ED209 TMA02 Submitted

Finally at the 11th hour I have submitted ED209 TMA02 and it has been a challenge to say the least, based on this I suspect TMA04 and TMA06 which are practicals are going to be just as hellish. At least for now it's another Essay for TMA03 and in a similar format to TMA01.

I am not certain that TMA02 is my best work but I have mentioned all the key points, I just worry that it is a bit of a ramble rather than constructed well. I am relieved just to have pressed that theraputic submit button.

On to DD101 TMA06 ready to be submitted next Wednesday, at least I have most of a body for this one so it is now just a case of sorting word count, referencing and submitting. Think I will multi-task this alongside the Royal Wedding.

Tutorial 2 ED209

Last night was tutorial 2 with my very cool tutor.

It appears that we all made similar errors on our TMA01s - Introduction, Referencing and Critical Analysis. After finding out what the average grade was for TMA01, I am pretty pleased with my result and after he explained how he marks I was even happier. If I can work on my critical analysis and introduction which he gave really good pointers on, I could start looking at grade 1 TMAs...... whoop whoop.

I have given up on the idea that I need 1 point per mark and just need to be pretty comprehensive on my answers for TMA02 and a lot was discussed during tutorial which has given me things to think about. I knew TMA02 was a case of thinking outside the box but I felt like I was looking down a narrow tunnel till last night. I love tutorials and annoyed that I couldn't attend my DD101 ones, worried that any future courses will be on Saturdays.

Staying at boy toys place tonight so will start working seriously on TMA02 now that I am in the mood. May be moving in with boy toy next month....... I suspect that home are starting to think that I have overstayed my welcome. To be fair we were talking about moving in together in September so not really worried about doing it earlier. Some things that may come a cropper

Him - OCD tidy
Me - OCD UNTIDY
Him - Unplugs everything at night which grates especially appliances which have a time on them
Me - Not the above
Him - Finishes work and pub home by 4pm
Me - Finish at 6.30pm.......
Him - Works Monday to Friday
Me - Works Saturdays & Sundays
Him - Pees with door open and doesn't understand why I lock the door
Me - Can't bear the above

The list continues................

ED209 TMA01 Results

Logged on to StudentHome to see if I had a result and there it was........ pretty much what I expected and after reading my feedback I suspect it was a fairly kind mark. I am not saying that my tutor has gone soft or anything but I appear to be struggling with introductions so really need to work on this along side referencing and both together would have taken me to the next OU level.

Have managed to work a little on DD101 TMA06 and bit sfor DD101 TMA07 which is either going to be a real struggle or I will end up with so much info that I am going to facilitate a major cull of info.

Really need to get on with ED209 TMA02 which is the first one due. I think I have hit a focus on DD101 because it's nearly complete with the last 2 TMAs to submit then I can kick back and hit ED209 with my full attention.

I am 15% of the way through the degree with regards to TMAs which seems a lot considering I am only 5 months in to the 4 years but hey, it sounds great.

Waiting for Results

I have no idea how long my first ED209 TMA is going to take to mark so I suspect much like DD101 it will be the end of the 2 weeks. Really need to get on with ED209 TMA02 especially as it appears to be rather straight forward also need to start reading and highlighting Book 2.

Boy toy has made me laugh today............ one of his ears is dry and flakey (nice, I know!!), he called me today to tell me that he thinks he knows what has caused it................ the radiation from his mobile phone!!! He is the conspiracy theory king.

Found a new pass time at work. Found a website which I can read 'Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling' by David Canter, it's really interesting and definitely motivating me to press on with my studies.

Thinking about emailing the proffessor of the MSc in Investigative Psychology that I want to do to ask if there is anything I can do to increase my chances of acceptance on the course......... I know this is REALLY early days but at least it would give me time to do something about it. Apparently over 200 people apply for the 20 places which isn't good odds but I hope there are factors that might go in my favour although speculative: 1) A degree from Open University - this has to show that I am able to motivate myself and study off my own back whilst working full-time, 2) If I get accepted then I will hopefully have my voluntary experience with the police which although will probably be no more than answering the phone...... but you never know. I think the personal statement is going to be rather vital so will start working on that as I go along. I am well aware that I am being rather premature based on the fact that I wouldn't actually start till September 2015 but it is an awesome goal to focus on.

11th hour ED209 TMA01

Made a final amendment and have submitted ED209 TMA01 before the morning meeting. Not normal for me to have submitted on the day......... hope this does not become a habit.

