Personal Blogs

Just received my first TMA results back for MST124 and managed a massive 100% so really happy with that.  I'm also due back my TMA03 score from MU123 this week I believe although it has been so long since I submitted it that I can't actually remember anything about it.

The EMA or end of module assessment has opened for MU123 and I'm going to focus my time on this for the next week or so.  It looks a bit of a beast but a quick scan through and I feel comfortable with the content.

I've completed the first unit on the new module MST124.  It worked through the key maths skills needed for this module at a pretty decent pace.  There were a few things that I had to spend a bit more time on but for the most part it was fairly easy going.

I'm struggling a bit with this module so far because we only appear to have half of the course material - according to a group on facebook this is due to the course material not being fully completed yet.  We don't even have the handbook yet which I think is pretty poor.

The first TMA looks to be open on MST124 so I'm going to get started with the first few questions before moving onto unit 2.

I've completed the penultimate iCMA on MU123 which covered units 8, 9 and 10.  There were a few bits that I had to revisit the course material for but managed to work out most without referring back.

I've also contacted the learner support team and my tutor about trying to get the end of module exam moved as it is very close to my wedding.

Completed the penultimate unit on MU123 which was all about exponentials.  Again pretty interesting especially with the real life examples.  

Just leaves unit 14 to go now which looks to just summarise the contents of the course.  Once this is complete I'll have a few weeks before I have to revisit MU123 for iCMA44.

The MST124 website opened today and I'm fairly keen on getting a head start again on the study which is officially due to start on the 1st February.  Hoping to have unit 14 completed by the end of this week which will give me roughly a week head start.

Finished unit twelve on MU123 which was all about trigonometry.  Enjoyed the unit but found it pretty hard going towards the end.  Don't really remember covering radians before so took a little to get my head around it.  

Enjoyed both the DVD snippets to watch which shows some interesting and practical uses for trigonometry.  I'm now working on the TMA04 to answer the last two questions which are both aimed at unit twelve.  It has thrown me a little that there are no TMA questions which cover units 13 and 14 but whose complaining :D

The next MU123 unit is Exponentials and the final unit is Mathematics everywhere which looks to consolidate the learning so far and keep you interested to study maths further.  I'm still on track to get both of them knocked down by the end of the month.

I've just received the first book covering units 1,2 and 3 from MST124.  I'm pretty eager to get started on it now because the book looks twice as thick as anything from MU123 so starting to feel a little apprehensive.

I've now completed Unit 11 as well.  Unit 11 is a progression from unit 4 and is all about statistics and how the information can be interpreted and displayed graphically.  As with unit 4 I really enjoyed this unit, especially the case study which investigates whether extra sensory perception is real.  It really gets you thinking about how an investigation like this should be carried out.

The unit seemed much shorter than the others but not sure if that is just because I enjoyed working through it or whether it is actually quite a short unit. 

I've started work on the final TMA, TMA04 now as well.  Decided to complete each relevant section before moving onto the next unit for this TMA, I've done this for unit 10 already and will make a start on the questions aimed at unit 11 before moving onto the next unit.

Unit 12 is onto trigonometry which I've been eager to get started on since the course began.

Looking at the MST124 module website, I should be getting things through in the post early in the new year and the module is due to open towards the end of January.  My plan to have everything I can completed before MST124 opens looks to be on track just about. 

I should be able to move onto MST124 almost as soon as it opens and I will be left with 2 iCMAs to complete and the EMA as they all start after the MST124 opening date.

Finally finished unit 9.  Again I'm finding algebra the most interesting part of maths and really enjoyed the unit, it was testing in places but I think I've taken on board most of the key things that I needed to.  It has been pretty slow progress though, not due to the content but I've been away to Krakow for a city break and various other commitments have really reduced my study time over the last two weeks.

I was aware this would be the case over Christmas and I'm still happy with where I have managed to get up to.  I would imagine the next two weeks will also see limited progress but I'm still trying to get this module done in the next month or so if possible (aside from outstanding TMAs, iCMAs and the end of module assessment).  This is due to me starting MST124 towards the end of January.

I've submitted TMA03 a few weeks ago too and it is good to go into the Christmas break with that off my mind.  I believe we should be receiving our TMA02 results back any time soon as the closing date was 3 days ago.  Not sure if Christmas holidays will mean a delay but I'm excited to see how I did with it.

The next unit for me to tackle is Unit 10  and is the final unit in book C.  It is about quadratics and a quick skim through it makes me think this is going to be another graphs based module

Completed unit 8 which is all about geometry.  I found the first half of this unit quite tough going, much more so than anything else I've encountered on the course.  I have generally found that a lot of this module has jogged memories from school and as such it has been quite easy to take on board but the stuff around angles and the associated rules feels brand new, I struggled with some of the activities and had to read a few pages a couple of times before I fully understood.

