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On the ‘StudentHome’ portal the OU have quite a good qualification planner that allows you to plan out courses for a degree and predict a classification. I’ve used this in the past and found it useful though the Computing and Design BSc is still so new (I assume) that it isn’t yet available on the qualification planner so I’ve had to work through manually (diddums!)
Anyway, I think I posted before about the route through the degree – in brief: 60 compulsory points at level 1 (the 2 ‘introductory’ computing/IT courses); 90 at level 2 (T211 design plus either Java or Visual Basic); 150 at level 3 (artificial intelligence M366, interaction design M364, innovation and design T307* and computing/IT project course M450*) plus to make it up to 360 points total for the degree, 60 of free choice from any undergraduate courses, with some in psychology/systems/computing being particularly recommended.
From the award regulations, we can count M256 (Software Development with Java) as long as M257 (Putting Java to Work) is also counted, these make up 60 points together thus completing the 60 points of ‘free choice’ with a computing emphasis. I also wanted to include M263 (Building Blocks of Software) as this contains the more abstract components of ‘computer science’ rather than ‘software engineering’: proof in the mathematical sense, logic, time complexity functions, etc. Not sure now what counts as a “specified” course, as the only courses specified as compulsory/optional that I haven’t already included above is Visual Basic (which I’ve not taken and don’t intend to!) seemingly ruling out M263. I’ve also got the Robotics short course (T184) counted towards it at the moment but think this will need to be unlinked.
So using the ‘Working out the class of honours’ document from the Student Policies site, the courses used to classify it will be the 150 points at Level 3 (M450, M366, M364, T307) and the remaining 90 (240 – 150) from the best grades on the others from the prescribed courses. So using the weightings specified T307 actually comes out as having the most influence since it’s not possible to make 60 points of Level 3 distinction any other way (given that M366, M364 each were a Pass 2 and in both cases I thought this was harsh as it was the first presentation and there were numerous confusions over the TMAs though I got over the 85 threshold in their exams, the OU do have some discretion to move grade boundaries but didn’t seem to have used it) so M450 doesn’t matter too much as long as it’s not awful.
Though I think M450 should be given more emphasis somehow (in the various Computing degrees not just this one) since it’s really working on an independent effort and project managing it etc that demonstrates skill and employability, rather than regurgitating course books into TMAs, as the degrees are supposed to be about employability, but oh well.
Strangely U101 (Design Thinking) isn’t specified for this degree, though it is for the BA/BSc hons in Design and Innovation (ie not ‘Computing with…’). It’s a 60 point course though so perhaps wouldn’t allow the Level 1 computing to be included then. I considered the Design and Innovation degree briefly but I think (for me personally at least) the strength is in breadth of area rather than specialisation, so Computing and Design is a much broader and more balanced degree (other than U101, there isn’t any additional “design” but is more in the business, systems and engineering type of courses).
Having pretty much decided that I want to do the named degree in Computing and Design (BSc(Hons)) I’ve been taking courses generally geared towards the study plan for that, though primarily focused on what I was interested in and then finding that they generally fitted the degree profile.
The schema (not necessarily in this study order) for the Computing and Design degree is broadly as follows:
- Level 1 – M150 (introduction to computing) and T175 (introduction to “ICT”)
- Level 2 – T211 (design and designing) and either MT264 (Visual Basic) or M255 (Java)
- Level 3 – T307 (design and innovation), M364 (interaction design), M366 (natural and artificial intelligence), M450 (computing project)
- 60 points of “free choice” recommended to be from a related subject area such as psychology or systems but do not have to be
Out of these I’ve done or am doing all except the Level 1 courses by now (more on ‘going back’ to Level 1 in a future post). That means in theory only the ‘easy’ bit is left, if I can get through this year that is!  As I have a Pass 2 on both M364 and M366 I need at least one distinction on the project courses this year in order to still be in line for a ‘First Class’ degree with this profile, though a 2:1 is also fine at this stage (it’s more of a case of choosing a suitable degree to take in all the courses, having already done a degree and Masters!), I’m not sure yet if any Distinctions are in the offing but at least there are no exams on the courses to unexpectedly do badly! (though I am one of the rare ones who seem to do better in exams than on the TMAs!)
Hopefully by seeing how far I am through it and how only a ‘relatively’ small amount is involved this year I will be able to muster up some energy and enthusiasm for the courses – not made too good a start so far by missing the tutorial I had intended to go to today!
As suggested a few months back the OU have now launched a degree (BA or BSc (Hons) depending on choice of courses etc) B61 in Design and Innovation which will use U101 (Design Thinking) as compulsory level 1, also T211 (Design and Designing) and T307 (Innovation) as well as some other specified courses. U101 has only launched this year so is currently in its first presentation – the others have been going for a while.
The optional courses for the degree (other than obviously the Design ones) involve at least 60 points at level 2 and 60 from level 3 subjects such as business, engineering, systems, etc. (The web page has the full list of acceptable courses)
As I am interested in the programming element as well as design/innovation I will be sticking with the other BSc(Hons) in Computing and Design, but this new one seems to offer a more specific title (and set of courses) to those interested in design and innovation specifically. Previously we’ve had the Diploma in Design and Innovation which I will complete this year (all being well) with T307, but nothing further than that – the Computing and Design is itself a relatively recent introduction.
