Universidade Aberta
Encyclopedia
The Universidade Aberta is a Portuguese
distance education
public university
, created in 1988. Its headquarters are located in Lisbon
, it has two regional centres in Coimbra
and Porto
, and study centres all over the country.
Students are required to be at least 21 years old, and to have completed secondary education
. Candidates over 25 with no secondary degree can be admitted after having passed the national university access examination or ad-hoc examination.
Thousands of students, from all over the world, are enrolled in distance education undergraduate programmes. Several hundred Portuguese students follow post-graduation face-to-face courses.
Together with its main activities in teaching and scientific research
, Universidade Aberta promotes the Portuguese language and culture, especially in Portuguese-speaking countries.
Universidade Aberta is one of the largest national producers of university teaching materials. The printed materials, which constitute the core of the University's courses, are usually complemented by videocassettes, audiocassettes, CD-ROM
s, Internet
and TV and radio broadcasts.
Face-to-face and mixed modes (including video-conferencing) are used for postgraduate programmes. Counselling services by telephone, fax and e-mail are available in the university and at the study centres.
Students of Universidade Aberta have their own body of representatives.
Its focus is on the humanities
, social
and behavioral sciences.
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
distance education
Distance education
Distance education or distance learning is a field of education that focuses on teaching methods and technology with the aim of delivering teaching, often on an individual basis, to students who are not physically present in a traditional educational setting such as a classroom...
public university
Public university
A public university is a university that is predominantly funded by public means through a national or subnational government, as opposed to private universities. A national university may or may not be considered a public university, depending on regions...
, created in 1988. Its headquarters are located in Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
, it has two regional centres in Coimbra
Coimbra
Coimbra is a city in the municipality of Coimbra in Portugal. Although it served as the nation's capital during the High Middle Ages, it is better-known for its university, the University of Coimbra, which is one of the oldest in Europe and the oldest academic institution in the...
and Porto
Porto
Porto , also known as Oporto in English, is the second largest city in Portugal and one of the major urban areas in the Iberian Peninsula. Its administrative limits include a population of 237,559 inhabitants distributed within 15 civil parishes...
, and study centres all over the country.
Students are required to be at least 21 years old, and to have completed secondary education
Secondary education
Secondary education is the stage of education following primary education. Secondary education includes the final stage of compulsory education and in many countries it is entirely compulsory. The next stage of education is usually college or university...
. Candidates over 25 with no secondary degree can be admitted after having passed the national university access examination or ad-hoc examination.
Thousands of students, from all over the world, are enrolled in distance education undergraduate programmes. Several hundred Portuguese students follow post-graduation face-to-face courses.
Together with its main activities in teaching and scientific research
Research
Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...
, Universidade Aberta promotes the Portuguese language and culture, especially in Portuguese-speaking countries.
Universidade Aberta is one of the largest national producers of university teaching materials. The printed materials, which constitute the core of the University's courses, are usually complemented by videocassettes, audiocassettes, CD-ROM
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data....
s, Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
and TV and radio broadcasts.
Face-to-face and mixed modes (including video-conferencing) are used for postgraduate programmes. Counselling services by telephone, fax and e-mail are available in the university and at the study centres.
Students of Universidade Aberta have their own body of representatives.
Its focus is on the humanities
Humanities
The humanities are academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytical, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences....
, social
Social sciences
Social science is the field of study concerned with society. "Social science" is commonly used as an umbrella term to refer to a plurality of fields outside of the natural sciences usually exclusive of the administrative or managerial sciences...
and behavioral sciences.