Today I had my day-school for M256—software development with Java. I didn't really know what to expect but I didn't expect to have to work through exam questions with a time limit.
I've always known that to revise for an exam past papers and timed attempts are the way to go; I have never done so. I lie to myself that this is pointless as I don't know the answers. Well today I had a tutor, other students and discussions. I learnt lots.
I reckon that today was worth about ten to fifteen extra marks in the exam. It also changed my perceptions about the way to tackle the exam. I assumed that I'd have loads of time, I was close to going over time on every question.
I've paid for most of my degree out of my meager wages and yet I don't take advantage of what I've bought. I never talk to my tutors, I rarely go to tutorials, the only thing that I get from the OU is books, TMAs, exams and deadlines. Today I realized that I am being stupid.
If you play this game use the tools that you have been given; talk to your tutor, take advantage of what materials are available and attend tutorials. The last being the most important.
The thing that we miss, us OUers, compared to brick univercity users, is that we we don't get feedback from the others suffering our pain. This was made plain to me the other day when Graeme gave up on his teaching.
Everybody felt that he should have carried on but he had lost confidence. Nothing that we could say made any difference. For me the penny dropped when another maths teacher said, "it was three years before I taught a good lesson but I knew that my friends were in the same place."
Today I learnt loads, not just because I had a tutor on hand, it was more that I could see where my fellow students were going wrong and they could see the same in me.
The OU is distance learning but I think that the 'new' distance learning gets wrong what the OU gets right—people, and talking to people is very important; nay vital.