(Updated 29/1/10: Please note the changes detailed in this blog post and the page linked from it)
Having now obtained the Tesco Clubcard Deals vouchers from their admin centre (£140 worth, not a bad haul from shopping etc I would have done anyway!) I’ve sent these off with a credit card number for the remaining amount to the course registration team. The total cost for T307 is £630 but then it is a 60 point course and seems to provide good value in terms of what I will actually learn and the support we get with the project etc.
As the course hasn’t officially started and I am only provisionally registered, I haven’t got details of my tutor yet. My tutor last year for T211 was brilliant, I’m not sure if he tutors on T307 as well, but if he does it would be great to get him again, but there’s no guarantee of who you will be assigned to – especially for lower population courses in which students for one tutor can be wider spread geographically.
It’s a bit of a relief to have this done actually as I have had it hanging over me for weeks – I am a master procrastinator but people like me do need to meet a deadline eventually!
If you don’t already know about the Tesco Clubcard Deals, have a look around this site and at the Clubcard website, as I really believe that for many OU students this can benefit them greatly (unless you have an ideological opposition to Tesco in some way in which case I probably will not change your mind!) – I don’t work for Tesco or anything, just have found the scheme to be of great benefit to me and others!
The results seem to come out in a few batches and a few people (on other courses) seemed to have already had them but today was my turn, T211 (design) and M257 (java) in this case. Good news, I’ve somehow managed to get Distinctions for both! (with TMA averages in the 90s, but only just scraped through the exam Distinction level!)
No specific qualifications completed by these but both will contribute to qualifications (my first focus being the Diploma in Design and Innovation, the second half of which is T307 which I will do next, and then the Computing and Design degree) so should be a good inspiration for next year! which I think will be rather more intensive.
As I’m now just waiting for the results I haven’t updated here for a while – only 2 and a bit weeks to go now though!
Have had all the registration stuff through for M450 (including postal confirmation of the internet page etc – strange considering that I registered online so already know all this stuff and particularly as I answered a preference ages ago to send mailings electronically rather than on hard copy where possible – why bother asking if you’re going to just send hard copy anyway!) so looking forward to getting started on that in February.
At some point before the end of December I need to submit the form showing what level 3 computing courses I’ve done and the primary course orientation for my project. Which would involve having a general idea of what the project’s likely to be – I have a couple of ideas but have to think about scope (too much or too little? time taken – technical skills – etc) and everything before being able to say what the emphasis is, but it will be either M366 (Artificial Intelligence) or M364 (Interaction Design).
Having done both M366 and M364 in their respective first years of presentation, there were a few glitches during the courses resulting in a couple of cases (in my opinion) in not doing as well on the TMAs as I could have, as TMAs were changed a bit and it was new for everybody. On both courses I got high 70s-low 80s grades on all the TMAs and then a Distinction-level mark in the exam, resulting in a Pass 2 overall. In some cases the exam boards have some discretion to move the boundaries a bit in situations like this, but apparently this wasn’t one of those cases. So in spite of “only” achieving a Pass 2 on both these I feel like this wasn’t due to a lack of knowledge or ability but was more due to it being the first presentation of the courses. Will be interesting (?) to compare the split of Pass 1/2/3/4 on the aggregated exam results for the first and subsequent presentations.
As M450 is a 30 point course – albeit perhaps taking more time per week than the average 30 point if I choose something relatively ‘difficult’ as a project – that leaves up to 90 points remaining for the year to run alongside. I’ve 99% decided on taking T307 (level 3 design) as well, haven’t registered yet as I need to sort out the Tesco vouchers first (this is an act of coordination requiring actually finding the vouchers first and foremost!) but should be able to shortly. T307 is another 60 points but in view of having already done T211 and seeming to have a ‘knack’ for design activity (T307 is in much the same vein as T211 but more on sustainability and innovation) I feel like I can be confident about this one in terms of workload and skills.
M450 and T307 are both ‘project’ courses (wholly or partly) and do not have an exam – so will only have one exam to procrastinate over take next year in spite of doing 3 courses. It leaves a ‘spare’ 30 points in which if I wanted to or needed to get ahead I could take something else which is between MS221 (maths), M256 (software development, more on the UML etc than the java side though also some programming), M150 or T175 which will be required for the Computing and Design degree.
M150 and T175 both have a presentation in Oct as well as Feb so the alternative is to take those 2 concurrently in October once the others finish – allowing all courses for the Computing and Design degree to be complete in June 2011 therefore. This is probably the preferred option since I will have to do at least one of them in Oct anyway (for that degree and based on other workload) so degree will take until June in any case.
MS221 looks fun but as it would be a bit of a learning curve (not done the Level 1 maths) might be unwise to do alongside another “intensive” course (M450) and as part of 120 points in general so leaving a probable plan as:
Feb 2010:
T307 – design
M450 – computing project
M256 – software development with java
Oct 2010:
M150 – computing intro course (forget what this one is actually called!)
