It's all over, finished, done, mission accomplished

Today I took a peek at my OU student homepage, and my exam results were up 8 days ahead of schedule. I was delighted with my results which was a grade 2 pass in both MT365 and M336.

I had been more than a little afraid that I might have flunked M336, but my score was actually better than that from MT365 (73% vs 71%). OK, I obviously just scraped a grade 2 in each, but that doesn't matter now. The result is what counts.

I'm feeling a bit numb currently, so I won't say any more for now. I might sink a couple of cold beers tonight to celebrate though.

M336 Exam

It finally came around, the one I'd been looking forward to like a trip to the dentist.

Four years work all riding on one stinking three hour exam. I only need a pass, just 40% will do. If there is any justice in the world the OU will grant me that small mercy.

The paper wasn't too bad as they go, but whether I have done enough I can't say. I've struggled all year with M336, and I did my best. 'nuff said.

Six weeks hence I will know, but first I have some life to catch up on.

MT365 exam

One down and one to go.

Just got back home after sitting the MT365 exam. Part one was OK, but part 2 was quite different to recent past papers and not what I was prepared for. Naturally, I ran out of time too and only attempted 2 out of the required 3 part 2 questions.

I'm fairly confident I will have done enough to pass, but it will be 6 weeks before I find out for sure.

M336 tomorrow.

2 x TMA03 complete

Last week I posted off both TMA03 papers, so now there are just 2 x TMA and 1 x CMA left, and of course the inevitable exams. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel...

M208 Exam Done!

The M208 exam was today, so it's all over now, just a case of waiting for the result.

I'm not sure how I've done, I'd like to think I scored enough to get a pass (which I will be satisfied with) but I will just have to wait until August to find out. Until then, I have plenty of things to do, such as a TMA apiece for TM470 and M256, so I will try to put M208 to the back of my mind and focus on the present.

Maybe I'll sign up for another module before I change my mind.

The state of play

It's been a while since I last posted, as I've had a lot on my plate, and simply haven't got around to it, so here is a short summary of where I'm at.

M256 TMA02, I sent in months early, so I wouldn't have to think about it in the weeks leading up to my maths exam. I didn't really do it justice, and today I got a mark of 76%, which is pretty poor really, but is probably a wake-up call that I need to start doing some work on this module.

I made some calculations using the assessment calculator for M208, and realised that whether I actually did one of the two remaining TMA's on M208 or not, wasn't really going to affect my score too much, and so I made a stab at TMA07, and a half-hearted attempt at TMA06, and sent both in together. I got 74% for TMA07, and 50% for TMA06. This is enough to average me comfortably above 70%, and since there is no possible way on earth I will get over 85% for the exam, I'm more than happy with that for the overall.

So now I'm revising for M208 which is on Friday this week. This is the critical exam for me, as I think it's in the balance whether I actually pass or not!

M362 Result

My first level 3 module, and I scored 90% in the exam. Add that to my 92% for the course work, it it makes for a comfortable distinction. This is the highest overall score I have had to date, and at level 3, counts for a lot towards the grade of my final degree (should I ever get there).

I am more than pleased, and that gives me just the boost I need to book a place on another module in February 2013.

As a foot note, I do admit to doing more than my usual amount of revision for a computer exam, however, I far from over-worked on the course work, although I gave it my best on each of the TMA's.

A pretty good module, interesting in parts, and informative too.

M362 Exam Done!

Another module over and done.

Looking at the seating plan outside of the room, I was the only person there doing M362 today, which was a first for me. I was right at the back of the room too, which I prefer (some sort of animal instinct about not knowing what's going on behind I think) and I felt pretty relaxed all in all. The exam went OK I think, but you never can tell.

This exam was a more 'wordy' type rather than the emphasis on coding, but it could have been worse, and I comfortably finished within the time limit (another first, and not a bad sign I hope). I wonder if I got all the buzz-words they were looking for? Time will tell.

Results should be out in December sometime I think.

 All in all, I think M362 is a pretty decent module. I quite enjoyed parts of it, and I think I actually learned something new in parts too.

MS221 - It's all over!

The exam is over, and I got off to a bad start, almost missing it completely as I'd got it into my head that it was at 13:30, and found out at the last minute it was at 10:00. I just managed to catch a train and get there with 15 minutes to spare.

As for the exam itself, it didn't go too well. I'd been trying past papers (3 in fact this week) and in each one, I only scored 34-39%, so I knew it was going to be touch and go. As it happened, I didn't have time to make a start ion part 2, (28% down the drain there). And failed to answer at least 2 of part one (another 12% there). So realistically, it's goping to be touch and go whether I pass or not, and even if I do, it will be a poor mark. I'm not holding my breath.

I knew I was going to struggle, as I'm pretty slow, and have a memory like a sieve when it comes to maths, but I did my best on the day. I just hope it was enough.

M257 Finished

On Tuesday I sat the M257 exam, and I was a bit disappointed with my performance. Despite finishing in 2 hours on each of the practice papers I tried, when it came to the actual exam, I actually ran out of time (3 hours). This was due mainly to me taking a bit more care over the answers, and trying to write neater.  I should have learned that this would happen from my M255 exam last year where I just managed to finish within the 3 hours.

I also made a bad choice of question in the second part, and chose the wrong one! In addition to making a few dumb errors on the first part.

Consequently, I think a distinction is out of the window this time, but still hope for the next best thing. I should find out by the end of July.

Exams Looming (wishing I had more time)

Just over a week to go to my exams, and frankly at this stage I'm pretty worried about it. I've been going through maths exercises becoming more and more depressed as I can barely remember a thing!

I'm going to have to focus on the MS221 entirely and just hope I can scrape through. I will put one or two days of revision in for M257, which I think should be enough to get me through that, but maybe not enough for a distinction, but it will have to be enough as I can't afford to fail MS221.

This seems utterly bizarre to people when I tell them how worried I am, since I've scored so highly in TMA's. But having books to hand, and all the time in the world makes a BIG difference.

Wish me luck!

M255 final exam

I sat the M255 exam today, no problem with the material, although I almost ran out of time, because I was trying to ensure my writing was legible, and I was pretty slow because of that.

I'm hoping that I've scored enough to get a distinction but I can't be sure, 15 points can be lost pretty easily, and of course, I remembered something I missed a couple of hours after finishing. I'll just have to wait until December to find out.

Another model complete though.