Expand+How To Register?
Students can provisionally register and book their Open Learning module on our website (www.ucd.ie/all/study/openlearning), over the phone (01 716 7123) or in person, at the UCD Access and Lifelong Learning Centre.

Provisional ...

Hide-How To Register?
Students can provisionally register and book their Open Learning module on our website (www.ucd.ie/all/study/openlearning), over the phone (01 716 7123) or in person, at the UCD Access and Lifelong Learning Centre.

Provisional registration for 2017-18 will open on Tuesday 8th August 2017.

Registering for Semester 2:
Our dedicated Semester II brochure will be released in early December. You can also find more details of our Semester 2 modules on our website. Provisional registration for Semester 2 will open from Tuesday 8th August 2017.

Confirming Your Registration?
Your registration will be provisional until you confirm it online. After you’ve booked and paid for your module you will receive an email. Please read this email carefully as it will:

• confirm your student number

• tell you how to confirm your registration by logging into the UCD system (UCD Connect)

• give you information on how to upload your photo and get your student card It’s important to confirm your registration, otherwise you can’t collect your student card, see your timetable or access your exam results.

Expand+Open Learning Fee (audit only) €350 per module

Open Learning Fee (with assessment) €500 per 5 credit module

Upgrading from audit to credit
You may upgrade from being an audit student to a credit student up to three weeks into term. Please not...

Hide-Open Learning Fee (audit only) €350 per module

Open Learning Fee (with assessment) €500 per 5 credit module

Upgrading from audit to credit
You may upgrade from being an audit student to a credit student up to three weeks into term. Please note, however, that you can't change back to being an audit student - if you decide not to complete the assignments and/or sit the exams, this will appear on your academic record.

Concessions
There are no concessions available for Open Learning modules.

Refunds
Refunds may in some instances be available for extenuating circumstances, such as serious illness, within two weeks of the start of the module. Requests for refunds must be submitted in writing, with supporting documents where appropriate.

Expand+Open Learning at UCD
UCD Open Learning is an innovative and unique approach to part-time study in UCD. You can choose from a wide range of undergraduate modules for either audit or credit. There are no entry requirements to the programme - you just...

Hide-Open Learning at UCD
UCD Open Learning is an innovative and unique approach to part-time study in UCD. You can choose from a wide range of undergraduate modules for either audit or credit. There are no entry requirements to the programme - you just need to find a module or modules that interest you and register!

What Level is my Module? What Does This Mean?
Each module is assigned a level. We recommend that you begin Open Learning with level 1 modules. The levels represent academic progression, with the higher levels assuming that you have already mastered the key concepts and skills required for academic writing and critical reflection.

Guidance
Before registering for a module, please take the time to read the module descriptor and if you’ve any further questions, please get in touch with us.

Credit Option
If you opt to take a module for credit, this means that you’ve committed to participating in the module and taking the assessment. Every module that is successfully completed is worth 5 credits towards your award. Upon successful completion of your module(s), you can access your Academic Transcript online via SISWeb, free of charge.

Audit Option
Alternatively, you can choose to take a module for audit, which allows you to fully participate in the modules without taking any assessments. As an audit student you will not receive any credits or qualifications as you will not sit any assessments.

Upgrading to Credit
If you are unsure about whether you want to take a module for credit, we’d encourage you to first register for audit. You will have three weeks from the start of the semester to upgrade to credit. Remember to choose wisely, as it isn’t possible to apply for a partial refund of fees if you change your mind. Students who have taken modules for credit cite a number of reasons for doing this:

• Motivated to earn credits for their learning

• Have a preference for the structures and deadlines imposed when taking a course for credit

• Consider that they learn more when they are required to complete assignments and study

• Like the idea that they have the potential to add to their accredited modules in the future

Duration of Module / Missing Classes
UCD modules are typically 12 weeks, however, there can be some exceptions to this. We’d recommend that you review the module descriptor for your chosen module to ensure that you know how many contact hours are involved. Unfortunately classes may be cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances, it is at the discretion of the lecturer as to whether they offer a replacement class. Class cancellations are often announced on Blackboard, so it’s important to check this on a regular basis.

Tutorials / Practicals
Some modules will have tutorials, labs or practicals, which Open Learning students can also attend. If your chosen module offers one of these options, we’ll contact you and help you select the most appropriate option for you. They usually commence in Week 2 or 3 of term.

Awards Structure
You can opt to take any combination of modules towards an award. In September 2016, ALL introduced two new awards for Open Learning – the Certificate in Open Learning (30 ECT) and the Diploma in Open Learning (60 ECT). These are designed for students who are interested in accumulating credits towards an award. There is no time limit on credit accumulation, so this can be achieved over successive semesters or over a longer period of time.

Assessment / Results
Students who choose to take a module for credit, should ensure that they have familiarised themselves with the assessment for the module. The exam schedule will not be published until early November, but the majority of end of term assessment will take place from 11th-22nd December 2017. Provisional results for Semester I will not be released until January 2018.

Fees Per Module
Audit €350
Credit €500

Expand+School of Music
Music is a universal form of expression, one that captures our imagination in countless ways. In UCD, we equip students with the skills necessary to understand a wide variety of musical practices. Study music in UCD if you love perf...

Hide-School of Music
Music is a universal form of expression, one that captures our imagination in countless ways. In UCD, we equip students with the skills necessary to understand a wide variety of musical practices. Study music in UCD if you love performing, listening to, and talking about music. Develop your musicianship through both theory and performance. Deepen your knowledge of musical history and cultures. Analyse the important role music plays in contemporary life. Learn how to research and write about specific musical genres and topics. Find out why music is such a central part of being human.

In 2016 both the Brexit campaign in the UK and the US elections have brought the notion of a new age of “post-truth” into sharp focus. Alongside it “alternative facts”, “fake news” and similar terms have become more and more commonplace. Expertise appears to be discredited, gut feeling at least as important as facts, and facts themselves no longer valid and reliable. How and why did we get to this point, are there ways out of it, and has it really become impossible to distinguish between facts and their different interpretations?

This module will track philosophical, sociological and political concepts that shaped today’s competing world views, beginning with the enlightenment. The module’s core hypothesis is that since the late nineteenth century the focus of academic attention shifted more and more from the observation of the world around us (“realism”) to the way in which our societal and individual predispositions, the unconscious part of our brain and our emotions influence how we perceive and interpret that world. We will follow this trajectory starting with Nietzsche via Freud’s psychoanalysis and Popper and Kuhn’s theories of scientific progress up to poststructuralist and postmodern positions which appear to aid a complete relativism in which “anything goes”. The module will conclude with recent pushbacks against these tendencies, including calls for a “new realism” and neuro-scientific findings regarding the interaction of perception and emotion. All of these concepts will be interrogated with an eye on how they relate to issues of morality and fairness – concepts that are conspicuously absent among post-truthers and bullshitters. Finally we will look at the significant impact of the internet on our behaviour and our ways to gain and assess information.

In the first class of each week we will discuss a philosophical or sociological concept while looking at how it is embodied by a piece of music – usually an opera – in the second hour (after all, I'm a music lecturer). Room will be given to questions raised by students with regard to issues they are particularly concerned about.