Start of Introduction to S284

Boot camp is over. I didn't attend any of the Boot camp tutorials because I didn't like the sound of 'breakout rooms', putting my microphone on and 'working with fellow students'. I'm sure this type of malarky is invaluable to some on the module but its not for me. I used the time to get a bit ahead on the module material. I went through all the worked examples and made Excel spreadsheets with the some of the formulae in them to make double-checking my answers easier. I'm pleased with my progress because by doing this it forces me to engage with the material rather than just passively let it wash over me.

Although it's time to start Week 1 of the module proper according to the study planner, it's just an introductory week called 'Introduction to S284', so not that much actually happens in the way of teaching and learning. It involves reading 'What is S284, and how to study it' which contains some self assessment questions in the Are you ready for S284? component.

The main activity for this week is completing TMA00 though, which I finished a while back. It has a soft cut-off date of  Friday 9th October, which is the last day of Week 1, but I sent it off on Monday 28 September. I didn't really see the point of holding onto something that isn't worth any marks, and the early engagement tutor feedback will be very useful. The OU have recently improved the TMA submission system. It now gives more information after the file has been uploaded and also allows the submission of draft versions that auto submit on the cut-off date unless manually overridden. It'll be interesting to see how quickly my tutor marks this assignment as that's usually an indicator of how good they are.

There was also an Accessibility Guide to read, which is primarily aimed at students with disabilities and those who support them. It provides information how to address some of the issues on the aspects of the module materials that may present challenges.

The final part of the week's activities was a reminder about the use of Gen AI, which isn't allowed to complete any assessment at all.

A very strange thing happened on Sunday. I got an email to say that the extended summary booklet won't be mailed until the third week of October. The thing is, I received it mid-August.