To go with the “Responses to common searches” page I have now added this one which looks at some of the stranger and more unusual searches I get bringing visitors to the site. Most of the normal searches relate to specific courses and with search terms such as TMA, exam or particular words relating to the course (or to a particular TMA, I assume, as I sometimes see something that looks very much like part of a TMA question rephrased slightly…) but there are a few odd and uncommon ones.
Please note that if I thought there was any possibility that the person searching could be identified from the query, I would not put the details on here. For example giving a specific name, location etc.
January 2009:
where can i get a nus card if i am not a student
If you’re not a genuine student it’s probably not appropriate to be applying for a card (I can’t think of any legitimate reasons you would have one in that case), what did you intend to use it for? The clue is in the name – national union of STUDENTS!
what do i do if ive plagiarised open university
This is actually quite a difficult one and I can’t offer any advice here, only personal opinion. Probably if it was inadvertent plagiarism e.g. I’d copied something out and then only realised later that I’d forgotten to go back and reference it I would go back to my tutor and explain the situation. If you’ve already been ‘caught’ or suspected of plagiarism I believe this is an issue for the Disciplinary process of the OU.
open university openoffice.org
Generally most things that can be done in MS Office can be done in openoffice.org – the requirement on most courses is that the document should be Word (or Excel if appropriate, etc) 97 readable format. It’s possible to save as this in the openoffice.org Save As dialog box and I have done this a number of times. One of the things to watch out for though is if you are including a picture as part of the TMA (eg if you have to do a screenshot of something), depending on the type of ‘anchoring’ chosen it may not display correctly. I anchor them as a character. What I would suggest doing is if you create in Open Office, save in the 97 format (if this is what’s required) and use the Word Reader (you can get this free from Microsoft) to check that it displays correctly. Check any documentation for your particular course to find out what the format requirements are.
open .amz in mandriva
Let me know if you find out! I’ve tried to do this as well and the only ways I can find are ‘hacks’ and problematic in various ways. In fact, this sort of support is one of the reasons I’ve chosen to switch to Ubuntu rather than Mandriva as my primary OS.
open university vs bricks university
That’s a whole subject in itself and actually given me an idea for a blog post, once I have time to do a bit more research, as I think some facts and figures are probably better than opinion there.
successful tma score query open uni
I don’t have any figures on this as I suspect this information either isn’t analysed or is internal and confidential, but the TMA grade appeal process can in some cases result in a higher mark – it can also keep it the same or even go down!
fake open university degree templates
Shame on you!
past ou students help with tma
Sorry, that’s not how it works, otherwise grades would just get better year on year on year!
what does an OU degree with distinction say on it
As an example with mine, the BA(hons) first class says something like “the degree of BA(Hons) in XXX having been awarded with First-Class Honours to Jane Doe” and the MSc with distinction broadly similar: “the degree of Master of Science in XXX with Distinction has been awarded to…” I don’t have the BA(Hons) certificate with me though so can’t check the exact wording.
i’m a mac linux and I got unix
I’m not entirely sure what this means but it’s got a good rhythm, maybe a good rap lyric or something? I like it, I’d give it a 42 but I can’t dance to it!
open university or psychology or work
I couldn’t work out whether this was someone trying to choose between 3 things or just doing a Boolean search! Seems quite a broad search though if it was Boolean…
psychology of font choice
I’m actually really interested in this as well, in terms of 1. what psychological factors lead people to ‘choose’ a suitable font? (given a list of existing criteria e.g. has to be serif etc) 2. how is use of a particular font perceived by others? … I come across a lot of different written material, as do most people in the ‘electronic age’ I guess, and definitely form an impression, rightly or wrongly, of the writer or content based on cosmetic aspects such as the font. Actually I’m thinking out loud as I write this (I’m an extrovert!) so some of this is even a surprise to me, but I have an idea forming now for a possible research projects… maybe I should make a ‘suggested research topics’ page!
A319 ou -aircraft
A319 is literature so I’m not sure how aircraft could have come up in the search results to need to be excluded, maybe it’s a model number or something…
October 2008:
what would happen if history was not studied
This search took someone to my “I wonder what would happen if…” category – don’t think I have covered this topic though. 
