Thoughts on Open University

[whitesteel]

Success in studying for a conventional degree is all about how committed you are to the subject you are studying. As has been mentioned before it is mainly self supported studying and you tend to get out what you put into it, as it involves a lot of time being devoted to research and reading if you want to get a decent mark (ie a high 2.1, 65% or higher as opposed to a low 2.1). The thing with Open University is the research is done for you for the most part which significantly cuts down on the time you need to spend reading, studying. So to say a open university degree takes more commitment than a convential degree is a bit of a myth. If you want to do well at either you have to be up for it because they each involve a high degree of commitment just different kinds (although it is possible to piss about on a conventional degree and still pass albeit with probably a low mark, not so sure that this is possible case with open university ones. Either way go for it and make the most of yourself my hat goes off to you for your desire to improve yourself, all degrees become a grind after about year two so good luck.

[Robbie]

Originally posted by whitesteel
2.1). The thing with Open University is the research is done for you for the most part which significantly cuts down on the time you need to spend reading, studying.

What "research" is done for you at the OU? I don't understand what you mean by this. From what I knew of the OU, students had to spend far more time reading than at a conventional university. Lectures and seminars just don't happen, unless the course has a residential component. Indeed, listening to a good lecturer, and making notes, is far more effective in learning than reading a book.

If you want to obtain a good pass then you have to work at it. irrespective of the institution.

[whitesteel]

I don't agree that listening to a lecturer and making good notes is more effective than reading a book, no matter how good the lecturer is. That may be true in the first year but you definitely have to read around the subject in more depth in the second and third year when the emphasis is more on critical analysis rather than just description. By its very nature a one hour lecture is not designed to cover all the concepts and perspectives of any given subject. I always thought lectures were only supposed to act as an introduction and I certainly only ever used them as a starting point. Lectures rarely cover anything more than the main points and usually only do so in a descriptive fashion not offering much (if anything) in the way of analysis. Reading up on the subject definitely brings your knowledge up to date and not only provides essential information sometimes lacking from lectures but also gives you a greater understanding of the topic when it comes to formulating your arguement. As the degree progresses your definitely expected to rely less on lectures or favour them over books or journal articles. It is one of the skills that the lecturers on my course looked for when marking essays.

As far "research" goes I was defining it rather loosely in terms of library based research (secondary research), where you attempt to find information yourself rather than just stick to the official reading list. I obviously didn't mean the type of research where you have to formulate your own hypothesis, construct a questionnaire and analyse the resulting data (primary research). I may well be wrong about the way OU operates (wouldn't be the first time I have been wrong about something) but by way of explanation what I meant was that I was under the impression that OU students were given big handouts for every unit which had the relevant sections out of books reprinted in them so they didn't have to find the book themselves or read through the whole thing picking things out of it. Anyone who has done a degree will know that the time wasted searching down blind alleys and waiting for books to come back to the library only to discover that they are of no practical use when you read them anyway forms a large part of attempting to answer an essay question correctly. If this is cut out it saves a lot of time and effort and that was what I meant when I said the research is done for you. However my understanding of how OU operates is not based on first hand experience but from my mam who did a course and she reckoned that because OU is to some extent distance learning many OU students don't have ready access to a library and don't have the time to research and read every book on the subject just on the off chance it may be of some use. It wasn't meant to be a criticism of OU I just think serious students (well the ones who don't just mess around anyway )spend more time reading and researching on a convential degree than they would at OU.

One final thing I am aware of is that I have not articulated the points I was trying to make as well as I should have but I should make it clear that in no way do I consider OU to be inferior to a conventional degree. One of the points I was trying to make in the previous post was both degrees involve a high level (albeit different kinds) of commitment if you want to succeed and that I would encourage anyone to undertake a course of further education not matter what form it takes.

[Robbie]

You have misunderstood the point that I was making. In terms of learning - i.e. remembering - then listening, and making notes, is more effective than reading alone. My emphasis here is on effective and efficient learning. I can't remember the exact figures, but reading alone is not the most efficient method of learning. After one week you have forgotten something like 75% of what you have read.

Of course, it goes without saying that it is imperative to read as much as you can, and in depth, about a subject. However, reading alone is not sufficient.

I don't know at which university you studied, but when I was at the University of Liverpool we attended lectures and were also required to present papers at seminars. These were in addition to essays and assignments. OU students do not have these "luxuries." Their studies take place in isolation, and reading alone is their main method of learning.

[whitesteel]

True I did misunderstand the point your were making with regards to lectures and your probably right in the context you mentioned them (judging by the facts and figures you supplied)but the point I made about lectures being of limited use during the later stages of your degree still holds because it makes the issue of whether or not lectures are an effective way of learning redundant (whats the point of learning and retaining information you not going to use much anyway). I agree reading alone is not sufficent but I think it is far more important than lectures which I saw them as a spring board nothing more.

P.S Yes I attended lectures and seminars at my university aswell