Focus now on DD101 TMA05 and although well over word count, I am far happier with the new version to the previous one. (Only 2 more to go after this!!!) Think I need to book a long weekend to blitz TMA06 and TMA07 so that I am free of them.

TMA Submission

I submitted ED209 TMA01 although will have to make a few amendments before the 15th.

Have brought DD101 TMA05 out to look over and although I really don't want to do anything else to it, I am worried that I am a little too close to the text so will have a mess about with it before 22nd although to be fair I just want to submit it and get it over with.

Started ED209 TMA02 properly the other night and there are a few questions which the Methods and Skills Handbook answers well and a few which I need to think hard about. Someone in a forum has mentioned that we are expected to have a minimum of 1,700 words which looks like it is going to be tough going I think however I suppose it is only 170 words per question so maybe I am just fretting early. It should be pretty straight forward then I need to get on with DD101 TMA06 on migration!!

3 more assignments left for DD101 and will be glad to see it coming to an end. This is not to say that I haven't enjoyed DD101, I have enjoyed the variety but I feel like an assignment writting machine at the moment and will be glad just to be able to focus on ED209 and actually start revision rather than just reading, highlighting and writting the assignments.

I've created a module plan with dates so that I know what to register for a when, it's a little scarey as I will for a few weeks here and there I will be running 3 modules together, will book time off work when it comes to that I think.

ED209 TMA01 Update

All the bosses are away from the business today and as I failed miserably in getting any of TMA01 done yesterday during my day off I have actually managed to pretty much finish it today. I have exactly 2,000 words which is fairly impressive. I think I have done what my tutor suggested in the tutorial the other day and included all the relevent stuff. I think I have used all the key words relating to Piaget and a small section on Vygotsky which I thought would be important to mention especially as his work actually preceeded Piaget but wasn't discovered till years after Piaget. Been watching bits of Dream School and it was interesting to find that half of school children leave education with nothing, I wonder how much of this is down to Piaget's theories not being actually correct.

The xmas party for my old company which was supposed to be on December 18th (Snow Day) then got cancelled is now tonight (yes, I'm aware it is now mid-March!!!). Managed to get a last minute invite so trying to sort that out although not sure about the £22 return cab fare!!

On to sorting out DD101 TMA05 which is due March 22nd.

Will submit ED209 TMA01 early next week once it's been looked over for punctuation, grammar and sense.

Manic Monday

Mondays are generally not my favourite day of the week and after getting to work half and hour late due to traffic I think today has followed that trend. However till I was late for work it was going swimmingly. Vodafone has been down all day which has been fun especially as I was warring with boy toy over text last night so couldn't continue till 2pm and he'd actually chilled out so maybe it was a good thing.

Course fees have been published for next year on OU website and although they have increased, they aren't awful, do wonder though whether financial support will increase too?!?!?!!??

Tonight will be beer and Chinese in the pub next door with boy toy, might take ED209 TMA01 with me?!?!?!?

It's Sunday at work again

TI am currently sitting at my work desk looking through my draft of TMA01 for ED209 as it is the one due the soonest (Mar 15th)it doesn't read too badly as it is but I really want a 75+ mark (obviously 80+ would be wicked but we'll see) for it so making sure that it fits the criteria of my student notes. I still need to play with the: Intro, Overview of Piaget's theories, some of the critisms and the conclusion whcih sounds a lot but it is mostly just tweeks here and there. I need to make sure that I have critiqued it well enough and my referencing needs sorting as the referencing for ED209 does not appear to be the same as it has been in DD101.

Went to see the film Paul last night and found it rather amusing even though people had been telling me it was lame. Also had my first experience of Nandos which actually wasn't bad especially the sauces.

1st tutorial for ED209 is on Tuesday which is kind of exciting.

Failed day off

Okay well I managed to do zip yesterday in relation to Open University study. Have till March 15th to submit ED209 TMA01 and till March 22nd to submit DD101 TMA05 which are both in a decent draft form but still with a few amendments to be made. Ended up taking my brother to go and collect his PS3 from his girlfriend's house miles away.

Boy toy has moved house to the other side of the village with his rather mad housemate. The house needs a hell of a lot of work but it's a good size with potential. Boy toy is growning on me a lot so suspect that may need to call him boyfriend soon!!

I have had a look at OU levels and am actually on target for a 2:1 pass for DD101 but only just. Got bless substitutions.

DD101 TMA04 Results

Results are back for DD101 TMA04 and to be honest I think the mark reflects the amount of work that I put in to it. It was being done whilst I was in my old job, submitted early and the tutors comments pretty much reflect this fact.

