Courses tagged with "Information policy" (252)

Energy technology is a highly multidisciplinary subject, which extends from engineering (e.g. mechanical, chemical, civil, environmental and electrical) to economy and ecology. This course is designed for students with limited engineering knowledge. It gives a broad overview of energy technology, mainly focusing on electric power generation. Before introducing technical aspects of power generation, impacts of excessive fossil fuel consumption to the environment, such as global warming, ozone depletion, acid rain and emissive pollutants, are addressed. In addition, strategies and challenges of energy security and social justice for resource-poor countries, such as an island region of Taiwan, will be emphasized.

The technical topics cover most of the existing and emerging technologies, which include:

• Fossil Fuel and Thermal Power Plants
• Fuel Cells
• Solar Energy → Photovoltaic & Concentrating Solar
• Wind Energy
• Hydroelectric Power & Ocean Energy
• Geothermal Energy
• Biomass Energy
• Nuclear Energy

The students will gain comprehensive knowledge of the above listed energy technologies, in which the working principles, their practical applications and the latest progresses are emphasized. Based on the knowledge learn in the classes, the students will be aware about the pros and cons of these technologies, and be able to make their choices for selecting the most desired energy. The course will also provide guidance for those who are interested in perusing their future careers or advanced educations in energy-related fields.

This course was developed and is being offered by National Chiao-Tung University through OECx.

能源科技是一門高度跨領域的課程，其範疇可從工程領域(包含機械、化工、土木、環境和電機)延伸到經濟與生態學等。本課程主要為介紹基本能源工程知識的通識性課程，提供學生全面性的能源科技概述。內容以介紹發電技術為主，並介紹過度使用化石燃料對環境影響，如全球暖化、臭氧層破壞、酸雨和排放污染物等。本課程主題涵蓋現有成熟和新興發展能源技術，包括：

• 化石燃料與原動力(發電)廠
• 燃料電池
• 太陽能 - 光伏特效應與集中式熱能
• 風能
• 水力與海洋能
• 地熱
• 生質能
• 核能

學生於修習此課程後，將可整體性了解能源技術的相關基本知識，包含其工作原理、實際應用和最新發展。同時於修習後亦可了解到上述技術的優缺點，以為未來選擇最適用能源方式的判斷依據。本課程亦可對未來有興趣從事能源領域工作或進行能源技術深造的同學提供參考。

This course is a detailed technical and historical exploration of the Apollo project to "fly humans to the moon and return them safely to earth" as an example of a complex engineering system. Emphasis is on how the systems worked, the technical and social processes that produced them, mission operations, and historical significance. Guest lectures are featured by MIT-affiliated engineers who contributed to and participated in the Apollo missions. Students work in teams on a final project analyzing an aspect of the historical project to articulate and synthesize ideas in engineering systems.

Are you an entrepreneur, or do you have a passion for building your own technology startup? This course will help and encourage you to start a successful technology-based venture.

If you always wanted to become an entrepreneur, or if you are simply interested in putting a new technology to innovative use, this course is for you.

This course helps you understand the process of entrepreneurship from a technology-oriented background.

The course is made up of modules that are presented by experts in the field of entrepreneurship and technology. Modules include:

• Team Building
• Opportunity Recognition
• Financing
• Customer Acquisition

You will work on your idea in a team environment and examples of founders and start-ups will be used during the course to initiate insightful discussions. The course closes with the creation of a two-page business plan and a video pitch. Selected students will be eligible to participate in a Masterclass at one of the participating universities:

• TU Delft
• TU Eindhoven
• University of Twente
• Wageningen University & Research

This graduate-level class explores the complex interrelationships among humans and natural environments, focusing on non-western parts of the world in addition to Europe and the United States. It uses environmental conflict to draw attention to competing understandings and uses of "nature" as well as the local, national and transnational power relationships in which environmental interactions are embedded. In addition to utilizing a range of theoretical perspectives, this subject draws upon a series of ethnographic case studies of environmental conflicts in various parts of the world.

Build your earth science vocabulary and learn about cycles of matter and types of sedimentary rocks through the Education Portal course Earth Science 101: Earth Science. Our series of video lessons and accompanying self-assessment quizzes can help you boost your scientific knowledge ahead of the Excelsior Earth Science exam . This course was designed by experienced educators and examines both science basics, like experimental design and systems of measurement, and more advanced topics, such as analysis of rock deformation and theories of continental drift.

This environmental studies course is intended to introduce you to some of the basic principles in environmental studies, and how those are manifested in urban, rural and natural areas throughout the world.

Through observation, discussion, and creation of digital content, you will explore and share environmental challenges facing your local environment and create a global learning and action community.

Rather than simply offering a long list of the problems we face, this course will take a solutions-focused approach.

