Today is the start of the second of the two designated practical weeks. The first week was on weather station data and happened in week 3 of the module, around mid-October. This practical involves evaluating background radiation tracks using a cloud chamber. A number of video recordings have been made available through the course materials and having watched them, the method used and the results obtained are conveyed to another student using a scripted PowerPoint presentation which is then commented on. Similarly, each student is expected to 'peer review' somebody else's efforts.
Last week my tutor emailed all of us and gave us the student allocations. It was basically a table of names which indicated which student will be expected to review the efforts of which other student. There is also a tutorial planned for Tuesday 18th February which will hopefully explain a bit more about the entire procedure. Also, I now know that the cut-off date for this practical activity is Friday 7th March.
I can imagine a lot of people not bothering with this activity due to the 'working with others' aspect, not to mention the time constraints. It is worth 40% of the TMA, and the TMA is worth 13% of the total module mark (i.e. 5.2% overall), so there are many marks up for grabs. Rather worryingly, a few days after the initial email, my tutor followed it up with 'what to do if nobody peer reviews your presentation' guidance. This sounds more than a bit ominous.
As an aside, I received another communication from the OU. This was entitled "Checking in on your study experience: We'd like to hear from you!". It just appeared to be a more comprehensive version of the "Your mid-module check in" email that I got a few days ago. I was honest and said that the tutorials were a bit disorganised but other than that, everything was going OK.