There are two types of assignments:

• written assignments, in the form of four tutor-marked assignments (TMAs) and an end-of-module assignment (EMA)
• interactive computer-marked assignments (iCMAs) - each one consists of about 24 questions, which are accessed and submitted for grading online. Students can then view a worked solution, as well as their grade for each question.

Each TMA and the EMA consists of about half a dozen questions, and students send their written solutions for their tutor for grading. A tutor is likely to write plenty of comments on a TMA before it is returned, as TMAs are used as a way of providing individualised teaching and encouragement to students. The end-of-module assignment is based on the whole module, and takes the place of an examination.

In order to pass MU123, you need to achieve an average of 40% or more on all of the assignments.

Below is a tutor-marked assignment question based on the material covered in the Unit 5 extract.

First try writing an answer to the question yourself, but don't worry if it seems too difficult, as you haven't had the benefit of the previous eight weeks of study on the module, together with the accompanying assignments and assistance from a tutor!