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!

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.

The Spirit of Enterprise

Here I am mid-way through preparing the second TMA for TM470, and what an exasperating experience it is proving to be. I seem to be wasting time jumping through hoops instead of getting on with the project itself.

TM470 seems to be all about the process and nothing about the result. Coming from a background where no-one pays you unless you deliver something, it really grates with me.

Let's say you order a car, and when it arrives, it's in pieces - wheels missing, the engine doesn't work and there are no brakes. The sales person says to you "...but the manual is fantastic, and the manufacturer's processes are second to none", would you be happy? I don't think so.

Entrepreneurs like Richard Branson and Alan Sugar have always struck me as people who want results, not a load of paperwork.

Maybe it's just me. Now that's off my chest - back to the TMA!

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!