Hello nice forum members!

Having just received my OU materials for this term, I thought it might be a good idea if there was a thread where we could help and encourage each other. I know there are several members here who are either currently studying with the OU or have done so in the past and could maybe advise on coping strategies and time amangement. To say I am apprehensive is an understatement! It is over 5 years since I last did an OU course and already I'm thinking I have lost the plot although it seemed like a good idea when I registered.

Good luck to all OU students.

Which course are you doing, Nood?

DD201 - Sociology and Society.

Cool - have fun! I'm just coming to the end of an Openings course. trying not to think about the fact that I still have to write a History essay.......

Thanks. Good luck with your essay!

I'm wondering whether to enrol for a language course. Which would be the most useful? French, Italian, German or Spanish? I think the OU are starting a new Italian course in Nov.

Might encourage me to get out more and go on lots of holidays!

Good luck with the course Noodle

I wish I could afford to do an OU course but because I've already got a degree I don't get any financial support and the fees are horrendous

I'm doing a short OU course thing about the Universe. It's this thing some of us were allowed to sign up for at school! Is it wrong to swap OU resources after you've finished though?

~Wobby~

Thanks! I think I'd choose Italian - I've done French and German to O level and A level Spanish!

Good luck Wobby. Not sure about sharing resources - don't see why not - I've seen OU materials advertised for sale.

I have a friend doing her first degree with the OU (maths) due to her ill health. I was really impressed by the amount of materials students get given, and the support and structure of the courses. The fees seem pretty good value considering what's included. (And that my degree is costing me £3k a year, with another £4k per year going on living costs).

Seriously going to consider them in future, as I seem to be a bit addicted to learning new things now!

Well, the credit can only be claimed by the person who signed up for and originally got the materials, obviously After the course - there's nothing to stop you swapping stuff with someone else, it'll just be for private study, you can't get anything marked or claim any credits, etc.
In fact, there is a fairly good second-hand market for some courses! University Book Search is the place to browse (it's not affliated with the OU in any way, but they'd've shut it down long before now if it were not allowed, I'm sure).

But beware - OU study is highly addictive!!!

Done: A103, AS283, A296, D214, S194, S196, S197, S282, S283
Doing: A251
On my "To do sometime" list: AT308, A219, AA309, S207, TA212. Then maybe the level 3 astrophysics courses (2 @ 30pts)!

Got: CertAPS
Going to get: BA(Hons) Humanities with Classical Studies; BSc (no Hons, no name)
May get: BSc (Hons) (if I brave the level 3 astro stuff)

The OU actually sell the course materials on their own, without the need to sign up to the course itself. Each module is usually split into a number of sub-modules, and the books (one per sub-module) seem to cost around £15 each. The course I'm tutoring has 12 books, so I could see it getting quite expensive to buy the books for some of the larger courses. Either way, sharing materials should be fine .

Same here. Would love to do some of the music courses, but just can't afford to.

Be aware that while the other 3 have courses up to level 3, Italian is presently only level one, and I think I've read that they don't plan to extend it in the near future. So if you're happy dabbling in several languages that's fine, but if it was with a view to getting a qualification in a particular language, Italian is not the one to go for

Good thread. Wish it had been here before but now I'm on the cusp of finishing the MA! LOL

I am though about to start undergraduate mathematics with the OU, so if anyone fancies doing my assignments, let me know

Thanks Sarah - most likely just dabbling - just to learn enough to communicate abroad. I think Spanish is the most widely spoken language in the world - so I've heard, whereas gaining a skill in Italian pronounciation would be useful for the music teaching!





How is the project going? Did you enjoy the BBC Archive visit? It must be nearly time to post it all off to the OU - is it the 21st Sept?

If you are doing MU120 Maths you will find yourself happily counting guillimots in Unit 2 (or thereabouts)!! The CMAs are fun and the course gets jolly hard towards the end - good luck.

mrb - have you credit transferred the ol' Comp Sci BSc in case you want to put your maths studies towards a degree?

