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second part of TMa's

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i am still waiting for my TMA 03 mark.

So I decided to start my TMA 04 by doing the second part first.

I do like the second part of the TMA's. so self reflection or summation or engagement with previous feedback helps provide 10% of the mark.

Now we are at the business end of the module, both TMA 4 and 5 carry 25% weighting towards the final assessment score.

So making sure I have my part 2's done well can help secure some valuable marks towards my final mark.

so if ever asked for advice, I would suggest making sure you have time set aside to maximise the score of part 2's of TMA's to give yourself the best shot of a overall good assessment score.

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Waiting for the msrk

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I am not a fan of waiting for a TMA mark.

Need to know the feedback so it can be incorporated...

I am not good at siting back and waiting...

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106, including 67 years of denial

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Here's the link to the BBC news story about Brunhilde Pomsel who died today

Goebbels secretary... 

and her 106 year longevity...

Hard to see karma at work sometimes...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-38793048

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Facebook

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I have to admit i left the DD211 facebook group today.

I have tried in YO 32 and DD103 as well but left those groups early as well.

It is my fault, i think i must have different views to online learning to some of my fellow students.

I prefer to learn independently in the end.

I find the facebooks groups quite frustrating sometimes and think it is better to remove myself than get involved with them.

Goodluck to the students that enjoy them

But for me... 'i'm out'

Permalink 2 comments (latest comment by Michael Gumbrell, Sunday, 29 Jan 2017, 23:44)
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popuarlism

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The Liberal and socialist sides of debate have recently been decrying populist votes in the media.

I.E Brexit and Trump. 

Well yesterday we got some news here on a very local level.

Southampton ( Tory ) and Portsmouth ( Tory ) councils have been pushing to create a Solent Combined Authority. The Two Isle of Wight leaders ( Tory's )quit over the plans ( they were replaced by independents)

Hampshire County Council ( more Tories) opposed the plan and yesterday the government ( tory's ) killed it dead and the cities of Portsmouth, Southampton and the Isle of Wight will remain independent.

The most vocal critics of the plan have all been left wing supporters.

So when is a populist vote left wing and when is it right wing?

So I had made this infographic before Christmas to try and sum up the Solent Combined plan.


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some more satire

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Edited by Michael Gumbrell, Sunday, 29 Jan 2017, 16:36

So now my work is done for this week, albeit by 5pm on a sunday afternoon.

I can share some more satire.

This one is another Trump one, he really is brewing up a storm..

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i enjoyed block 4

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Yes I enjoyed block 4, I am so much more comfortable with compare and contrast concepts than the much broader questions from TMA 1,2and 3.

Hopefully my TMA 4 score will be my best one yet...

All I have to do now I get my head down and write it !

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owning the study planner

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Well I bump up against the far end of my study planner again.

I have done the 4 weeks of block 4 and now just need to write my TMA 04.

Same problem as last time though, my TMA 03 is not due till this coming Tuesday, so no feedback for me till my tma 03 is marked.

So I don't like to get so far ahead that the tma I have written has no feedback yet available from the tma before it.

So I think I might pause, spend a week writing tma 04 and go to the lecture next Saturday to make sure I am not too far wide of the mark with what I have written.

Only block 5 to do after that, block 6 is all revision for the exam...

nearing the end of this module already...

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more satire from me

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Edited by Michael Gumbrell, Sunday, 29 Jan 2017, 12:27

Just another bit of satire from me.

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brexit and the supreme court

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last one tonight, promise.

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Philosophical economics infographic

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Edited by Michael Gumbrell, Tuesday, 24 Jan 2017, 20:10

Just one more for the mean time, I would not want to wear out my self awarded welcome..

This one is philosophical again, economic and Portsmouth based.

For those of you not my from home town, a 'din' is a slang word for a foolish person.


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another peice of satire, this time philosophical in nature

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having worked out how to add pictures to by blog without them just having on as attachments,

I felt compelled to share some more I have done.

This one is philosophical in nature, about my home town of Portsmouth...

I hope you like these satirical infographics (memes are so goochy now)


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life outside of work and the OU

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Edited by Michael Gumbrell, Tuesday, 24 Jan 2017, 20:17

Well i found some time yesterday to do something outside of Work and the OU !

I produced another cartoon, attached above, for the Star and Crescent micro news site.

Hopefully my editor, Sarah, will like it enough to publish it with my others.

I thought i would share it here, i am studying Politics after all.

I also did a written article, 1000 words, perhaps all this TMA writing is starting to blend into my life outside the OU and work.

I call them cartoons, actually i can not draw for toffee and so produce sarcastic infographics instead!

Permalink 2 comments (latest comment by Michael Gumbrell, Tuesday, 24 Jan 2017, 19:47)
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vice chancellor's survey

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I got the email link to the online survey from the vice chancellor.

Feedback for how the complete breakdown of the tutorial booking system at the start of this module affected my study and student experience...

The online guidance suggested that it would take 5-10 minutes to do the survey,

I took me one hour !

I think I may have be very keen to use the free text boxes on the survey to register my opinions about how crap the whole tutorial experience was at the start of this module.

Anyway my feedback is complete, the free text boxes in the survey full.

How long do you think it will take the office of the vice chancellor to feedback on our feedback?

Hopefully quicker than it took them to sort out being able to book a tutorial online.

I am rather confused how they think the new system of having tutorial centre's that you can book into is better or offers me more choice than the old system?

I live in Portsmouth, so I go to the tutorial in Southampton. The next nearest one to me would be central London (80 miles away and a nightmare to park) or Oxford ( 90 miles away and a fantastical bad ring road to navigate) or Exeter (200 miles away and hours of sitting on the A303 waiting to move).

