Physics courses?

shakenbake

I'd really like to do a course in physics, part time, as I'm gainfully employed.
I'm fascinated by it. Unfortunately there doesn't appear to be anything I can do part time in the country!!

Does anyone have any suggestions

Professor_Fink

shakenbake wrote: »

I'd really like to do a course in physics, part time, as I'm gainfully employed.
I'm fascinated by it. Unfortunately there doesn't appear to be anything I can do part time in the country!!

Does anyone have any suggestions

Open university?

dazzday

are you starting from scratch? or do you have a background in science or engineering?

shakenbake

Erm, yes and no. I'm a self thought IT techy type and have an interest in astronomy. I'm bright enough but effectively starting from scratch. I'd prefer to do something that forces me into a lecture room as opposed to self study. But I'll do something like open university if needs be.

I was just thinking earlier wouldn't it be great to win the lottery, so I could spend my free time educating myself. How many people would include a physics degree on their 'todo' list after winning the lotto?

daragh8008

Physics is a very interesting subject and one that attracts the attention of a lot of people with an inquisitive mind. Unfortunately to get to the very top of the game, a good understanding of the basics is often required. This is not to say that people should be turned of it but only to bear in mind that before any course will get to the weird and wonderful quantum theory etc... you will be forced to sit though and understand the "basics". I suspect part of the problem in framing a part time course would be trying to keep it interesting while going into enough depth to give the average participant a fighting chance of understanding it and partaking in a constructive way in future scientific debate. Even degrees in the subject start at a relatively slow crawl though motion heat energy etc. Things that if you were suitably interested in could be self thought. To progress deep into the belly of the beast either a lot of natural talent is required or a lot of time and effort. If your lucky with the talent front happy days if not then a part time evening course may not cut it. It really does depend on what you want to achieve. For hobby purposes clubs and societies like Astronomy Ireland and lots of reading may be just the ticket. For the dream job reprogramming the hubble telescope perhaps you should be considering full time education like a degree in physics and astronomy.

onedoubleo

If you have an interest in astronomy then there are courses in TCD and UCD that are very good from what I hear. But also be warned that the level of maths required throws nearly everyone off. Our maths classes have been the biggest reason for drop outs in my degree course.
If your not in Dublin then im not sure what cork has to offer but here in Limerick we have a great Applied Physics course but it wouldn't have the strong grounding in astronomy you seem to want but it is available part time AFAIK. And it does give a broad range of physics (you'd also sail through third year which was taken up with mostly coding). Hope this helps.

clearz

If its just for self learning some of the open courseware available at MIT and other leading American University websites can be very interesting. Also there is a lot of lectures available on youtube

Trance

You can do pretty much any modularised course in the country part-time. That's the whole point of modularisation. It gives people the opportunity to do full-time courses on a part-time basis by registering for only some of the modules one year and the complete the rest of the required modules for that year in your following year. In other words, you'd spend 2 years completing 1 year of the course.