Thanks for the good luck, and good luck to everybody else!

Ah, so it is OK to share then - just I thought it would be interesting to read the other courses (as well as being able to put that I have read those books, though it may raise eyebrows for why I would say I have done one course, and read others)!

~Wobby~

19th! I posted it this morning so I am feeling chilled now
As for maths, I'm doing MST121 or something. Not quite sure what I've let myself in for...


Not thought of this. How much credit could I get?

Great news - well done! Read the messages on First Class this morning - everyone still running to the finish line! I reckon the Maths will be hard work - good luck! (Shame you won't get the nice guillimots)!

Will PM you about this.
But don't panic - it's usually possible to get through a course (with a good grade) in a LOT less study time than they suggest.



Which ones did you do before?




Agreed. The costs compare very favourably with studying at a campus university. You get lots of "stuff" and the cost per year of full-time equivalent is a lot lower than at a conventional university, plus you can still live at home (which is possible for some regular students but not all as not all universities offer all subjects).
Also, if you're doing it as a precursor to applying to another university at some point, you may be able to jump straight into the second or even third year, saving a year or more of fees and living costs.




How did you find A103?



BusyBee & MrBouffant>

What's the MA in Music like to study? How much guidance do you get on the research side of it? How much work is involved?


T.

I absolutely loved doing the MA. I would suggest the main requisites for the three year course are loads of enthusiasm, the ability to formulate your own ideas for research topics and a clear head for thinking! The guidance for where to find resources and how to do research is the main focus for A870 with TMAs and exam first year. A871 requires a 5,000 word project. The TMAs give you a rubric with the research area specified and you can choose your own relevant topic which answers a set question. In A877, which requires a 16-18,000 word dissertation, you are more or less left to your own devices but you have to keep a record of telephone and email contact with your tutor - so lots of help available if you need it.

After a year's break I am now investigating the possibility of doing a PhD with the OU. Its all very grounding stuff. I would highly recommend it. There is another forum member here who has done the MA OU with distinction. Hopefully he will see your post and be able to respond to your question as I know he would be very keen to help.

The easy way to do it is pass FRSM and then you only have to do two years and you avoid the 16-18,000 word dissertation. It is also cheaper to do it this way.

I think it is difficult to describe "how much work is involved" apart from saying "as much as you want to do".. it is possible to pass the course if you can write structured essays and are very pragmatic in how you do your research. They say "15 hours a week" is necessary but I disagree. I would say on average I did 5-7 hours a week. Then again, I don't have my final mark yet so I could have made a complete horlicks of it.

They do give you ample advice on how to do research, but apart from a trip to the BBC Written Archives for my second year project (5000 words) I did all my research either online or using books I purchased as per their reading lists or in topics which interested me. You certainly have a wide range of actual musics to choose from when you write your assignments, so don't think it is restricted wholly to "classical" music. In many ways the actual notes on the page or sounds on a CD are irrelevant. This is the crux of the MA - if you want a technical Masters regarding analysis, tonal studies, historiography or whatever, this isn't it. What it does give you is the techniques to go out and do your own research into topics of your own choice...

Hope this helps!

Easy!!?? Are you sure? I would have found the FRSM much harder than A877 (edit: actually I will say impossible and way out of my reach)! Although it would be nice to get a teaching FRSM one day. I would have trouble passing the DipABRSM performing these days- but I might manage it with a minimum of three hours practice a day. I guess that would be about fifteen - twenty-one hours a week on the piano which was about my input for the ALCM Piano Performing.

I can't begin to imagine how much work you would have to put in for an FRSM performing

I'll get flamed for this but I have to say that the Written Submission was the hardest bit BUT i'm glad I had A870 experience to help me there. The playing was actually the easiest bit. I practised the pieces of course, but only a few hours a week in the run up to the exam. The listed pieces for organ FRSM are, if you choose wisely, not that difficult. Of course one can choose a really hard set of pieces, but that's not my style. Take the route of least resistance, always... The viva and QS are a lottery and it is never easy but that is the same at LR and Dip level anyway so I was lucky all round I think!!