So my choice is the  same as it was before, go to Southampton or do not go to a tutorial.

I would hope some of my fellow students were not having to make 200 miles ( 5 hour) round trips to just get to tutorial...... Hopefully.

Permalink 2 comments (latest comment by Michael Gumbrell, Tuesday, 24 Jan 2017, 20:04)
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block 4

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Block 4 is interesting, far less of a drag than block 3 'ideology'

Good to get back to so work that can be summerised and compared and contrasted.

First time in this module that we get some things that we can compare.

So I am happy this month, that might change when I start stressing about getting the TMA 4 done and the TMA 3 mark and feedback, back.

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tma 03

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well i got my tma 03 written.

I filled 105% of the word count so now I can go to the lecture on Saturday with a written version that I can update I the tutorial throws up anything I completely missed.

So now onto block 4, the us and uk political systems.

I am glad to have got through block 3 and ideology, hopefully block 4 will be less of a grind.

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ideology, the grind

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I said in my last blog I was struggling with ideology.

it has not gotten any better.

I chapter on ideologies of welfare is huge, dense and very contextual.

I think my tma 3 will be about the ideology of welfare, I think there is such a wealth of material to work with that I can edit down my tma 3 word count with it, rather than struggle to get to the word count.

however I think that after scoring 83 and 86 for my first two tma's, I will be hard to get a mark like that for my third one.

I will not let that bother me too much, as the module progresses then the material gets harder and more dense, it was like that last year as well. Bot of course as it becomes harder as the weeks pass, I have to make a definite effort to remain focused and motivated.

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tma 2

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I was pleased to score 86 for my tma 02.

it was a really small word count and it was hard work to make the count.

I am struggling with tma 3. ideology in political practice.

I have completed the block but when it comes to writing the tma, it feels like I have a very fuzzy understanding and I am finding it hard to bring the words I need for the tma into focus.


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made it to a tutorial

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I had my first tutorial of the new year yesterday.

I enjoyed it greatly.

but the venue was poor, last year my tutorials were at the university of Portsmouth, great building and excellent facilities.

This year they are at the Richard Taunton 6th form college in Southampton. Which is in poor repair and painted in prison colours. Tony Blair and the PFI scheme certainly never made it as far as that college...

Any way, had good feedback and a good score form my first TMA, and I have uploaded my second TMA for marking next month.

So all is well,


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Being Published...

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To take a moment away from my personal level 1 versus level 2 panic's,

i have been published!

I am now the volunteer (unpaid) satirical infographic writer for the Star and Crescent, which is a local news organisation that looks at Portsmouth and the events and politics involved with running a 5 square mile island, with a population of 140,000 and the countries largest naval base all contained within it's island shoreline.

I am really proud to be published, even if my own contribution is somewhat odd and cynical.

This is the link in case you want to see my work.


http://www.starandcrescent.org.uk/2016/11/14/3208council-millions-us-billionaire/



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Block 3

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I feel a theme is developing.

Level 2 is hard.

I started block 1 and though, wow this is hard. I had calmed down by the end of the block.

Then I started Block 2 and wow that was hard, I again felt calmer by the time I had worked through the block, but the TMA from this block will not be marked for another 6 weeks...

Just started block 3, and wow is it all hard again. So I need to keeping working through the block and hopefully some clarity will arrive by the end of the Block.

This is very, very hard.

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ideology

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I am up to week 11 now, ideology, the first week of block 3.

This is all very hard work, level 2 is such a step up.

My TMA 01 will be marked this week, so I am looking forward tot he feedback.

It is okay to get ahead of the study planner, but getting too far ahead without feedback can be risky. At least it gives me time to go back and revise sections if I have got the wrong end of the stick with the course.

Hopefully my next block will have positive feedback from my tutor and I wont have to revisit too much of the course until the scheduled revision weeks at the end of the course.


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week 9- Sovereignty

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Week 9 is another dense week.

Sovereignty is a lot of work. Probably made my biggest set of chapter notes this week.

I am glad I have made notes each week, the idea of going into an exam without the revision of chapter notes would be very scary!

So that's Block 1 and Block 2 complete. all the TMA's are written for both Blocks.

So I am happy with that situation, but still very wary of level 1 to level 2 transition, it is a big jump and a lot of work to keep up with it. hopefully I have kept up, until I get my tmas back and marked I will not know for sure.

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with one word to spare

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So I found equality a little easier than freedom, but there are more definitions to equality.

I wrote my TMA 2 this morning, just got in under the word count....by one word!

I wrote 603 words for freedom..

I wrote 659 words for equality.

so with an intro and a few lines about citizenship I really came in close to the final word count.

Close, well one word inside.

Glad that is all out the way now, just 2 weeks of block 2 to go over and then onto block 3 and another TMA. At least I have TMA1 and 2 in the bag so that should make the Christmas rush around tma 2 and 3 a bit easier.


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equality

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Edited by Michael Gumbrell, Saturday, 22 Oct 2016, 19:59

I am much calmer about week 7 and the concept of equality.

I am also starting to see how pieces of the puzzle fit together and will start to input in ideology.

so much calmer this week, would not go as far as to say I am enjoying it, but not so many worry lines on my face this week-which is good because I do not have much face space left for many more worry lines...

I also have been watching the inside parliament programme on bbc 2. Very interesting and interesting to see how people like Jacob Reeces-Moog, the member for the eighteenth century, seem to avoid the moral complexities of political life by just focusing on the constitutional aspects and procedural aspects of parliament's activity.



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