Incompetence

Last time I posted (sorry, it's been a while) I was preparing for the online announcement of my DA204 exam results. That was well over a month ago and what has happened since has been nothing but an utter farce. First, on December 14th we got a note early on in the day saying there was going to be a week's delay on the result. Not a problem but at the time I was pretty miserable with the stress of my awful job taking its toll and this was something I had been looking forward to. Then after checking back & forth online on the 'new' result day, they announced a further delay - the 31st January!! Like many others who had been waiting patiently over those 7 days, I was completely gobsmacked by this unusually long postponement! How on earth did a week's delay end up becoming a 5 week delay? This was only just the beginning of a frustrating and .

Until 2 days ago we, the DA204 student body (if you like), had been given no explanation of what the problem was and why there was such a long delay in sorting it. It was becoming a hotly debated topic on the online DA204 forum with everyone from 2007 expressing the same annoyance and frustration at the delay. When we finally received the explanatory e-mail the other day, it hinted that the problem was a big difference of opinion between two departments:

"On occasions the [Qualifications Classification] Panel needs to obtain further information about the results recommended and enters into a dialogue with the relevant Examination and Assessment Board to seek further information; on this occasion DA204 is one of the courses where the Panel needed to do this before approving the results. That dialogue is still ongoing.."

This begs the question - why wasn't this sorted out before the deadline? You'd think with years of experience with running exams a set way of solving 'problems' like this would be in place to prevent such a disaster. This 'disagreement' and its slow resolution can only lead to further unsolicited speculation as to what may have happened in the time between the end of the exam and 14th December. My wife already has two possible suggestions. Either:

1. The exam was too hard so the OU wants to minimise the damage of DA204 being seen as a unusually difficult course by upping the grades of those who came close;

2. The exam was too easy and the OU now has too many people with good grades and a result markers have had to be tougher than they normally like to be.

I think she's right. How else could there be such a disagreement that leads to a 5-6 week delay of results? It must a root-and-branch problem that needs detailed analysis and time. Whatever has caused this, it's made an absolute farce of the process and its repercussions will affect the confidence the OU has with its students that it 'proudly' brags of every now and then. For example, the 2008 students on the DA204 forum are are already wondering what on earth they have let themselves in for!

In saying that, with my move to NZ coming up, this fuss over one result pales into insignificance with the vast planning my wife and I have to do before we migrate 12,000 miles. We have far bigger decisions to make about our immediate future and so this is a not a big thing to worry about now. But, if I am being honest, it is a little irritating not to know how I did. The real clincher for everyone else, though, is that this may drag on and on:

"We are still hoping that course results will be showing on StudentHome by the end of January"

I just hope I get my certificate (or the official result on paper) before I head over and start again at Massey! Can you imagine how difficult that will be to manage from over there???!

I'll keep you posted once I know.

Confessin' time

It's December now. One week to go. Last year I was impatient to find out how I'd done in my exam and whether or not I had passed the course. Things couldn't be more different this year folks: I'd like to know but I'm not worrying night and day about it. I guess the change in attitude has lot to do with what's coming up next year and, in reflection, all this seems a minor diversion from my future destiny.

So what am I trying to say? Well, I'm not continuing with my degree plan in 2008. In the last few weeks I have formally withdrawn from the Film & TV history course I was due to start in February. I still want to finish the Arts degreee but I won't be doing it via the O.U. In fact, I won't be doing it in this country. As of Spring next year, I'll be on the other side of the world. Yep, we're emigrating to my wife's adopted homeland- New Zealand. We both need a new start: she's had enough of Rip-Off Britain and I hate my job and want a change of life generally. So that's that plan out the window...for now. There's a uni in NZ called Massey and - yes - you can do correspondance courses towards a degree! It's something we've both talked about for a while but hadn't made a decision on until a month and a half ago. I admit I'm nervous about moving 6,000 miles from my home & place of birth but it's what she wants to do and as I said I need change. I don't know how much more I can take of being broke and not being able to afford the odd little treat now and then. There's not much going for her jobs-wise in the other home nations and I cannot speak a word of another language like French for example. So going to the land of the All Blacks and Mac's Reserve beer is a compromise. I will miss not only the little things (like the Eurovision song contest) but the big ones too (mum, dad, my sis and all our friends). Christmas is going to be very hard on them this year *sighs*

As I said...one week to go...wish me luck.