Well, I'm an OU addict! So far:

Done: S196, Y002, Y004, DD100, K221
Waiting for results: E301, A215
Current: A300, B232 (to finish the BA(Hons))
2008: E243, E891 (to start the MEd)

Good luck!

David

I really enjoyed it - but I basically did sciences from the time I was 16 onwards, so most of it was a real departure for me. But that was why I did it. Having said that, my full-time biology degree was basically essay based, so I didn't find that side of it too daunting, which I know some people do. It was a great intro to the wide variety of 'stuff' in the Arts faculty - I've got classics as my plan but much of the other subjects was really interesting too Although the history of science module was a bit dire but everyone thought that including the tutors - general agreement was it was badly written Of course they may have changed things since 2000 (when I took it)

OK, I'm dithering folks. Should I, or should I not, enrol on the beginners' Italian course that starts next month? Signor Dante_in_c has just begun a 12-week web design course, and I'm feeling inspired. I really would like to have at least a vague understanding of Italian, mainly for singing.

The course will be more about buying train tickets and pizzas, but it will give me a better idea of how the language is structured and pronounced, I hope.

I say go for it!

But then I am a known bad influence and dealer in esoteric languages so I'm probably not the most trustworthy person to ask in this instance...

Did you enrol, Andante?

My course was supposed to start on Friday and I haven't opened a book yet. Looks like I'll have to diconnect my laptop from the internet if I'm going to get anywhere with this course.....

I haven't done yet, but I have until next Friday. It's only a 30-pointer, so I probably can fit it in, and there's no exam (but a rather scary-sounding online assessment with the tutor at the other end of a mic). I'm still dithering.

That does sound rather scary. Good luck if you decide to do it.

Ou tutor???? Scary-assessment????

Did you hear that YAP????

But do you speak Italian?

Andante_in_c>
Did you sign up in the end?

Everyone else>
It's gone really quiet here lately - the sort of quiet you might get if everyone was busy revising perhaps...
Has everyone got exams this month? If so, how are they going?

T.

I know, we're lovely really .

Actually looking into doing some online tutorials for the course which AP and I tutor on - attendance at face-to-face sessions was sporadic on the last presentation (numbers ranged between 0 and 3 inclusive...).

No, I took a good, hard, long look at my life at the moment, and thought better of it. I haven't got enough hours in the day for the things I have to do and the things I want to do, and I have a diploma coming up rapidly for which I have done nothing since I sent in the entry. So, not this year.

Finished both my short courses in the last couple of months and haven't signed up for any more at the moment. No doubt will, but tooooo stressful at the moment.


but probably best to leave it till you can do it justice - it'll still be there

I'm just wondering, have any of you submitted examinable work electronically via the eTMA or whatever it is before? Just I'm a bit confused on how it all works.

I'm doing the S197 course, and for the Section B part, we have to send an eTMA or something. Do you write up your answers in Microsoft Word (or something to that effect) with the appropriate question numbers, and then attach this to your eTMA to be sent off, or is it something completely different?

~Wobby~

Pretty much bang on! You write your essay/answers/etc in a Word document or whatever word processing software you use. You will be told which format to save it in, and this varies from tutor to tutor. For example, my current tutor has Word 2003. I use OpenOffice.org Writer, and save in Word 2003 format.
You then go to the eTMA website, and you say which course/assignment it is, and browse to find your document. You then hit 'submit' and it uploads your TMA. You don't have to do a PT3 (you know, your name, address, date posted, etc). You'll get an email that confirms receipt of your document by the system.
You wait impatiently for a while and then you'll get an email saying your TMA is ready to collect. You go to the same website, and select 'collect TMA' and choose the course and assignment - and then it downloads to wherever you want. You get your assignment back, with comments written in it, and also an electronic PT3 with the tutor's comments on.