Hmm, what would happen if history was not studied? Well, personally I think we would be a lot better off, relying on intuition etc instead of having recourse to “that’s what we’ve always done so that’s what we should do” etc. Fortunately (?) there’s no danger of history being wiped out now though, because of the magical archive properties of the interwebs etc.
open university degree “harder ” first
I assume this refers to taking the level 2 &/or 3 first and then going back to any Level 1 that is compulsory (bit of an assumption there though, I know. projecting much? as this is what I did!) In which case there are good and bad points… Good: level 1 is very easy in comparison and you can have an ‘easy’ last year especially if doing it alongside a harder course or unfamiliar subject. Bad: can try to go into too much depth / “try too hard” on the Level 1 not being able to dumb it down enough as level 2 and 3 are a big jump relative to 1 in general; possible negative reactions from other students and maybe tutors that you have “gone back” rather than doing it in the “correct” order.
I want all pages in my comp.open so faster
Depending on what your computer is I would suggest more RAM or not using windows 
also try running the usual antivirus, anti spyware and firewall to ensure your computer hasn’t picked up anything along the way!
how official is OU MSc in psychology
It’s an official masters degree (as the OU is accredited to award the qualifications), however is not sufficient in itself for GBR (graduate basis for registration) with BPS if you do not already have the BSc psychology or the diploma conversion for graduates..
paying open university by direct debit blog
I’m including this as an odd / unusual search since the assumption that there would be a whole blog about this subject seems a bit strange!
“does ou course material fit through letterbox”
Depends what’s included of course if it’s an online delivery, then most likely as the only stuff you will get through the post is the administrative letters etc. If there are physical course materials, they tend to be A4 sort of size books for most courses and delivered by courier, for which they would normally need someone to sign for them in any case.
accessing open university itunes linux
I’ve wondered about this as well, I do have a dual boot system so could in theory run itunes on windows, but actually haven’t yet. Other suggestions: ‘virtualisation’ software that lets you run windows, find a friend with a mac/windows who will help you. I’m not sure if itunes will run under WINE/cedega as I haven’t tried it.
June 2008:
Easiest OU course to get distinction Level 3
Please let me know if you find out!
tma answers plagiarism
Yes, if you copy from another student, quote/paraphrase without crediting the source of the information, use a ready-made essay plus any of numerous other things are plagiarism. Please refer to the OU policies on this if you are not sure what counts as plagiarism.
Course to be done after Msc psychology in any distance learning
I am not sure, maybe a PhD or go back and do something in a different subject area? I dunno, this is something I struggled with as well. I went on with programming so a bit of a change.
do people get distinctions with the ou
Yes, I am living proof! (If you want specific figures, try checking Sesame for the breakdowns of course results – there is a LOT of difference between courses in the figure breakdowns, but some would probably not stand up to a ‘statistical significance’ test due to the low number of students, though intuitively you can see what is going on. Sometimes intuition is better than formal method!)
ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES, NO EXAMS, OPEN UNIVERSITY
Strangely reminiscent of “no Irish, no Blacks, no dogs” or “education, education, education”. 3-part lists are a powerful rhetorical device.
alternative operating system
(to Windows, I presume) Good idea – here are some suggestions to get you started: Linux, BSD, Mac OS, a pen and paper. I don’t hate Bill Gates for political reasons or anything, I just happen to have a really low opinion of Windows based on experience and that wouldn’t change regardless of who it was made by.
how much revision should i do for my ou exam
More than I did for M366, probably! It’s quite hard to give a real answer as it depends on so many factors such as whether the course is 30 or 60 points, the level, what type of learner you are, whether you have been paying attention throughout the course or just read the bits you needed to for the TMAs. As a heuristic method I personally “would” do (if taking my own advice) 0.5 to 1.5 * the number of points. So for example 15-45 hours for a 30 point course, 30-90 hours for a 60 point. Where it fell within this range would depend on the factors above (how much I’d done at the time etc). Everyone is different though.
i haven’t done any revision yet i meant to
I know the feeling all too well! I think most people get this…
installing linux on windows duat boot (sic)
Do it!
intelligence procrastination
100% correlation here. (n = 1)
open university blog torture garden
open university life of a student blog garden
open university torture garden
torture garden days in the life of a ou student
These are oddly specific, I can only assume that in these cases someone came to the blog and then wanted to find it again (yay for repeat visitors!) but couldn’t remember the exact address. (thetorturegarden.net is the domain this blog is hosted on)
postnomials distinction
Another one for the ‘let me know if you find out’ category, as this is something I have wondered about as well. I have a distinction on the MSc in Psychology but am not sure if I can use this in the ‘letters’ or if it is only relevant/applicable for things like my CV and academic transcript. I get that you can put the MSc (Psych)(Open) after your name but have never seen any reference to the distinction part. Similarly for first class/2.i/2.ii/3 I am not sure if you put that anywhere either. I don’t – just BA(Hons) Hum (Open).
social sciences are actually sciences or something else
Oh no, you opened the box a can of worms there!
