Open University

I’ve now completed the first section of study on the Open University course and submitted the first of four TMA’s (tutor marked assessment). The first TMA was only 500 words which I thought was a bit ridiculous, the first assessment for the social science course was 800 words. I completed the case study and submitted it for marking, the results came back and my first reaction was dissapointment, I did far better on my first TMA on the social science course, however the comments from the tutor were pretty good and friends (ex-students) have said that it was fine, it’s also only worth 10% of the overall mark. I got 66%.

I’m now working on the section covering human resource management, which has been hard going it’s not the most interesting (for me) topic, although I did enjoy the bit about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. I’m now in the process of writing the second TMA.

The Degree

In November I applied for an entrepreneurship and marketing management degree at a university in Edinburgh. To help my chances I updated my application to include four other associated courses and last week I received a response – five unconditional offers.
To say I was flabbergasted was an understatement. I’ve accepted my first choice and look forward to enrolling in September

I’m not a great fan of these type of posts but I am desperate to tell you a few things;

1. Please check out this post ‘SexEd from Early Years’ at British Parent Bloggers and get involved in the discussion.

2. I have a cool new three piece suite, I’m pretty excited as a) it’s the first ‘new’ suite I’ve ever had b) It’s a funky teal and grey and brown colour c) The chair is a swivelling, rocking, recliner d) Erin hasn’t spilled anything on it yet and it’s been…like…24 hours already…

3. I have a new job working as a food and beverage associate at a fancy restaurant located in a country club, and to be honest I’m really excited to be back working even though it’s just ten hours a week waitressing, it’ll be nice just to have a change of pace a couple of days a week.? Oh yeah, and I’m looking forward to picking up some recipe ideas and tips.

4. The Uni degree is motoring on, my second essay has been sent in and I’m at the mercy of the tutor now.? Wish me luck.

5. Does anyone know how to upload photos on the most up to date wordpress? I keep getting HTTP error messages.

6. Littlemummy.com turned two last month and I have renewed the domain for like ten years or something so I have the best of intentions to keep up the postings.

7. I’m looking for some fresh reading material, leave your URL in the comments and I’ll add to my newsreader. ta.

My social science course with the Open University (OU) started in May. The first ‘package’ arrived late in April and included workbooks, cd’s, dvd’s, study pamphlets and the main course books. To be honest it all looked a little intimidating and I wondered where to start, until I found the most important document – the study calendar.

The study calendar provides a week by week guide as to where you should be on the course and what you need to achieve to stay on target. I started at Week 1 and tentatively turned to the corresponding materials, in hindsight I needn’t have worried, the way the course is laid out is excellent – way beyond my expectations. Each stage leads onto the next, nurturing you from ‘headless chicken student’ into ‘I’m in control student’, and that’s after only 5 weeks!

The materials are varied as mentioned above and of excellent quality, each study period can involve a multi-medial approach which I find keeps the course fresh and interesting. My course is split into four sections divided as such by the Tutor Marked Assignment (TMA) due at the end of each “block”. The TMA is sent and returned with tutor notes to help you improve, I’ve just received my first back and was pleased to see a score of 80%, there’s a long way to go but at least it’s a start.

I’d highly recommend anyone who has ever considered doing something similar to look into it. I’ve found it easy to manage around other commitments and it’s worth mentioning again that this course hasn’t cost me anything as it was fully funded, the next will probably cost me a couple of hundred pounds but I definitely think it’s worth it.