Revision notes
Now that I’ve seen the light so to speak (the glaring headlights of the oncoming ED209 exam that is) I thought I might try to be a little bit more organised about notes for future courses, hence this little page which gathers the notes and comments for the courses I’ve done over the years.
Current courses include:
2012 SD329 Signals and perception: the science of the senses, on its final presentation and not a course to be missed by all accounts.
2012 SXR376 The molecular basis of human disease, that scary combination of extremely difficult but equally fascinating course that you sometimes come across. There’s what looks like an even larger amount of preparatory reading for this than SXR375. Sadly on its final run.
2012 SXR344 Organic synthesis: strategy and techniques is the final run of the summer school for S346.
——– In the frame for the following 12 months or so ——–
2012 October SDK228 The science of the mind OR S283 Planetary science and the search for life OR D171 Introduction to counseling OR S346 Drug design and synthesis which ties in with SXR344 OR S347 Metals and life (a bit of an undecided time!)
2012 October S187 Elements of forensic science seems like a really interesting course and one which ties in with S205. It adds a useful 10 points to the Life Sciences which brings me to 300 points worth in 2014 on current plans.
2012 October TM190 The story of maths. Not totally sure what to make of this one.
2013 October SK123 Understanding cancers (may do this in May instead).
2013 February S377 Molecular and cell biology, which seems to address all the “we’ll explain this in more detail later” bits from book 3 of S204. Quite heavy going by all accounts but also quite fascinating.
2013 February SD226 Biological Psychology, on its final run. I don’t think that S377 + SD226 is a good idea so I’m hoping for news of SD226 mark two before I need to decide about enrollment.
2014 February 2014 SK320 Infectious disease, (new edition of S320), or S366 Evolution which should be the final course for my Life Sciences degree and, depending on the course sequence I end up with, my Diploma in Health Sciences.
2014 October DSE212 Exploring psychology (new edition I think)
Next up the sequence I’m currently looking at is [S345 Chemical change and environmental applications], [SXM390 Science project course: frontiers in chemistry], 2016 DD303 Cognitive psychology (new edition) 2017 DD307 Social psychology (new edition). Interspersed with that lot or perhaps afterwards will be A200 Medieval to modern history, A326 Empires 1492-1975 and probably a few others in the historical line. Also possible is the Creative Arts degree from the OU’s sister university, the Open College of the Arts or perhaps the science masters.
——– Notes and comments on previous courses follow ——–
2011 S205 The molecular world starts in October. Going by the comments on this it’s either very easy or impossible; I’ve had a really good look at the course materials and it seems very much at the doable end of the scale for me. There’s a small mountain of course materials including 10 books of varying sizes, course guides and seven DVDs containing everything from 1970s vintage videos to assorted items of software. All the course materials are available as PDFs (on the website and on the DVDs too).
2011 SK124 Understanding the Autism spectrum. Is a peculiar course in terms of course duration being a 15 pointer running over six months which makes it appear to run at a fairly sedate pace. All the course materials are available as PDFs and it runs very nicely on Android, Linux and Mac (not iPad due to flash).
2011 SA188 Archaeology: the science of investigation started in September. I was intending to leave it to the one side ’til after the S204 exam was out of the way but ended up doing most of it in the couple of weeks prior to the exam revision as it was fairly easy going and fascinating, a combination that usually means that I race through. It’s the how it’s done counterpart to A251 World Archaeology and comes with a heap of different materials from the usual study guide and course text through to DVDs and even a link with a real-life archaeological dig. It’s easy to underestimate the amount of reading as the course guide plus course text don’t seem that large but there seems to be about the same volume of reading on the DVD. Most course material is available on PDF (apart from the course book) but there’s a lot on the DVD and some on the website; there’s a lot of flipping between the various components which would be a nuisance without something like an Android tablet (iPad won’t do as there’s extensive use of flash video on the DVD).