Have Thursday off so that will be OU study day. In an ideal world I want to make a rewrite of DD101 TMA05 and ED209 TMA01, would also like to create some mind maps for the first 3 chapters of ED209 although not sure there will be that many hours in the day on the basis that the day won't start till at least 11am.

Need to put a lot more effort in to ED209 as these marks actually count. If DD101 is anything to go by then I am only in for a 2:2 and I need a 2:1 so need to buckle down.

New job is a million times better than the last place, sold a few cars although had a few fall through but it's all part of the process.

Poker tonight but will have to miss next week a school starts!!!!!

Part 2 on a Sunday

I have managed a little headway on ED209 this evening and and reading and highlighting Chapter 4. ED209 TMA01 is still in rough draft form but it doesn't need any major changes so am putting it to one side for a while.

Current Assignments in Progress:

DD101 TMA05 - Complete but will recheck before submission day 22nd March
DD101 TMA06 - Still is really rough draft stage but started it before Book 2 arrived so want to read and highlight the relevent stuff and have a play around with it. I have found the reading for this TMA to be a little one sided.
DD101 TMA07 - Still reading and highlighting but it's pretty interesting
ED209 TMA01 - Rough draft but no bad due 15th March
ED209 TMA02 - Have looked at it and read the material but not going to start until DD101 TMA06 is written and I'm happy with it.

My eyes have got a little sore from reading this evening. Turns out everyone was feeling ropey after last night escapades so it's quite in the house this evening. Mum couldn't work out how she got quite so drunk then we pointed out the shots!!! She is a little ashamed. I think I will have a couple of quiet nights Monday and Tuesday as I need to be at train station on Wednesday at 8.15 to start the journey to Disneyland Paris!!!! Can't wait.

Open Forum ED209

After logging on to OU website I have discovered that the forums have opened and they seem to be a little more active than the ones for DD101. There are already threads that are being blocked by tutors but hey it was the same in DD101 till they split us regionally.

It appears that there are other nerds like me who have already completed ED209 TMA01 which is actually very cool. I haven't done much OU related since my last post except read and highlight (to be known in future as R&H) the content for TMA07 in the Learning Companion 3 (to be honest it took about 10 mins and didn't have vast amounts of info).

Work - Quiet but okay.

Boy Toy - Irritating.

Poker - Gone back to bad play however was really tired last night so blaming that.

TV - Big Fat Gypsy Wedding (now their true colours are on show!!!), Secret Diary Of A Call Girl (Shame it has really short episodes).

P.S - It appears that I am not the only one who is struggling to get the Neural Networks DVD working............. I hope something gets sorted.......

First Day Take 2

New job seems to have more humans than the last one, they seem like a nice bunch of guys with ladish humour............... ahhhhhhh normality. Fingers crossed that this works out till my BSc is done and maybe possibly part-time for MSc if I can't afford 1st choice.

Been looking at MSc lately and have decided on a first and second choice. 1st choice is Uni of Liverpool because it is the best for my chosen path of Forensic Psychology, my 2nd choice would be Uni of Middlesex due to locality. Liverpool is going to be mega expensive and really can't make head nor tale of scholarships etc............

Done very little OU stuff as been on big chill since Friday although DD101 TMA04 is due on Tuesday so will need to stay in for a bit over weekend to check it over after getting DD101 TMA03 results back on Sunday.

Managed to do a little on DD101 TMA07 reading and highlighting but will take it to work on my first Sunday to spend time as not totally sure what it is asking for to be fair. Still have to write up DD101 TMA06 in full but have total supply of notes to pull from. ED209 TMA01 has come back from stepdad with revisions......... I asked him to read it to a point that he understood it and I wasn't too far off.

Last Day Again

As the title suggests it is my last day at this job after only 2 months in it, on to new pastures as of Tuesday. Got to say, I may actually miss some people here and most definitely a few of the cars.

I now have a 1,700 words for ED209 TMA01, all I have left to do is make sure I haven't rambled and sort out my reference section. Buzz words, Piaget, assimilation, accomadation, equilibrium, schemas, sersori-motor, pre-operational, concrete operations, formal operations. Not sure whether or not to mention Vygotsky, so far I haven't but I suppose I have got a further 300 words to add if I wanted to. In DD101 word counts were precise which I actually almost prefer to this idea of a word count between 1,500 to 2,000.

