Personal Blogs

Forging onwards with AA100 and my next module, the brand-new, shiny U214 starts in a couple of weeks!

And I'm starting a new job around the same time!

Hopefully I'll be able to juggle all of this and end up where I want to be. I've already decided that, if anything has to give it's going to be the job and not the studying... that said, with a bit of planning and organisation it won't come to that.

For my next trick, figuring out how to fit in some kind of social life...

Got TMA2 back and it turned out to be a combination of overcomplication, paranoia, and silly. I got a better mark than I expected! Happy.

So... Christmas! The predictable late afternoon boredom set in so I decided to break out the paints again. One day I'll have to try painting something with the correct materials (oil paints and canvas, rather than cheapo acrylics and a piece of A3 paper I found lying around...)

This is ALL down to the Cézanne chapter of the AA100 module. Warning: I've also found the poetry chapter very interesting...

Bonus points awarded for working out what it's supposed to be... :D

So I got my first TMA back yesterday, and my initial reaction was one of being happy with the result. I agree with the result, and I can see some things to improve next time out, and I'm starting to develop a reasonable idea of how I'm going to approach the next one. On the surface, this is good. It did, however, get me thinking about success and failure as a whole.

I want to consider this for a few minutes. Let's say a student scores, say, 60% on a module. Every assignment and exam... 60%. They'd pass the module - congratulations. Looking closer though, what does that 60% mean? Is 60% success? In the context of the module, there's a strong to case to say yes. It's cut and dry: 60% is a pass.

Many opinions spring to mind: The student showed no signs of improvement throughout the course. The marks were solid and consistent. The work was never outstanding. It was never bad. What happens, though, if other students around our example all got 85%? They'd all pass, too, with a distinction. Would they be equally happy, or more happy than someone who passed on 60%?

Which brings me to the subjectivity thought. All of our examples would be actual people, with circumstances of their own, challenges of their own, goals and aims of their own. What would be the greater achievement, getting a distinction while completing the module as a 'hobby' in retirement, or scoring a pass while holding down a full-time job and looking after children?

If someone says that they 'did their best' or 'achieved their potential' does this feel like an excuse for not doing better, or that deep satisfaction of a job well done?

Moving away from the context of studying for a moment, if a company delivers 60% or 85% of it's annual profits target, this could be seen as failure. Suddenly even 85% is not good enough. Then again, 85% in a time of economic mayhem could potentially be seen in a positive way.

So what to aim for? Top marks with lots of room for disappointment? Consistency? Constant improvement? A distinction? A pass? To do better than others, or certain others?

Don't think I've really gotten anywhere with this... if it was an assignment it would be the first draft! For me at least, it's something of a 'feeling' thing. When I first saw my score I felt happy. Now it's more of a qualified happiness: I want to do better, so I'm going to try.

I feel I can do better. :D

So yeah, writing the Cézanne assignment and decided to take a break. After the amuisment I had with painting DM, I decided to tackle Lightning McQueen as well...

...

... apparently there were Romans, Egyptians (possibly Greek), potentially opinionated historians from almost two thousand years ago, Germans selling their souls to the devil, and paintings of fruit.

Could this module be any more diverse? Or interesting.....?

I'm an admitted sufferer of 'shiny thing' syndrome: if I find something interesting, I find it REALLY interesting. Maybe I could describe myself as an academic magpie. Or does that have negative connotations? Will this blog post be read critically, or just skimmed? What does it say about me? What will readers think of me?

Who knows? Does anyone know?

Conclusion: In the beginning there were a heck of a lot of questions and a distinct shortage of answers...