“If history is our guide, we can assume that the battle between the intellect and will of the human species and the extraordinary adaptability of microbes will be never-ending.” (1)

Despite all the remarkable technological breakthroughs that we have made over the past few decades, the threat from infectious diseases has significantly accelerated. In this course, we will learn why this is the case by looking at the fundamental scientific principles underlying epidemics and the public health actions behind their prevention and control in the 21st century.

This course covers these four topics:

1. origins of novel pathogens;
2. analysis of the spread of infectious diseases;
3. medical and public health countermeasures to prevent and control epidemics;
4. panel discussions involving leading public health experts with deep frontline experiences to share their views on risk communication, crisis management, ethics and public trust in the context of infectious disease control. 

(1) Fauci AS, Touchette NA, Folkers GK. Emerging Infectious Diseases: a 10-Year Perspective from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Emerg Infect Dis 2005 Apr; 11(4):519-25.

如果历史是我们的向导，我们可以认为人类的智慧和意志与微生物种惊人的适应性之间的斗争将永远持续下去。”(1) 尽管过去的几十年间我们在科技领域取得了令人瞩目的突破，可是传染病对人类的威胁却显著增加。本课程将通过学习流行病学的基础科学原理以及预防与控制流行病的公共卫生措施，对上述现象予以阐释。 课程包括下列四个主题： • 新型病原体如何产生 • 分析传染病的传播方式 • 预防和控制流行病的医学与公共卫生措施 • 专题讨论：具有丰富一线经验的公共卫生专家将针对控制传染病的风险沟通、危机管理、伦理学、公众信任等方面的问题予以讨论。

如果歷史是我們的向導，我們可以認為人類的智慧和意誌與微生物種驚人的適應性之間的鬥爭將永遠持續下去”(1) 盡管過去的幾十年間我們在科技領域取得了令人矚目的突破，可是傳染病对人類的威脅卻顯著增加。本課程將通過學習流行病學的基礎科學原理以及預防與控制流行病的公共衛生措施，對上述現象予以闡釋。 課程包括下列四個主題： • 新型病原體如何產生 • 分析傳染病的傳播方式 • 預防和控制流行病的醫學與公共衛生措施 專題討論：具有豐富一線經驗的公共衛生專家將針對控制傳染病的風險溝通、危機管理、倫理學、公眾信任等方面的問題予以討論

Are you preparing for a health-related career, or planning to study in the health sciences? Perhaps you're just keen to learn more about the wonders of the human body? Our bodies are amazing but complex biological machines. This course will provide you with an outstanding foundation of knowledge in human anatomy and physiology.
 
You will gain a broad understanding of the relationships between normal structure and function in human cells and tissues, both in health and disease. The properties of the four main types of tissue in the body - epithelial, connective, muscular and nervous - will also be clearly explained.
 
The course employs a variety of engaging learning methods, including short videos, animations, interactive activities and integrated quizzes to guide you through key concepts, and make learning relevant. 

This course is a practicum-style seminar in anthropological methods of ethnographic fieldwork and writing. Depending on student experience in ethnographic reading and practice, the course is a mix of reading anthropological and science studies ethnographies; and formulating and pursuing ethnographic work in local labs, companies, or other sites.

This course provides a broad conceptual and historical introduction to scientific theories of evolution and their place in the wider culture. It embraces historical, scientific and anthropological/cultural perspectives grounded in relevant developments in the biological sciences since 1800 that are largely responsible for the development of the modern theory of evolution by natural selection. Students read key texts, analyze key debates (e.g. Darwinian debates in the 19th century, and the creation controversies in the 20th century) and give class presentations.

Through the process of evolution, animals have developed their biological features and their cultures based on their surrounding environments. How we live our lives today is a direct result of features developed from our primate ancestors as they adapted to new environments.

In primatology, it is essential to think about how cultural development and biological natures are inseparable.

This course will help you rediscover the process of evolution and will introduce primatological studies conducted by researchers at Kyoto University, Japan. Based on carefully conducted research on primate species, we will explore the origins of human beings and provide you with examples of common similarities between human beings and non-human primates.

We will analyze basic features, such as foraging, mating, aggression, and communication from the primatological viewpoint. Furthermore, cultural and social aspects of human society, from the formation of family groups to community activities, will be considered thoroughly, in comparison to those of monkeys and apes.

Our goal is to broaden your view of humans to a wider extent and think dynamically about your biology in terms of human evolution. Through acquiring knowledge of basic primatology in this course, you will establish a viewpoint to think and discuss the evolutionary process of human, and human society, in conjunction with those of our close relatives.

No previous academic knowledge is required. Join us and evolve together with “Evolution of the Human Sociality.”