I really ought to be getting on with DD101 TMA06 but have gone off the boil a little with it, mostly because I think the arguements in the text book against migration are rubbish. There are a lot of real world arguments as to why migration is a threat to the UK economy but they aren't even touched on. A great example is that the text book suggests that migration is vital for the NHS because there aren't enough junior doctors or nurses but if you look at this from the other point of view, there is the argument that suggests that we wouldn't need the extra doctors and nurses if there wasn't so much migration. Mind you an article in the Daily Mail suggests today that hospitals are being over-run with drunk people so maybe there are external forces at work.

My 3 days unemployed will be spent with boy toy so should get an idea of whether he is actually growing on me or whether in fact I need to move away!!! It turns out he is quite painful after a few beers and assumes that because I talk to another male, I am in fact having a fling with them. Have told him that he is on a 3 strike rule and he is 1 down.

Wouldn't mind reading and highlighting Book 1 Chapter 4 today but think that might be a little cheeky. Hmmmmm, do I actually care?!?!?!?!?

The Final Week

The end is nigh and I'll be away from work on Friday evening so counting the hours till I actually get a Saturday, Sunday and Monday off work!!

Managed to finish reading and highlighting ED209 Book 1 chapter 2 and have started in 3 but really can't get away with that on a normal business day at work, can only really get away with anything that can be done on computer rather than looking like a total student and getting the books out on my desk!!

Been looking at ED209 TMA01 and am pretty happy with the material that I have written in terms of key concepts, definitions etc.... just need to put it in to a better format. ED209 TMA02 is most certainly on the back burner for a little while or at least till DD101 TMA06 is out of the way.

Moved my Pug 205 CTi in to it's garage yesterday after 4 months being left to the elements on the drive way. Had problems starting it before which is why I didn't run it for ages however once the jump leads were connected she fired up straight away. Stupid French car. Now to start the work so that she is roadworthy by March........ money and time required. Got insurance quote for £200 for the year though so very happy with that.

Sunday Sunday

Another Sunday at work and another chance to hit the books.

Yesterday is amanged to highlight and read through Methods and Skills up to section 6 which also leads to ED209 TMA02 which is gong to be a nice one so I am doing notes on that one whilst I go. Today I am hoping to read and highlight up to the end of Chapter 3 in Book 1. There is an awful lot of reading for ED209 but they do have great examples when explaining tricky stuff which is helpful.

Current TMAs in progress:

DD101 TMA06 - Migration - Have notes, now just trying to create 1,500 of sense out of it.

DD101 TMA07 - States - I am actually going to wait till the Part 2 materials arrive (hopefully Monday) before I get in to this as it requires a fair bit of reading and making sense of stuff

ED209 TMA01 - Piaget - This is in skeleton form with about 1,100 words out of the required 1,500 to 2,000 but I am happy that I have at least started it.

ED209 TMA02 - Sharon's Study - This is actually a really nice assignment on Methodology so had a go at it whilst reading through Methods and Skills Handbook yesterday.

ED209 Catch up

ED209 starts next Saturday (February 5th) and I am pretty sure I was further ahead in DD101 before it started.

Progress so far:

Read and highlighted Book 1 chapter 1 and made a start on chapter 2
Started the first draft of ED209 TMA01
Read and Highlighted 1-4 of Methods and Skills Handbook
Watched Media Kit Video Band 1 and 2.

Actually once it's written down I feel like I am further ahead than I thought but was hoping to be at least 4 weeks ahead at least until I have completed DD101 TMA07. Really need to get on with the actual text book as that is the most time consuming and need to purchase Erika Cox's revision stuff.

Have had a couple of lazy days in terms of study so am pressing on with getting as much of Methods and Skills handbook done today so that I know where to refer to.

The Resignation

After the morning meeting I resigned, it went well but still have to work the whole week. Straight after they fired a guy who they had been threatening to fire for months apparently so now they are down to 2 sales people so it will be interesting to see what happens.

In terms of OU stuff I am getting on with ED209 TMA01 today as it is now more of a tidy up rather than content.

Piaget's conservation and egocentricity

I'm currently at work making a start on ED209 TMA01 and thought I would share some info that is making this a little easier. I appreciate it is not brain science (actually I suppose maybe it is in a minor way) but I like to over simplify things where possible then build on it.

This is all refering to the pre-occupational stage of childhood development

Conservation - this is in very simple terms 'logic'

Egocentricity - this in very simple terms is 'empathy'

I am finding that once the experiments have been described that in fact 1500 to 2000 words shouldn't be that hard although what I have written so far is ramblings and will need to be put in to English at some point!!!

Had a look at ED209 TMA02 which looks pretty straight forward although must get on with the Methods and Skills Handbook before I even contemplate starting this one.