactional context of the baby during the first two years of life, and the impact of this interaction on the baby’s developing mind.This online course is aimed at everyone who has an interest in promoting the well-being of their own baby, or the parents and babies they work with. You do not need any prior knowledge of infant or child development, just a desire to learn about parents and babies, and the way that early interaction shapes later development. The course is based on the latest research in the field and you will be introduced to key concepts relating to infant psychology and attachment.Throughout, we’ll seek to answer questions such as:How does a parent’s mind influence the development of a baby before he or she is born?What processes take place in the post-natal period that influence the baby’s developing mind?What can we do during pregnancy and the post-natal period to support parents who are experiencing difficulties?You will get the chance to hear from expert academics and clinicians working in infant mental health, and share your views with other parents and caregivers around the world.
Unlock the data driven power of networked computer systems and smart cards.Everything we do generates data, from shopping at the supermarket, riding on public transport, to phoning a friend. This data is opening up a new era for our understanding of human behaviour, policy making and business processes which depend upon this understanding. Research shows how data can give us insight into the risk of an upcoming stock market crash; decrease delays in measuring the spread of illness; or even allow us to predict where crimes may occur. You will gain an overview of the state of the art in big data research across a range of domains, including economics, crime and health.The course is designed to be accessible to all.To participate in the exercises that start in Week 2 you will need to install the free software ‘R’ and ‘RStudio’. Practical skills are taught via video in a walkthrough fashion, with both video tutorial and written instructions describing and demonstrating the simple steps learners should follow. Learners will also need to make sure they have a (free) Google account to access and download raw data. These exercises are not a requirement of the course, but will provide you with knowledge needed for the tests.
Learn to use the open development tool, App Inventor, to program on Android devices. You will learn how to design and build mobile apps -- apps that are aware of their location, send and receive text messages, and give advice and directions. The only limit on the types of apps you will learn to build is your own imagination!However, computer science is not just about coding and building apps. We will also learn some of the fundamental principles of computer science. We'll learn about the potential and the limitations of computing and coding. We'll learn how the Internet works and about the positive and negative aspects of computing in today's society, and much more!For these broader computing concepts we will work within an emerging curricular framework -- the Computer Science Principles (CSP). The CSP framework is being developed by leading computer science educators from around the country under the auspices of the College Board and with funding support of the National Science Foundation.In addition to programming and CSP the course is project-based and emphasizes writing, communication, and creativity. Multiple-choice questions, in the style that students can expect to encounter on the AP exam, will also be a key component of this course.