My last TMA mark (ever?)

MT365 TMA04, my last TMA mark (ever I hope) ... wait for it ... 83%

Not great, but more than the 0% i needed to get a distinction level mark for OCAS. So my unofficial OCAS for MT365 (according to the grade predictor) is 91.4% before substitution and 92% after substitution.

I'm satisfied if a little underwhelmed.

Exam in 11 days time!

M336 final TMA marked

I wasn't expecting much, since this TMA was incomplete (I simply couldn't do it) but I got 65%, which gives me 87.5% overall for OCAS before substitution, and 90% with substitution. This leaves me in the best possibility going into the exam, that is, there is a possibility (however small) of an overall distinction for the module (laughs). I will be more than satisfied if I achieve a pass!

Four years of submitting TMA's comes to an end

Well, that's it, M336 TMA04 is sealed up in an envelope and ready to be posted off tomorrow. What a great anti-climax.

In, the end I was unable to complete a fairly big chunk of it, and it's a disappointment to have to submit something of such poor quality for my final paper, but my scores on the previous papers have been good, so according to the assessment predictor, a mere 28% should be enough to gain a distinction overall for OCAS, and despite my misgivings about this paper, I'd be disappointed if I got less than that.

As I said in my previous post, focus is now all on the looming exams.

So there you go, 4 years worth of TMA's finally comes to an end.

Final TMA for MT365 done, still some to go on M336

I completed the final TMA for MT365 this morning, and it's now in a sealed envelope ready for posting later today. 

I struggled with the final block on M336, and have a few gaps to fill in the TMA. I'm hoping that my next tutorial helps fill those gaps, so that will have to wait a couple of weeks. Worst case is I will hand it in semi-finished.

M336 TMA03 marked, but what did I score?

The marked TMA03 dropped through the letterbox, but my tutor seems to have had some trouble with my final score, so it's not clear whether I got 91% or 88%, it's difficult to tell with all the crossings out and corrections on the summary sheet. Either way though, it's enough to get me the 70%+ for OCAS that I've been shooting for without the need to compete the final TMA (just as well, because I've hardly understood a jot of block 4 and I don't really understand the TMA questions either)

I'll have to wait until the mark appears online to find out what I really got.

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...

MT365 TMA02 marked

A couple of silly errors (missed answering a part) meant my score was reduced to a lowly 89%. Not that I care too much since that's still up in the distinction zone, and there ain't no way I'm going to get a distinction grade in the exam.

Calculating my overall score so far, I get 46.65% (before substitution) for OCAS, and that's already over the pass mark even if I don't hand in another paper, so I should be looking at well over 70% for OCAS in the end.

M336 TMA02 marked

99% WTF! I've never scored that high in a Maths TMA before, and what's more, I'm finding this module really tough. I was honestly expecting around 70% for this TMA, but I'll take 99% thank you very much.

This means I already have over the 40% I need for the OCAS part of this module. I can relax a little bit I think.

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.

M336 off to a good start

My TMA01 came back in the post today just 2 days after the deadline for submission. That must be some sort of record. The result hasn't even appeared on my student homepage yet, which is a bit suspicious, but anyway according to the PT3 form I scored 95% which is probably another record (for me in a Maths TMA that is).

It's been a pretty good week all round for me regarding the OU, so things are certainly looking up.

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.

The TM470 torture is over

TM470 has been a painful experience, but I've sent in my EMA, and all I can do now is wait for the result. My marks all along have been pretty rubbish despite my best efforts, so I'm not expecting anything earth-shattering in terms of a result, but I've put more hours into this module than any other.

My tutor and I didn't gel from the get-go, and communication between us has been a struggle to say the least, so on the one module where I've needed the most help, I've received the least.

But no point dwelling on that now, there is only a few weeks until M256 exam, and then into the final year of studies. Can't wait to get my life back.

TM470 TMA03

It's been some time since I posted, and although I've had this TMA marked for some time, I've not reported on here. The reason being that I was so incensed by some of the comments by my tutor (who I'm not getting on at all well with) that I felt it better I wrote nothing than something I might regret.

Let's just say I was (and am still) not happy, and leave it at that.

TM470 TMA03 dispatched

I sweated blood over this darned thing, and finally sent it in last night. Already I can think of some things I missed, but hey-ho it's gone now, no point fretting about it. Man, do I hate this module!

I think I should do a ranking of the modules I've done, at some point, TM470 won't be the top, but it will probably have a place on the podium.

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!

TM470 TMA02 marked

Despite my best efforts I scored one less than on the previous TMA - 68%, but what the hell. I'm just going to focus on completing my project which I'm really doing for myself anyway.

I want to finish my project with a working solution, something that I intend to make use of myself, and there is no way that will happen if I fanny about with discussing why I made this or that decision, and documenting the bleeding obvious.

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.

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.

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!

M256 TMA01 marked

I'm back on track with this, having scored 90% on my first TMA. Actually I was just a tiny bit disappointed I didn't score higher, but given my current level of enthusiasm for the OU work (i.e. none) I suppose I should be satisfied, because I've put very little effort into this module to date.

One difficulty I have, is that having worked in the software industry for a long time, I tend to look at the  computing modules I study from a certain perspective, and to me, the material I've covered (so far) on this particular module has been so far detached from reality that I wonder what possible relevance it has. I do try to put aside my own opinions when doing the TMA's and just do exactly what is being asked for, reminding myself that it's the mark that matters, but it's not easy to do that.