Planning and time management

Human biology: A body in balance (SK190) runs for nine months, between October and the following June. You will need to allocate about 16–20 hours study time per week for this module.

In order to effectively navigate around your other commitments, e.g. paid employment, childcare, hobbies and holidays (don’t forget you need to eat and sleep!), a little time management will go a long way in making sure you create adequate study time. Where relevant, you could use audio recordings of your study to help you revise – on your commute to work, while you get your daily exercise, or while you attend to household chores!

Remember to also consider if you are committed to any other study. Studying another 60-credit OU module at the same time as SK190 (a total of 120 credits), for example, would require a total study time of 32–40 hours a week. We provide breaks in late December (2 weeks) and in March or April (1 week); however, throughout the rest of the nine-month period, you would be expected to keep up to date with your studies and submit assignments at regular intervals.

Use the grid below to help you calculate and allocate yourself time for SK190 study. Consider your other commitments in a typical week. For each day, enter the amount of time that you are likely to be able to spend studying. Remember to also include some time off, as this is a schedule you will need to keep up with for nine months!

If you have no time available on a particular day, either leave the box blank or enter zero.

Spending sufficient study time is likely to be the most important factor in assessing your own chances of success on this module. We know that some students will study at faster or slower rates than others, and we have prepared the module with this in mind. If you have no previous study experience, or have not studied recently, you may need to allocate the full 20 hours a week. If you have a science or health qualification already (for example, a recent GCSE or A Level, or have studied the Open University module SDK100 Science and health) you may find that you are able to cover some of the core content in a little less time.

You may also find it useful to work through the following activity: At a crossroads: navigating work and/ or family alongside study - OpenLearn - Open University