2011 S204 Biology: uniformity and diversity arrived on December 15th in a frighteningly large size of box containing books with a combined page count easily twice the total of any previous 60 point course that I’ve done. That said, you only do about half the third book (although all of it is required for S377) and after that the course splits up into three separate options: animals+plants or animals+microbes or plants+microbes. Not a course to underestimate with almost 2000 pages of course text, over 250 of course guides and heaps of things on the two DVDs. All the course materials are available as PDFs.
2011 SXR375 Plants, pigments and light starts in late April when the pre-reading arrives. The compulsory CMA seems to be there largely to force you to do the pre-reading along with the very simple virtual experiments; results come out after the final residential week. The 3000 word EMA requires you to integrate the work of some other groups with that of your own and takes ages to do, although it didn’t seem that difficult. All the course materials are available as PDFs.
2011 SK195 Human genetics and health issues is one of those courses which really drag you in: the biology equivalent of SK185 in many ways. An engrossing course that’s fairly easy to do which is a combination that makes it fly by. All the course materials are available as PDFs.
2011 TT281 Client side of application development would be very hard to keep up with if you tried to follow all of it with forums, daily seminars, an e-book to read (via the dire MyScribe), references to JavaScript books and probably more besides: a 30 point course packed into 10 points in many ways. You learn the basics of JavaScript during the course which makes it quite difficult if you don’t have some kind of programming background and very easy if you’ve done something like PHP, C, or similar before. It’s on its last run but will be incorporated into a 30 point course in 2012; it would be better to wait for that and avoid the TT format courses which sometimes seem like a marathon of fast sprints. All the materials are available as PDFs though you’ve to produce your own PDF of the ebook.
2010 A251 World Archaeology is a bit heavy going in the first week when it gets into definitions of archaeology but seems readable enough when it gets into the archaeology itself although I’m glad that it doesn’t have an exam as I wouldn’t want to have to remember everything that’s covered. The course runs at a 60 point workload and doesn’t hang around which is a shame as I often felt that I’d like to wallow in the texts a bit more rather than racing on to the next topic. The assignments have a very tight word count so you need to be very focused and not try to cover the whole world as the book does. Count on doing a lot of work for the ECA both in terms of research and reading of articles that you find. Despite what sometimes seems like a 90 point workload, this is a course that I genuinely miss doing: strongly recommended. All the course materials (including the bits of the massive course book that you use) are available as PDFs.
2010 S171 Empire of the microbes is a wonderful introduction to biology and a great warm-up for S204. Quite a wide-ranging course dipping into everything from diseases through farming to extra-terrestrial planets. It’s a good introduction to the microbes material in S204. All the course materials are available as PDFs.
2010 TT280 Web applications: design, development and management would be fairly hard going if you’ve not done CSS and HTML before. Study guides are released three weeks before they’re needed which is a nuisance. It’s on its last run but will be incorporated into a 30 point course in 2012; it would be better to wait for that and avoid the TT format courses which sometimes seem like a marathon of fast sprints. Everything except the main course book is available as a PDF.
2010 SK185 Medicines, molecules and microbes is a fascinating introduction to chemistry and comes with a molecular modelling kit that is used throughout the course. The book starts from a very basic level and takes you into serious chemistry so it looks like a good lead-in to S205 which I may be doing next year. All the course materials are available as PDFs.
2010 S282 Astronomy starts off easy enough with astronomy (ie the stars) before moving on to the rather more mathematical cosmology. The TMAs follow that progression too with the fourth one being pretty much entirely mathematical. That change requires a change in approach to the answers too. Pulling out the chapter summaries, adding the learning outcomes and a few diagrams produces an excellent revision document. More of a 45 point course than a 30 pointer if you were doing all the activities (many are optional). The exam is very difficult. All the course materials are available as PDFs.
2010 S196 Planets is a bit dry and has a dated and dull feel to it thanks to it being based around the Teach Yourself Planets book (which you get in the course mailing and as a PDF). The CMA has 17 multiple choice questions with five written ones for the ECA. Together the two of them require you to know a fair amount of information from the course. All the course materials are available as PDFs.
