Open University. Am I mad? :p

tr3mor

I think my main concern with the OU would be that it wasn't as bookish as a degree from another university. Thanks for the advice Oldernotwiser.

studentphil

tr3mor wrote: »

I think my main concern with the OU would be that it wasn't as bookish as a degree from another university. Thanks for the advice Oldernotwiser.

What about starting with level 2 courses if level 1 is too easy for you? It is worth remembering that you are going to be doing this pt with a ft job so you need to think carefully if you can manage lots of extra reading plus a job and normal course readings.

tr3mor

studentphil wrote: »

What about starting with level 2 courses if level 1 is too easy for you? It is worth remembering that you are going to be doing this pt with a ft job so you need to think carefully if you can manage lots of extra reading plus a job and normal course readings.

Judging from what people have said about the OU I'm not convinced that it will be suitable anyway. It especially worries me that they discourage you from finding your own sources given the subjective nature of PPE.

studentphil

tr3mor wrote: »

Judging from what people have said about the OU I'm not convinced that it will be suitable anyway. It especially worries me that they discourage you from finding your own sources given the subjective nature of PPE.

In what sense do you use subjective about those subjects?

tr3mor

studentphil wrote: »

In what sense do you use subjective about those subjects?

Authors and commentators hold a whole range of views regarding subjects such as P, P and E. If you are discouraged from researching the topics yourself how do you know you are taking in a full range of views?

studentphil

tr3mor wrote: »

Authors and commentators hold a whole range of views regarding subjects such as P, P and E. If you are discouraged from researching the topics yourself how do you know you are taking in a full range of views?

I see what you mean now. It is a problem as you suggest. But it is worth remembering in a short assessment that you will only be required to consider say two or three main views on topic as you just won't have room to deal with a full range of views. The important skill is really doing a detailed consideration of given theory rather than conducting a survey of the spectrum of views.

Voyager2002

It is a pity that no-one seems to have noticed my quote of yesterday morning. Just for the record, I know the OU extremely well and it would be unfortunate if the OP failed to explore what it offers because of reports of untypical experiences.

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

If you can find out where your local study centre is (probably your local FE college) you should find that all the course materials are available to you there so that you can see what's involved.

I think that you might find the level 1 courses quite unchallenging as they have to be accessible to people without prior study experience. The level 2 and 3 courses might be more interesting, although I do find that the OU doesn't always encourage you to read more widely than the set materials, which can be quite frustrating for an experienced student.

Although they don't offer PPE, you might be interested in a degree with the University of London External Programme which can be more flexible and challenging than the OU.

http://www.londonexternal.ac.uk/study_ep/index.shtml

Yes: OU materials are available in local study centres, and generally in university libraries. As posted earlier, a selection of them are available on-line.

Strictly speaking, the courses for those without previous study experience are at Foundation level, rather than level 1. They are designed to be interesting, but obviously are not really appropriate for a graduate.

Having said that, after completing a PhD (Technology) I took a level 1 course in Spanish. I found it easy (my PhD had involved living in a Spanish-speaking country) but interesting, and I did learn some new things. With hindsight, I should probably have taken the level 2 course.

I am baffled by the comment about lack of encouragement to read widely. I would assume that a tutor told a student to master the course material before reading other books that s/he was maybe not well placed to interpret. Anyway, OU course materials do summarise differing points of view on contentious issues. I have seen some materials that give a very fair account of perspectives that are at variance with the view of the people who wrote the course.

pboae

There must either be a wide variety of attitudes on courses, or it's down to individual tutors. When I taught Psychology I encouraged my students to read widely, and even if they didn't have access to other academic material they were welcome to incorporate anything they could find from lay materials, if it was relevant and could be referenced. I know at least some of the other tutors on my course did that too, and I don't know any who didn't, althought I can't say for sure that none of them did.

I would also agree that level 1 courses do start at a very low level. They have to with people coming from such varied backgrounds, but the standard rises quickly, and the higher levels are just as challenging as a bricks and mortar uni. Also, the OU supply a lot of wider material as well, including videos and spoken word as well as general reading and journal articles.

My experience was that most students barely touch the extra material, but for the once that did it was immediately evident in the higher standard of the work they submitted.

Oldernotwiser

My ex was doing a Level 1 Humanities course some years ago and got very interested in one aspect of a subject and ordered a book about it. He asked for a week's extension to incorporate this new material. He was told very firmly that he should complete the assignment from the material provided as anything extra was not required.

My husband did his first degree many years ago with the OU (gaining a high 2:1) and later went on to do a MA elsewhere. He started another OU course out of interest but received poor marks in the first couple of assignments as he was told that his approach was not what the tutors were looking for on this course. This point of view was non negotiable so he had to drop out and wasted several hundred pounds.It was a film studies module; a subject that he had been teaching at an FE college for some years!

I think that there must be a wide variation between the different tutors involved, so perhaps my second hand experiences have just been unlucky. I always recommend the OU to people; it was this particular situation I had doubts about.

(pboae; I was pleased to see you use the phrase "bricks and mortar university" as it's an expression I use with my clients. I thought I'd made it up!)

Catw0man

Have you ever thought about doing a course with another university, rather than the OU?? I did my first degree full-time then went on to do a Masters part-time distance learning through Napier University which I really loved. SInce then I have gone on to do another distance learning course (completely unrelated) through the Royal Academy in London. I really enjoyed the distance learning courses, and did them while working 2 part-time jobs. I am hoping to start another university course later this year - related to my work which will involve attending lectures - which I'm not looking forward to, I much preferred distance learning. The support I got from my tutors was great, they always answered emails quickly and were available on the phone too, and I had access to the library, requesting books on-line and they post them to your house. I looked into OU courses at the time but found them to be much more expensive.