T175 – IT intro course (also forget what this is called but something like ‘networked living’)
Feb 2011:
MS221 – if I can face it?!
…???
Sounds too much like a plan!!
Now completed and recovered from the exam for Java as well – the exam papers have appeared on the StudentHome and I’ve had a quick look through but not really done a post-mortem on them as I expect there’ll be parts I find I didn’t get quite right etc. Only got to wait until the middle of December for the results now… it tends to go quite quickly between the exams and the results though…
Time to start thinking about what to take next year, though I’ve pretty much got a good idea, just seems a bit early to commit to a course (though the OU registration is open already!)
T211 exam down as of this afternoon – still Java to contend with on Monday but I’m more confident about that than I was about T211 though. In the end T211 was straightforward I thought – I’d revised or at least looked at most of the things that came up and as there is some choice in the paper I was able to avoid some nasty bits  Not sure of a possible grade, guess I’ll find out in mid December when the course results come out but in the meantime I can’t even be bothered to do a post mortem on the exam – when the paper appears (it’ll be a few days to account for time zones etc) I’ll download it for posterity but probably won’t do any sort of detailed analysis or even go back to the course books and find what I missed! On to the Java revision then… I haven’t started yet (shh) or even read a couple of the units!
Having submitted the last TMA for each course I’ve now received them back! The good news is that I’m still on track for a Distinction on both (based on the weighted averages on the TMAs) as long as I can pull out at least 85% on each of the exams. M257 was as I expected – I lost quite a few marks on the last question due to a bit of a misunderstanding so ended up with ‘only’ 89 (it should theoretically be possible to get 100% on all if the solutions are coded correctly and all code is in the correct ‘style’ with appropriate comments etc). Not bad by any standards though, particularly as it was in line with what I knew I’d missed (I had to submit part of it knowingly incorrect as I just could not get it to work… and added a comment as such just so the tutor didn’t think I thought that was the ‘real’ version!)
T211 was somewhat better – somehow (!) managed to achieve a 100% on the project, which I was particularly pleased about since there was a lot of work involved in it (it’s double weighted, accounting for 30% of the whole TMA element of the grade, and was also quite time consuming due to the need to hand write the design log book and then to do the project report at the end). Again, theoretically (and evidently practically) possible to get 100% but perhaps less likely since of course there is more of a ‘subjective’ element to marking design work than there is with code. The general approach seems to be to mark the work in the context of how well it addresses the concepts and putative learning outcomes from the course as a whole. Added to this there were some very complimentary comments from the tutor (which I can’t quote here due to copyright) and overall a very encouraging end to the TMAs and a push towards the exam. Time to try to digest the past papers and specimen paper methinks.
Now we’re into October it doesn’t seem long until we get to the exams – 16th and 19th (though this also means that in 19 days they will be over!)
Well, the final TMA (project) for T211 is now complete and posted – due date was actually today but due to having to post it, I sent it a few days ago. Eventually I managed to fill the appropriate amount of pages in the logbook and do the project report – it took longer than I expected but was done in time and sent off in a Jiffy bag!
That means both courses’ last TMAs are now out with their tutors so just a case of wait and see what comes back… then I can make a start on the revision (somehow don’t feel like I can start it until the results are back!)
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Email: irrisorie @ thetorturegarden . net
About the site
This blog is about my studies with the Open University - personal experiences and opinions of one student. All unofficial so don't accept anything here as 'gospel' unless specifically quoted from an authoritative source. (Some of the information here such as number of TMAs in courses may have changed since I took the course.)
Please do not make any decisions relating to the OU or your studies based only on what I have written here.
Quite a few of the visitors seem to be searching for TMA answers or exam papers. I don't have these as they are copyright and/or may be used to plagiarise work. However you are welcome to browse around for general information by category or month. Drop a line privately or via a comment if you want to get in touch! Comments are enabled but moderated (too much spam), I never censor a genuine comment.
If you are having problems with your course, please contact your tutor or course conference (if there is one) for 'official' help.
My OU history
Registered to start Oct 10:
M150 - Data, Computing and Information
T175 - Networked Living: exploring information and communication technologies
T151 - Digital worlds: designing games, creating alternative realities
Current:
M450 - The Computing Project
T307 - Innovation: designing for a sustainable future
M256 - Software Development with Java
Past:
2009:
M257 - Putting Java to Work
T211 - Design and Designing
2007/8:
M366 - Natural and artificial intelligence
2006/7:
M255 - Object Oriented Programming with Java
2005/6:
M364 - Fundamentals of Interaction Design
M263 - Building Blocks of Software
2004:
DT840 - Introduction to Research: basic skills and survey methods
D853 - Identity in Question
D820 - The Challenge of the Social Sciences
ED840 - Child Development in Families, Schools and Society
2003:
A319 - Literature in the Modern World
A103 - An Introduction to the Humanities
T182 - Law, the Internet and Society
T184 - Robotics and the meaning of life: things that think
2002:
E300 - English Language and Literacy
A210 - Approaching Literature
2001:
A211 - Philosophy and the Human Situation
U210 - The English Language: past, present and future
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