This course provides students with a broad historical and social-scientific introduction to a central aspect of modern economic life: Finance. By drawing upon a variety of disciplinary perspectives from the humanities and social sciences, the course offers a multi-dimentional picture of finance, not only as an economic phenomenon, but as a political, cultural, intellectual, material, and technological one. The course offers an introduction to foundational financial concepts and technologies, and will help students understand finance as a complex and multifaceted phenomenon. This course also provides students with the opportunity to improve skills in written communication, and to learn tools for historical analysis and textual interpretation.

This course covers the physics, concepts, theories, and models underlying the discipline of aerodynamics. A general theme is the technique of velocity field representation and modeling via source and vorticity fields, and via their sheet, filament, or point-singularity idealizations.

The intent is to instill an intuitive feel for aerodynamic flowfield behavior, and to provide the basis of aerodynamic force analysis, drag decomposition, flow interference estimation, and many other important applications. A few computational methods are covered, primarily to give additional insight into flow behavior, and to identify the primary aerodynamic forces on maneuvering aircraft. A short overview of flight dynamics is also presented.

Before your course starts, try the new edX Demo where you can explore the fun, interactive learning environment and virtual labs. Learn more.

FAQ

Is there a required textbook?
You do not need to buy a textbook. All material is included in the edX course and is viewable online. This includes a full textbook in PDF form. If you would like to buy a print copy of the textbook, a mail-order service will be provided.

Can I still register after the start date?
You can register at any time, but you will not get credit for any assignments that are past due.

How are grades assigned?
Grades are made out of four parts: simple, multiple-choice "Concept Questions " completed during lectures; weekly homework assignments; and two exams, one at the midpoint and one at the end of the course.

How does this course use video? Do I need to watch the lectures live?
Video lectures as well as worked problems will be available and you can watch these at your leisure. Homework assignments and exams, however, will have due dates.

Will the text of the lectures be available?
Yes, transcripts of the course will be made available.

Will the material be made available to anyone registered for this course?
Yes, all the material will be made available to all students.

What are the prerequisites?
The student is expected to be well-versed in basic mechanics, vector calculus, and basic differential equations. Good familiarity with basic fluid mechanics concepts (pressure, density, velocity, stress, etc.) is expected, similar to the content in 16.101x (however, 16.101x is not a requirement). If you do not know these subjects beforehand, following the class material will be extremely difficult. We do not check students for prerequisites, so you are certainly allowed to try.

Who can register for this course?
Unfortunately, learners from Iran, Sudan, Cuba and the Crimea region of Ukraine will not be able to register for this course at the present time. While edX has received a license from the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to offer courses to learners from Iran and Sudan our license does not cover this course. Separately, EdX has applied for a license to offer courses to learners in the Crimea region of Ukraine, but we are awaiting a determination from OFAC on that application. We are deeply sorry the U.S. government has determined that we have to block these learners, and we are working diligently to rectify this situation as soon as possible.

In this class, food serves as both the subject and the object of historical analysis. As a subject, food has been transformed over the last 100 years, largely as a result of ever more elaborate scientific and technological innovations. From a need to preserve surplus foods for leaner times grew an elaborate array of techniques – drying, freezing, canning, salting, etc – that changed not only what people ate, but how far they could/had to travel, the space in which they lived, their relations with neighbors and relatives, and most of all, their place in the economic order of things. The role of capitalism in supporting and extending food preservation and development was fundamental. As an object, food offers us a way into cultural, political, economic, and techno-scientific history. Long ignored by historians of science and technology, food offers a rich source for exploring, e.g., the creation and maintenance of mass-production techniques, industrial farming initiatives, the politics of consumption, vertical integration of business firms, globalization, changing race and gender identities, labor movements, and so forth. How is food different in these contexts, from other sorts of industrial goods? What does the trip from farm to table tell us about American culture and history?

Eating well and understanding the nuances of food has become a complicated and often confusing experience. Virtually every day brings news about some “miracle food” that we should be consuming or some "poison" we should be avoiding. One day it's tomatoes to prevent cancer, then flaxseed against heart disease or soybeans for menopause. At the same time, we are warned about trans fats, genetically modified foods, aspartame and MSG. Dietary supplements are often touted as the key to health or a factor in morbidity. According to some, dairy products are indispensable while others urge us to avoid them. The same goes for meat, wheat and soy; the list goes on.

This course will shed light on the molecules that constitute our macro and micronutrients and will attempt to clarify a number of the food issues using the most relevant, up-to-date science available. Other topics to be presented will include the diet-cancer relationship, the link between diet and cardiovascular disease, food-borne illnesses, food additives and weight control.

This physics course is designed to expose teachers of introductory physics, from novice to experienced, to effective tools for teaching physics at the high school level. Learn (or re-learn) basic concepts, including Newton’s laws, motion, momentum, and energy. Become a more competent and engaging teacher by familiarizing yourself with the historical development of these concepts, and with the physics education research literature about ways to teach the concepts effectively. Learn to employ research-based methods to help your students succeed in physics.

