M208 Success!

This one means a lot to me. I may have only got a grade 3 pass, with the 63% I scored in the exam, but it really took some hard work on my behalf to achieve that.

I've repeatedly replied to friends and family, when asked, that I was in danger of failing this module, only to be met with a flippant "oh, you'll pass" in response, but I wasn't seeking encouragement, I was simply stating the truth, that failure was a real possibility.

In the end I took two weeks off work, and just practiced on past papers, and without this I'm sure the result would have been a different story altogether.

But hey, that's all my level-2 maths out of the way now, just two modules to finish off for this academic year, and then I will study my final two modules starting in October.

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!

M208 decisions, decisions

I just got my M208  TMA05 paper back, and it bucked the downward trend with a mighty 80%. A quick look at the assignment calculator and I reckon I now have enough OCAS marks to keep me in the safety zone without doing the final two TMA's at all. Granted, I'm going to be settling for a lowish overall mark, but I actually think I have more OCAS marks than I'm going to get for the OES part anyway.

I think it would actually take the pressure off a bit if I forgot about the TMA's and just concentrated on revision.

I might just fire off an email to my tutor to that effect.

Two TMA's out of the way

I finally finished M208 TMA05 today which has been a bit of a marathon, and then M256 TMA02 which isn't due until June, but I didn't want it disturbing my exam week.

Feels good to have cleared a bit off my plate!

M208 heading south

Hmm, just 68% for TMA04, and it seems only a few weeks back that I was saying what a disappointment my 79% for TMA03 was.

Well, this reflects the way things are going really, I'm feeling really jaded with the whole OU thing, and I'm struggling with motivation. I've considered just packing it all in, but then again I keep thinkig that there are just a few weeks to go to the exam, and only 3 more M208 TMA's

Although I think it's highly unlikely I will pass M208 at this point (based on the fact that I hardly understand any of it) I may as well continue through to the end of the course and give the exam a shot, as there is always a slight possibility I can scrape a pass.

M208 TMA03 is marked

Got it back this morning, and a disappointing 79%. I say disappointing, but it's not really. If I get anywhere near 79% in the exam I will be over the moon. However, I think it's about the worst mark I've ever had in a TMA

Progress Update

I feel like it's time for a progress update!

I've been struggling with M208, not really enjoying it, and I'm finding the workload a bit heavy. Most of my weekends are now ruined with OU work. The scary thing is that I have 2 more modules starting in February, so it's only going to get worse! Still, I'm about 60% of the way through TMA03, and there are only 4 more after that, so I'm closing in on the halfway point.

Christmas was a write-off, as was the week before, and week after, since I was suffering with an abscess on my tooth which would not go away despite visits to the dentist and 2 doses of antibiotics.  I found I couldn't concentrate for more than a few seconds because of the pain. I would read a sentence, then realise I couldn't remember a word of it, re-read it and immediately forget it once again. So in the end I gave up.

I have, however, done quite a bit of research for my TM470 project, and officially I needn't have done that at this point, since the module has not yet started, but my project is challenging, and I need to get a lot of things clear in my head, since I will struggle for time otherwise. So I'm fairly happy at this point.

I did have an unpleasant episode related to my TM470 project, when an update to Windows 8 on my PC caused Bluetooth to stop working (a clue to one component of my project there). It took me a number of hours to resolve it. In a nutshell, I ended up editing the registry because the Bluetooth Support Service had the wrong account. This had been working on Windows 8, so it must have been cause by one of MS's wonderful update patches.

For my own reference:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\bthserv

set

ObjectName = NT Authority\LocalService

(was LocalSystem without the NT Authority part)

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...

Pure Maths is next

My OU schedule over the last 12 months has been almost the same as that of a full-time university student, in that I've taken 110 points of study. Juggling the demands of a full-time job, and also my training (cycling / running) schedule alongside the study was difficult, and I think this was reflected in the result for my MS221 exam. I simply did not do enough study or revision.

I'm not a natural at Maths, I find it difficult. In fact at school I was pretty convinced I'd failed my o-level, and only just scraped through it. I then went on to pass additional maths at o-level, again just scraping though.  Now it has to be said that at school I was a lazy sod frankly, and was more interested in sport, music, girls and beer (not necessarily in that order), but it doesn't hide the fact that I was poor at maths.

However, I like a challenge, and I don't give up easily, so I've signed up for M208. This will test me thoroughly, but if I make it through this course I think I will make it to the finish line!

There are no computing modules starting until February, so I will just be doing only maths for the first few months, but I'm intending to do 120 points this year which will be my heaviest schedule to date. I think it will be more manageable than this year, as I had 80 points over 3 modules starting in October and one 30 point module starting in February. This time it will be a 60 / 60 split Oct / Feb with the maths being a single module.

I didn't like continually switching between modules last year, and found myself getting confused what I'd covered where (especially on MST121 and MS221). So a single 60-pointer I'm hoping will suit me better.

We will see in September.