Saturday, 11 July 2026

IT issues resolved and outstanding (and resolved again)

My iCMA43 mark has been finally released, having been delayed for 'technical reasons'. When added to the other coursework marks it means I have contributed 13.81% towards my final module score. I need 32.74% in the final exam is to pass the module, which assumes I don't bother with iCMA44 and TMA04, which of course I will, so this final mark prediction is a worst case scenario.


The iCMA44 issue still exists though which means that submission of this assignment is delayed until either it is fixed or they make Question 1 void. This isn't a massive problem for me or anybody else really, it's just a bit irritating. It doesn't show the OU in a particularly good light though, since as a distance learning provider they heavily rely on IT to administrate their courses.

There was a Project Module briefing on Wednesday. The module S(XP)390 is not part of my Diploma in Physics profile, but in the unlikely (and theoretically possible) event that I will go on further after the Diploma, it will be the very last module of the degree course. I take an interest in these type of things even though its a long way off and not really relevant to me at the moment. It was very similar to the event held last year, except there is a new module chair for the Physics strand and there is now a Biomedical Science option. It was a little bit 'smoke and mirrors' in places. They kept banging on about how well students were supported on the module in general terms, but it got a little bit fuzzy when actually discussing the details of what that 'support' actually involves. It was worth attending though, and it had a good turnout for these type of events. I think it was nudging towards 100 people at times.

EDIT:

The iCMA44 question 1 issue has now been resolved. 21 days after I reported it. I've made reasonable progress on both TMA04 and iCMA44. I've finished the matrices questions on both and I'm waiting for the tutorials on sequences and series so I can have a go at those.