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.

Change of tactics, a CMA completed and a TMA marked

I've decided to change tactics to see how it goes. Instead of alternating between MT365 and M336 unit by unit, I'm going a block of units on one, then a block of units on the other. The reason is to try to space out the TMA's/CMA's better. So...

I'm almost at the end of the MT365 block, and have completed the corresponding CMA which isn't actually due for another 6 weeks or so, and I'm well into the TMA too. Let's see how it works out.

I also got back my TMA01 for MT365 late last week and scored 92%. I was a tiny bit disappointed with that as I got 95% for the first TMA on M336, and I thought I would have done better on MT365. Still, it's a decent mark, so I'm not complaining.

No more computing! TM470 and M256 results are here

I looked at my student home page this morning, and couldn't believe what I was reading...

M256 - Distinction
TM470 - Grade 2 pass

This was much better than I was expecting. The relief that all the computing work is over, and I haven't spoiled things with some poor results has left me feeling quite emotional.

Now I feel I can move on.

Two TMA's in the post, 25% of the course work complete

So, both M336 and MT365 TMA01's are consigned to the Royal Mail and I can now say that 25% of the academic years coursework is complete.

Although I can't quite see the light at the end of the tunnel yet, I have the feeling it might just be visible around the next corner.

First post of the academic year 2013/2014

It's been a while since I last posted. To be brutally honest, I've lost my motivation almost entirely. The problems I had with my tutor on TM470 have left me with a foul taste of all things OU related, and it's caused me to get off to a bad start on what is hopefully my final year. Just 2 math modules, and it's all over.

So, what's happened? not much really, I messed up my exam for M256 in October, so I'm not expecting the best of grades, and the less said about TM470 the better. Still, I can't change anything there, and I should have both of those results by the end of the month.

I've started both MT365 and M366, and am more or less enjoying one of those (MT365). I use the word 'enjoying' rather loosely, because I'd much rather be out riding my bike you understand!

Because I've been a bit slack on the studying, I've had to take a few days off work to ensure I get my TMA's and CMA's in on time. They all seem to come at once, so it's a bit of a struggle, but I just put my first CMA for MT365 in, and TMA01 for M366 is almost done. TMA01 for MT365 is in-progress, and hopefully I'll be somewhere near with it by the end of play tomorrow.

I've added a countdown section to the blog which just tracks the number of TMA's, CMA's and exams I have remaining. I'm hoping that as the numbers start to diminish, it will give me some further motivation.

That's all for now!

I must be going mad

I registered for another starting in October...MT365

TM470 TMA02 Submitted

Well, it's gone. I'm not expecting big things, because I'm not really in-tune with the whole thing, which is process and documentation top-heavy, and in no way conducive to productivity for an individual developer working on a software development project.

I sort of understand why it is the way it is, but it does nothing for my motivation. Perhaps if I was remotely interested in joining the BCS at the end of all this, that would add something, but I'm not.

Actually on the subject of the BCS, the only person I have encountered in the whole of my career that I know for sure was a member was someone on my M253 team a couple of years back, yet they claim to have 70,000 members worldwide. You would have thought that in 30+ years in the business I would have bumped into a few more. Maybe I have, and didn't recognise what the letters on the business card stood for at the time.

From breadboard to Arduino shield

The initial circuit I made on the breadboard was OK for a quick test to check everything worked as expected, but I needed something a bit more robust with less wires flailing around. So I designed a circuit on stripboard that could be used as a simple Arduino shield. This is much better to work with.

And you know what? It still works!!!

my Arduino shield

... plugged into the Arduino

TM470 Project - time to reveal a bit about it

My project has an element to it that involves some electronics, and I've been informed by my tutor that the building of this hardware part cannot be considered as part of the TM470 project. In other words, I can't get any marks for that part, and as such it doesn't officially form part of my project. It's a shame really, because it's an integral part of my system, and without it there is no project. But those are the rules, so I will have to abide by them.

On the plus side, since this part is not marked, and doesn't form part of the official project, I see no reason at all why I can't write about it here, so from time to time, I intend to write about my progress in this area.

Today I made some positive steps with what I will refer to as my 'bluetooth transmitter'. At this stage, it's just a prototype, and it will eventually be miniaturised somewhat, but the basic idea is the same.