(The thing I find daft is that ALL students get StarOffice on the software disc, yet that's probably never going to be the format that's used for eTMAs )

My current course has TMAs that can be submitted via the electronic system, but then an ECA (end of course assessment - instead of an exam) which must be sent by post.
Similarly, CMAs (computer marked assignments) will have to go by post as well (I'm trying to remember S197 - I think you have a CMA + an ECA/TMA?)

Thanks!

Umm... am I meant to be keeping in contact with a tutor? It's just that I'm on a short course and don't recall getting one. So consequently, I'm not sure if they'll be able to tell me what format to save it in. Can I assume that most people have Microsoft Word anyway?

Am I required to write the questions, or just the answers? So, when it's marked (presumably after the last submission date), they'll say "Come collect your eTMA!" by e-mail, and then I collect it, and they'll have provided little annotations within my original Word document about where I have gone wrong (or hopefully, right)? And then I get my results? Do we get a certificate? Or does it just say we've passed/failed via e-mail/on website?

Sorry for the amount of questions, just I'm new to all this and it's rather confusing. It doesn't help that they say you can find instructions by first reading the online instructions in the 'completing your CMA' link, which incidentally, I cannot find! Maybe they should provide instructions to find the instructions!

~Wobby~

I can't remember with the short courses now...last one I did was 2004 (and was S197 ), maybe you don't get a specific tutor.
If you have the option to use the eTMA system you should get a document telling you how to use it. You may find that posting is still an option if you can't work out the system Your StudentHome page should tell you more about the specifics for your course. Here is a link to the computing help pages on the eTMA system...

Post deleted

I got a specific tutor for both my recent short courses.

The assignment booklet should tell you acceptable formats - ie I had to save my files in NOT the latest file format for Word as not all tutors will have that.

eTMAs were a lot less stressful to send than the paper ones.

In the courses I had - no idea if it will be the same for yours - up till the closing date one could continue to submit TMAs, and the new submission overwrote the old one. So a finished but imperfect version could be submitted as "back up" incase of, say, a power cut, but could be continually improved and resubmitted up to the closing date (or minute, in fact!)

We've been warned about this on our current course - the tutor has no obligation to mark anything other than your first submission. I have a TMA due next Friday. If I submit my first draft today, my tutor could mark that one. Then if I overwrite with subsequent versions next week, my tutor might not even look at them as she'll think that she's already marked my TMA. So only do this if you've agreed it in advance with your tutor / your tutor has said they will take what is submitted on the due date - some tutors get marking as soon as it's submitted to get their work done!

Wobby - you should have had a letter called your Student Allocation Record. If you have a tutor, their name, address, contact details will be on the back of this.
Alternatively, if you log in to your StudentHome website, there should be a link to your tutor details.

I've given up!

Yes, I'm sure it must depend - but certainly, on my course, that was the "official" way it worked (that till the closing date one could resubmit as many times as one likes) - it was in the documentation (& this is the place to check, as I can well imagine it varies) and the tutor wasn't to take anything as final prior to the closing date.

I guess I don't have a tutor then, because I didn't get a letter with a tutor's name, address and contact details on, and on my StudentHome website, there are no tutor details...

Well, I've saved my Section B answers in formats of Word 6.0/95, Notepad, as well as print-screen/pasting to produce pictorial versions of my answers. Every computer can read GIFs, right? Otherwise, surely Word 6.0/95 and Notepad should cover it?

Even by sending numerous formats of the answers, it's below 2MB, so it should be fine? I think I've probably dodged up on one of the questions where it's a bit ambiguous, but it should be fine...

~Wobby~

On quite a few of the short courses, you don't actually get a named tutor. There is usually a tutorial helpline or conference you can contact for help. This was the case when I did S196 and AT272.

David

OK, but given that I have not received a reply on the format of the test one I sent, should I just send a variety of formats (as listed previously), then WinZip them all and send that off and hope for the best? After all, it's not too far from the deadline...

~Wobby~