It covers the following content:

• Kinematics
• Projectile motion
• Forces and Newton’s laws
• Impulse and work
• Conservation of energy
• Readings of, and discussion about, the conceptual history of physics and relevant education research

In your final projects, you will develop a research-based lesson plan that you can use in your own teaching.

This interdisciplinary course explores the complex interactions between poverty, rural livelihoods, and forest resources in developing countries.  We will consider some of the dynamics that occur when impoverished people use forests in their daily lives. We will talk about the role of forests for medicines and wild foods, as sources of fuelwood and charcoal for energy, and other pressing topics that confront sustainable forest management such as the impacts of human health and diseases on forests. The course consists of modules on forests and livelihoods in developing countries, agroforestry, human health in forested environments, protected areas and their sustainability, small and medium forest enterprises (SMFEs), and  community forestry. Three cross-cutting themes (gender, tenure and forest rights, and climate change) will span all of the modules.

This course will engage you in developing a deeper understanding of the fundamental importance of forest resources in the lives and livelihoods of people in developing countries. Participants from tropical and developing countries may have lived much of what we will talk about in this course, and your experiences will deepen our understanding of the course material. Participants not from a developing country will gain a much better appreciation for the multitude of ways that people in developing countries use forest resources. Weekly videos will be complemented by readings, quizzes, and links to online resources to help you explore current scholarship in this domain. A discussion forum will enable you to delve more deeply into these issues with other participants and the course staff. The themes covered in this MOOC are important to anyone working in international forestry.

In this physics course, you will learn about the structure and function of our universe, from the micro-world of quantum fields and atoms up to the mega-world of stars and galaxies.

You will learn about the objective laws governing the physical world and about methods, provided mainly by physics, which allow us to obtain such knowledge.

This course is taught by the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI, one of the world leaders in nuclear science and education. Our hope is that this course will help boost your curiosity and positively influence or even help to determine your future professional career.

This course is for anyone is who is curious about how our world is constructed and wants to learn more about our universe and the nature surrounding us.

Knowledge of physics and mathematics is NOT required. Basic school level will be quite enough.

This course will provide an introduction to the scientific, statistical, and ethical aspects of clinical trials research. Topics include the design, implementation, and analysis of trials, including first-in-human studies (dose-finding, safety, proof of concept, and Phase I), Phase II, Phase III, and Phase IV studies. All aspects of the development of a study protocol will be addressed, including criteria for the selection of participants, treatments, and endpoints, randomization procedures, sample size determination, data analysis, and study interpretation. The ethical issues that arise at each phase of therapy development will be explored.

This course contains 12 modules. The modules will be released Monday of each week, with the exception of some holiday weeks. Most students should plan to spend 4 – 6 hours on each module. Students will have until February 14, 2014 to earn a HarvardX certificate.

Before your course starts, try the new edX Demo where you can explore the fun, interactive learning environment and virtual labs. Learn more.

HarvardX requires individuals who enroll in its courses on edX to abide by the terms of the edX honor code : https://www.edx.org/edx-terms-service. HarvardX will take appropriate corrective action in response to violations of the edX honor code, which may include dismissal from the HarvardX course; revocation of any certificates received for the HarvardX course; or other remedies as circumstances warrant. No refunds will be issued in the case of corrective action for such violations. Enrollees who are taking HarvardX courses as part of another program will also be governed by the academic policies of those programs.

HarvardX pursues the science of learning. By registering as an online learner in an HX course, you will also participate in research about learning. Read our research statement : http://harvardx.harvard.edu/research-statement to learn more.

Harvard University and HarvardX are committed to maintaining a safe and healthy educational and work environment in which no member of the community is excluded from participation in, denied the benefits of, or subjected to discrimination or harassment in our program. All members of the HarvardX community are expected to abide by Harvard policies on nondiscrimination, including sexual harassment, and the edX Terms of Service. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact harvardx@harvard.edu and/or report your experience through the edX contact form : https://www.edx.org/contact-us.

When you're sick, you may wonder, "Why me?" But the real question should be, "Why am I not sick all the time?" You might even ask, "Why does my body respond with a fever, and is it really a good idea to lower it?" This course explores immunology, how the body defends itself from constant assault by parasites and pathogens. This course will present the fundamentals of both innate and adaptive immunity, emphasizing functional interactions among cells and organs. We will cover signaling, pathogen recognition and the division of labor among myeloid, lymphoid and supporting cells. The subject matter will also supply health professionals and biomedical researchers with the basic vocabulary and concepts necessary to understand both clinical press releases and primary literature. The course materials also provide support to other immunology instructors by presenting difficult concepts in creative ways using analogies and models.