The transmitter unit is based on the Arduino and a cheap bluetooth module from off ebay. The idea is that it takes readings from a wheel/disc and transmits that to the receiver unit which forms another part of my system. I won't say any more about the rest of the system at this stage , as I'm not sure whether that would contravene some of the OU rules.

Here are a few pictures of what I have so far...

bluetooth transmitter on breadboard

hooked up to the Arduino

test rig

sensor and magnet (and rolled up train ticket)

Right now, I have a simple prototype with data being exchanged successfully between a Java program on the PC and the Arduino. More to come later...
 

TM470 first TMA submitted

TMA01 for TM470 was submitted today. Rather late for me, as the deadline is tomorrow, and I'm usually in advance of that. In the end I had to take a day off work to ensure I finished it in time.

I'm keen enough to get the project work done, as the end product is something that I will use myself, but writing the document for the TMA was a real drag, and I enjoyed nothing about the process. I spent ages writing, rearranging, deleting, re-wording etc. with a feeling that it wasn't moving my project forward in any way. All it's done is dampen my enthusiasm.

Still, it's out of the way now, so on with the real project work.

TM470 Project Idea

TM470 consists of a self-chosen project, and I've had something in mind for a while, so I'd already given it some thought. Prior to the module starting, we are asked to post our project ideas on the module forum in order to get comments from other students and the OU forum moderator.

So....last night I posted my idea, an this morning there was a comment from the moderator, who simply agreed that it was something that should provide a good basis for a project. Good news at this stage. Not all students project ideas were so well-received. I looked at a few others, and some were really lame, and didn't seem challenging or innovative to me.

I won't reveal any more about my project at this stage, at least until it's official, but stay tuned...

Breaking open the piggy bank - TM470

Riding on the crest of the wave caused by my M362 result, and in a fit of madness I registered for the TM470 (The computing and IT project) module starting in February 2013. This will be my penultimate module in computing, with just the level 2 M256 remaining, which I also plan to start at the same time.

TM470 is the second most expensive module I've registered for. At £775 (under the transitional fees) for a lowly 30 credits, it works out at a whopping £25.83 per credit, compared to the average of around £15 per credit. £775 is over double what I paid for M208, which is a mighty 60 credits!

Why is that you might ask? And rightly so, because it comes with no hard-copy materials, and there is no exam, just 3 hefty TMA's to complete. I find it hard to justify paying this out of my own pocket, but it's mandatory for my degree program and that's that, so I'd just better get over it.

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.

M208 TMA01 marked

Well, I got back the first TMA, and I'm very satisfied with the 87% I received, as this is well over what I can realistically expect to get in the exam at the end of the year. I'm not trying to be defeatist, but there is no way I will ever get a distinction in the exam, because I'm just too slow (apart from the tiny matter that I don't understand half of it).

Just another 6 to go...

M362 TMA03 Result

The result for TMA03, which was the final TMA for M362, and I got 95%, which is my best of all the TMA's for this module. Now it's just down to how high I can score in the exam in October.

I've purchased 3 past exam papers and will be working through these as preparation for the exam in addition to whatever revision I can manage to fit in. I really should try to give it some focus, but my mind is on some other stuff right now. 

M362 TMA02 finished

I need some time off now, the exams last week left me a bit drained, but I had to have the M362 TMA02 in by the 26th of this month, so I finished it off today. I think I made a pretty good job of it, but we'll see. I got 94% on the first TMA (don't think I posted about that)

For both TMAS's I've had to use Netbeans, rather than do the development in Eclipse (my usual trick) which is for me a bit of a pain since I'm really comfortable with Eclipse, and I don't like Netbeans one bit. I still end up pasting the code into Eclipse to get it formatted for insertion into the Word document since it's easier to do that than fight with Netbeans.

M362 First TMA completed

Well, I finally got around to doing this. I only had a week to spare, but it took less time than I expected. The coding tasks were straight forward, but I didn't enjoy the other parts. Too much "discuss..." or "explain why..." for my liking, I much prefer just cranking out program code. My mark will probably suffer as a result.

Still, it's off my plate now and I can focus on MS221 with the dreaded exam looming ever nearer!