Nice people thread

fc123

And..sorry sue......congrats from me too. You have such a lot on your plate too.

Liz Jones Thread? I can' t remember. Mary Portas save our high st thread?

I am off up to London in a mo so will root about late tonight when I get back.

lostinrates

fc123 wrote: »

I am off up to London in a mo so will root about late tonight when I get back.

No you will not! You will enjoy being at home! I will root about more eventually...lir orders: enjoy being at home with MrFC123 tonight. :beer::beer:

Nikkster

lostinrates wrote: »

Hey, nice people: some time a go I went around my local town centes with more open, observant eyes and reported here. I have an update, but cannot find the thread: does any one know what thread I put it on?

Could it have been Conrad's Pasty Shop thread?

lostinrates

Nikkster wrote: »

Could it have been Conrad's Pasty Shop thread?

I don't know, I'll have a look ater or next week, thank you for the ideas I think it may well have been on of those three....

Davesnave

lemonjelly wrote: »

Tomterms tip is a good one. In the first year its possible (just) to bang an essay together the night or 2 before. In the 2nd year, I found I was spending 2-3 weeks on the same tasks that in year 1 took 2-3 days.

I remember the first day of year 2. I looked at my reading list & the essay questions, & I knew that I'd need to spend that kinda time on essays/projects.

You can do it!:)

It is a long time since I was at Uni, but I agree that once the assignments become less staightforward (when you look at what you have to do and don't have a clue what it means!) reading around over a decent period of time, like 3 weeks, becomes vital.

I was taught not to worry to much about full understanding at first, but just to delve into the area, make a few notes, and follow up things of interest or obvious relevance in more depth. Then, I found it best to put that work aside for a time and do something else for some days. Finally, I would return, go into the reading again, see a way forward and start roughing out my assignment.

I always did the final writing-up over a couple of long sessions in the middle of the night when everyone else was asleep. It was a bit like going into a trance, and there would be hours where I could hardly account for what I'd been doing, but the 'stuff' would - in those days - just pour out of my pen. I didn't fully understand where it came from!

I was told by whoever pushed this technique at me, that we absorb more than we realise consciously, but our sub-conscious needs time to sort out all the data. We literally need to 'sleep on it' for some time until it's processed and filed. Now this may be pseudo-psychological garbage, for all I know, but it certainly worked. I'd look at an essay I'd done, and often think, 'Crikey, did I write that?':)

lostinrates

I don't know how directly transferable skills are from traditional courses: I think OU must be harder because of the self discipline. I actually found year one harder than year two, it seems that we had to fire essays out year 1.

I mad mind maps after each lecture. I find a colour coded picture stayed in my mind better than lots f writing. I got each lecture on to one side of a4 in a mind map....then my own research reading off that...but then concdenced in revision to one piece of paper per week of each subject. Key points....in a picture.

DH doesn't find pictures wor for him, but he liked my one page per week per subject theory and in his conversion he made all his revision notes in teeny, tiny writing on to two sides of A4...he had to use card not paper...and he similarly colour coded it, but by week, nothing complicated like mine.

By redoing the notes while the lecture is fresh in your mind into a condenced format you revises it as a launch to then researching it. By reviewing it into the one page of it and your research you revise it ah=gain. The pictures can be put in plastic envelopes and bluetacked onto the back of the door of the loo, above a bed side table, on the wall you loo at while trying to sleep, even on the wall opposite the bath (not abve the bath though!) and just by re reading a small amount of words you review a whole topic.

LydiaJ

Sue - congratulations from me too. I was never much good at essays so I chose a subject without any. But I agree with Davesnave and others about sleeping on things. If I have something difficult to write nowadays, I think about it for several days without writing anything, just turning ideas over in my head, and then I write it. Then I sleep on it again. Then I re-read and edit. It works for me.

You've done amazingly so far, and I know you can cope with year 2 if your circumstances allow you enough time to concentrate on it.

Davesnave

LIR, you have pretty well described my DD2's way of revising for exams:- pieces of paper everywhere all over the walls, colour-coded and often picture based. She sees everything she's learning in pictures and finds linking areas of learning with a part of her room, or the house, very helpful.

Never tried it myself, but have to admit it works, and times have moved on since I was a rebellious (not very!) stoodent.:)

tomterm8

lostinrates wrote: »

I don't know how directly transferable skills are from traditional courses:.

In some ways the OU is much better organised than the university I went to; the course materials are light years ahead. It's probably better structured too. At the end of the day, though, most people who enter it are mature students with other commitments.

I have also done the equivalent of half a 1st year degree years course in operations management (it was required by a job I was doing) part time. I think the part time study was harder, BUT I actually got more out of it.

Hm... another hint is that after you think you've finished an essay, print it out and read it out load, possibly in a funny voice. You will catch a lot of mistakes. This is especially important in year 3: the dissertation.

tomterm8

I think people have forgotten one of the major requirements of this thread: mentioning chocolate on every page. Come on people: today I am wishing I could eat a cadburys creame eggs... lovely.. chocolate shell with diabetes causing fondant iceing. Who'd have thought they could pack so many calories in one evil little bundle of joy