Oh Happy Day!

It's 3 days since that bloody exam and I've never felt better. Yes, it's all done. DA204 has left the building (so to speak). I admit that in writing my last post I was a tad cool and relaxed about Friday's moment of doom but come the morning.....oh dear. I was shaking like St Vitus Dance as I made my way in. I also did something I promised I wouldn't do: read my notes before I walked in. At least I did have the good grace to try and look relaxed as if I was just brushing up on a few names and concepts etc. rather than tearing my hair out trying to memorise Chomsky's propaganda model.

So in I walked, dumped my bag in the allocated zone, toddled my way towards the back-straining desk with my exam survival kit, took a a deep breath, prayed for mercy and off I went. I tried questions 1, 2 and 5. The former two had plenty to sink my teeth into but the last question I really f**ked up on. I made the "classic" mistake of misreading the question and when I realised this, I had only half an hour to turn it around. By the way, my time-planning of each question was impeccable, I have to say. I was even able to squeeze in a trip to the loo which gave me a chance to catch my breath and calm down. At least I did attempt & complete all three questions even if I wasn't certain if my conclusions (or my handwriting) made any sense. My hands and neck were aching all the way as I wrote furiously. When the invigilator called time I was left rather numb and this feeling carried me all the way home. I really don't know if I'd done enough. I had no sense within like last year that I'd made a good stab. As soon as I pulled into Harrow, I went to the pub. Just for a half, mind. I was planning on going back over my notes and seeing where I'd gone wrong or gone right but after a few pages I though 'oh for goodness sake! you did your best, it's ALL OVER NOW! Enjoy it!' With that thought, I downed my drink and went home.

From there I've been feeling rather positive. It's a shame my lovely wife is away on a school trip with her kids as it would have been nice to share the moment but other than that I've enjoyed getting this huge weight off my back. The nice 'me' can come back after weeks of the grumpy, panicky one taking his place. All this free time now! What do I do?

Roll on December!

Nearly there...

Time really has flown since my last post here, hasn't it? At least this time around I am posting in the middle of my revision: last year I stopped after TMA5 (?) and didn't come back to the blog until I started DA204! Embarrassing when you are trying to remember 4 or 5 months later how you felt back then. That's a gap I intend to fill this time around!

My last two TMAs went ok. I got figures in the 70s so not bad but not as awful as I had anticipated. I was rather surprised by TMA6 as I did not enjoy Block 5 at all (and online, I don't know anybody who did). It was sooooooo booooring! I decided that as I had no time to prepare for a proper stab and my heart really wasn't in it, I would write whatever seemed ok and submit that. Any mark was better than none at this stage. My jaw dropped when I saw that I got a better score than TMA5. "What? That heap of junk was better that the last one I spent ages on?" I was seen to mutter at the time. Standards must surely be slipping!

And then revision. I have to say, until this week, this has been hell. Because of the time we have spent away DA204 has been well in the back of my mind and I left planning a revision strategy too late. This alongside not 'reading' the material properly left me frustrated and depressed. I could not see this working and I 'knew' that I was going to fail. I could see myself in that hall, pent-up with anger & frustration, mind completely just dying to get out of there! There were times in the last few weeks I felt like jacking it in. It was just too stressful and I could see the knock-on effect of my mood in other people's reactions to me. Not good.

But, this last week or so I have really turned things around. My problem was that I was trying too hard to re-write my notes in the same detail as I had done when reading the material for the 1st time. Once I realised that all I needed to focus on was what I needed to use in the exam, things sped up dramatically. A sign of how I have changed is now I occasionally drift off thinking about Tzevetsan Todorov and his narrative model or some other little detail that I've just read over. I only have one of the blocks left to finish reading over and then I can review everything before Friday (doing 3 blocks & 2 themes as recommended by the course team). I am feeling more positive about it now but am still dreading exam day! At least after 1pm on Friday, it's over! I'm off that day and will heading to the pub to celebrate the end of another year's work!