2010 SXR270 Investigative Biology was a lovely re-introduction to lab work. It takes about 10 hours or so to get the pre-course reading done and there’s a 1000 word write-up of one of the experiments plus three short-ish questions to answer for the ECA; all very doable. You could do this as a standalone course as the background science briefings are quite comprehensive and might even manage with just the pre-session briefings as they are easier to follow than the printed briefings and quite complete too. All the course materials apart from the set book (which you don’t need to bring to the residential) are available as PDFs.
2010 S151 Maths for science is a very practically oriented introduction to the maths you need for most sciences. It starts off at quite a basic level and takes you up to degree level maths in very doable steps. You’d need more maths than this for physics but it looks fine for all the other sciences. The ECA is a multiple choice online one which you can spend as much time over as you like; it’s best to try the sample ECA first as entering some of the answers needs more thought than working out the answers themselves. All the course materials are available as PDFs.
2009 SK121 Understanding Cardiovascular Diseases is a surprisingly medical course starting off with two seriously heavy duty chapters going through heaps of medical terminology; after those it’s a much easier ride. A fascinating course which ties in well with SK277. No notes for this as the TMA and ECA are quite doable directly from the course texts. All the course materials are available as PDFs.
Sadly there’s no Tim-equivalent for the 2009 SK277 Human Biology course so I had to run up my own notes on it which you’ll find here. These are targeted at the June 2010 exam so they only cover the chapters highlighted by the course team for the essays. For the short question revision I pulled out all the learning outcomes and section summaries into one fantastic 27 page document but sadly I can’t upload it as it’s entirely OU copyright. A really fascinating course that’s doable even if you haven’t any biology behind you (though the first book is heavy going if that’s the case). All the course materials are available as PDFs.
I’ve collected together all my 2009 ED209 Child Development notes and other resources here. ED209 is an interesting course but you’ll find that the first month is very hard indeed if you haven’t done DSE212 beforehand. This is the first one of my planned Psychology Degree but that’s taken a back seat to the Life Sciences Degree for the time being as they’re doing away with the named science degrees. All the course materials are available as PDFs.
– Comments only below this as language courses don’t really need revision notes –
2008 U211 Exploring the English Language was the easiest course I’ve done so far, basically because I’d done a number of aspects of it beforehand in either the French or Spanish diplomas. If you’re coming to this with a foreign languages background you’ll find it easy (it only took me three hours a week to do), if you’re coming to it with a literature background you’ll find it heavy going. I didn’t bother with notes on this and just leafed over the books as revision. This was the last one for my Modern Languages Degree.
2007 L314 A Buen Puerto: fast forward in Spanish, follows on seamlessly from L204; a nice end to the Diploma in Spanish.
2006 L204 Viento en Popa: moving on in Spanish includes the excellent residential in Santiago which comes with very civilised accommodation. Fairly laid-back with a mix of Hispanic and Spanish tutors on the residential.
2005 LZX140 En Rumbo: A fresh start in Spanish was much a much better integrated course than the French equivalent. Interestingly, the fluency kicked in at the off with this so I guess the first second language enables whatever it is within your brain that handles foreign languages.
2004 L310 Nouvelle Mises au Point was very dated when I did it but I gather it’s had a proper refresh after the name-change. This completed my Diploma in French which is something that I never ever thought I’d have.
2003 L211 Nouvelle Envol, was all over the place as they bolted on Horizons to bring it up to 60 points. I gather that it had a proper refresh after the name-change. The residential in Caen is useful though don’t expect luxurious accommodation.
2003 LXR122 Action in French is an incredibly intensive course and the one that flicked me over into proper fluency in the language. Much better than the residential that’s part of L211.
2002 L120 Ouverture, a nice introduction to French but don’t believe them when they say that a GCSE is enough to begin this course; an A-level is more than enough so in practice something between the two is where you want to be. Combining this with Alliance Française got me to proper fluency in the language in about nine months which I think is pretty amazing.
My first experience with the OU was through watching the Saturday morning programmes way back in the 1970s but it was 2001 S194 Introducing Astronomy that ended up being my first course. I did it basically as an introduction for me as to how the OU worked. To be truthful, I can’t remember a whole lot about it as it seemed to pass in a flash.
S345 L3/20 Chemical change and environmental applications
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