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Modules were introduced into higher education in the UK via the Open University, not directly from the US as Bob Brecher asserts ("Fast food is no substitute for an intellectual feast", THES , June 7). He also fails to see that modules often replace courses rather than fragment them. If supported they can enhance student choice, whereas he thinks only traditional disciplines can encourage independent thought. In fact, modules can extend critical thinking beyond the narrowness of many disciplines.

Patrick Ainley
University of Greenwich