The second half of the unit was around triangles, areas, volumes etc and I'm pretty comfortable with that.  I am about half way through TMA03 and think that I will tackle the questions associated with unit 8 before moving onto unit 9 whilst it is fresh in my memory.

Unit 9 which is up next is back on to algebra which will be a welcome relief after the geometry unit.

Had the second of the face to face tutorials a few days ago.  This time only a few others turned up which is suprising to me, I'm quite far ahead of the pace now but I still find them useful even if it is covering units that I finished quite a few weeks ago. 

Just finished unit seven and that completes book B.  Found units 6 and 7 the more challenging units so far and will probably revisit them when I get round to completing TMA03 and the relevant iCMAs.

I'm really looking forward to book C as it covers geometry and more advanced algebra.  I'm finding that most of the earlier stuff I studied has become second nature now and I'm defintiely happy with the amount of knowledge I'm retaining.

Glancing over the course details indicates that I'm now 2 months ahead of schedule.  I'm hoping to have most of this course completed before the MST124 course kicks in to minimise the overlap between them.

Still waiting on the results from the TMA01.  Hoping it comes back soon so that I can get TMA02 posted off.  I'm intending to complete units 8 and 9 before starting TMA03.

I've just completed TMA02, I'd estimate it took around 6 hours in total.  I decided this time to go through each question and solve the maths side of it roughly handwritten in a jotter.  Once I was happy with the solutions to each question I then typed it up properly including showing all working and reasoning etc using Microsoft Word.

I've got Microsoft Word 2007 which includes the equation editor and although it is a bit fiddly to get used to it does the job quite well.  Towards the end of typing it up I felt quite fluent with it and it seemed to have a way of displaying everything that I needed.

I'm definitely going to submit all TMAs in this way going forwards, it was much easier, will be more legible for the tutor and I instantly have a digital backup of it too.

I'm going to hold off submitting it until I get my feedback for the first TMA as I would assume the feedback will affect the level of detail I include in some way.  I believe the closing date for the first TMA is the 5th November so should get the results back shortly after that.

The difficult level is steadily increasing but still have my head above water at this stage.  Back onto revising unit 6 tomorrow and the dreaded graphs, eurgh!!

Looking at the course calendar I'm roughly 5 weeks ahead of schedule now.  This is fully intentional as I want to be as close to complete on MU123 before MST124 kicks in.

I've just completed MU123 Unit Five which covers algebra.  Really enjoyed this unit, surprised myself at how quickly I took to it and ended up just thinking of them as little geeky puzzles and found the task of solving them quite rewarding.  I'm looking forward to studying algebra more in depth as the course progresses.

Also had the first face to face tutorial over the weekend at Huddersfield university.  Had no idea what to expect as I pulled into the university car park.  There were only a handful of other students who managed to make it and we covered some general tips about OU study and then went through some more specific items from the MU123 early units.

We got a chance to meet our tutor which is good and everyone spoke about where they were up to.  I also stopped behind at the end to get the tutor's view on taking on another module this academic year. 

The second lot of tests are out tomorrow so will be spending the next week getting through them and then it is onto unit six - graphs which I am not looking forward to.  I used to hate them in school and can't imagine too much has changed!  I think this time I will complete the iCMA and submit it but I will wait until I have had the results of the first TMA before handing the second one in as the feedback will probably change the way I answer some of the questions.  I might also have a go at typing out the TMA this time as hand writing it wasn't my idea of fun.

Finished unit four of MU123 Book A now.  Found the statistics part particularly interesting and I'm looking forward to studying it more deeply as the course progresses.

Starting to get more and more comments from friends, family and work colleagues indicating that I may be a bit mental for taking a degree on alongside full time employment which is amusing but does make me a bit wary.

My first iCMA opens tomorrow which I'm actually excited for, I just need to skim read unit one and the notes I've made before hand.  Ive had several attempts at the practice quiz and don't seem to have any problems with it aside from a few silly mistakes so I'm hopeful of a decent score.

I had a phone call yesterday from a lady at the Open University about whether I should take on another module this year.  Her view was that I'd have to move from the easier pathway, which I started on, to the more difficult pathway but she didn't see this as being an issue.  She said that the next course (M140) assumes some knowledge from MU123 so it was basically all down to how I felt I was progressing and what extra I felt I could take on.  We both agreed that it would be sensible to leave it a few weeks before making any decisions and I'm comfortable with that.

Just finished studying MU123 unit two.  Really happy with my progress so far even though I'm aware that this module is probably only about GCSE standard. 

Concerned that I'm getting a little bit too far ahead of myself here as none of the assessments open for a few weeks yet.  I'm going to carry on at the same pace for now and begin work on unit three.  My plan is to review the module once the assessments become available - by reviewing the information it should also help to consolidate some of the principles in my mind.

I've also had a response back on my query about taking on an additional module and it sounds like it should be reasonably simple to organise.  I just need to make 100% sure that I feel like I am able to take on an additional module.  The next module on the pathway is M140 and the next run of that is February 2014 which seems ideal.