PS I should really thank my wife Alison here & now for being a real rock during these last few weeks. She has been my cheerleader all along so it must have been tough being upbeat about my chances when all I was thinking of was quitting the damn thing. Sorry for being an asshole and thanks for being my champion when thing were bleak. It's nearly over now! xx

Hoo-ray! Hooray! It's a Holi-holi-day!

Its near the end of DA204's allotted 2 week summer break and, boy, I've earned this time off. Along with the pressures of work and the panicky nature I get myself in before I do go away (e.g. "Did I pack my passport???" etc) the last few days of writing before the deadline were quite stressful. But I got it in: 3 days early to be precise which left me some time to enjoy myself before heading out to sunny Spain to enjoy myself further. Had a great time in my favourite Spanish town - Cadiz - and even saw my adopted team win 2-0 in a pre-season friendly. Bliss.

TMA5 is going to be my weakest result so far but, hey ho, I'm demob happy now. The best of my work has been done anyway so whatever I do this time will make only a slight dent in the overall figure (and lets not mention the exam in October yet!). No sign of a result (10 days since submission) but, hell, it's great to not have to think about study until next week. Shame it won't last!!!!

"You can't stop progress!"

It's been a very good week in DA204 for me. The weekend after my last post I made some excellent progress with Block 4: I completed 2 chapters in 2 days. Yes, 2 big long chapters in two long hard slogs over Saturday + Sunday. Given that each chapter is normally 30+ pages long and it takes me several night time weekday sessions to complete one, this was a big boost to completing the block before the TMA5 deadline. Mind you, as my lovely wife Alison was away on a school trip I did have the advantage of a weekend to myself so I had no distractions whatsoever when I was doing it (not that I'm implying Alison is a distraction if you get my drift!). In fact, I was so buzzed by this result I ploughed on with real enthusiasm and completed Chapter 4 in just a few days as well. Now I only have the last part of Chapter 5 and the conclusion to complete the whole thing. The timing couldn't be better as a) after 2 months or so of being behind schedule I've now caught up and; b) Alison's mum and her nephew are coming over from NZ this weekend and all the legwork will have been done by the time they're here! The following week, they'll all be away on hols so I'll have a whole week by myself to work non-stop on TMA5. When that's done & sent, I'm off to join them in the Andalucian sun! Then that'll be it 'till September! Thank god he says.

By the way, I did say last time that I was desperate to hear how well I did in TMA4. Well, I got 73%. A slight disappointment for me in comparison with TMAs 1-3 but still a good mark. My cumulative overall score is now close to 60% which is not bad given that there are still 2 more essays to write. The exam still looms, though, and you need to get (I think) 30% to pass the whole course. I'm not so sure I can do that. But hey, it's not 'till October 19th and it's still summer...or is the weather just misleading me??!!

"First thing you learn is that you've always gotta waiiit..."

So, after the debacle over TMA3's delay, I finally finished TMA4 on time. Yes, you read right: on time. Don't think it's much cop but then I said that about TMA 3 (Result: 83%). Now I have 21 days to complete the rest of Book 4 and write TMA5 before my mother in law and her nephew visit us. They're coming over from NZ and will be here all summer. It's going to be a tall order to complete it before 31st July but at least I'll have no more delays after the last assignment. Actually, now I think of it, the missus and them will be off on a break the 2nd week they arrive which means I'll be alone for a few days before I join them. Mmm. This might be another one done on time too if I play my cards right!

Not much else to report, really, on the OU front. I suppose the good thing about this Block so far is how easy it has been to read in comparison with other blocks. Hence the lack of whingeing up front today. I am a bit annoyed that I have missed 2 tutorials in a row but at least the tutor has been gracious about the reasons why - getting the TMAs done. I must make a point of getting to the next one in a few weeks time.

Still, get TMA5 done and a) I'm off on hols again and b) we get a 2 month break 'till the next assignment! For now, I've just gotta wait for TMA4's result!