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Open University

Milton Keynes

Feb 2012 W100 people over here!

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I emailled my tutor to check on the word count & if we need to comment on who DIDN'T commit an offense & she said I should comment on both, that if we're dramatically off the word count we've possibly missed something & that at the first lecture we'll be doing an exercise similar to eTMA01 to give us a better idea. :smile:

How was the first lecture Claire?

Open University

Milton Keynes

Reply 181

clairelou90

Original post by Oppro

How was the first lecture Claire?

Hmmm, well I got to about 560 words, no where near 1,000, but as I've already submitted my first eTMA there's probably not a lot I can do but wait LOL. :smile:

Reply 182

legalboo

yep, me too. But I really can't think of anything that I've missed. Oh well, never mind. The good thing is that the first tma is only something like 7% of the overall grade, whereas from tma2 onwards they are between about 12% and 18% each.

Reply 183

clairelou90

To be honest there wasn't much more I felt I could write without boring the reader, think it's a bit un-realistic for them to say a max of 1,000 words, 400-600 seems to be more than enough from what I've read on here. :smile:

Reply 184

bottleandahalf

Original post by Oppro

How was the first lecture Claire?

Hallelujah! You are a wee star! I didn't want to e-mail my tutor about this in case they wouldn't tell you.
Now I might, just might get the 600 words required for question 3.
Muchas graicias!
Good luck!

Reply 185

legalboo

They didn't say it had to be exactly 1000 words, they said a maximum of 1000 words. Surely 600 - 700 should be sufficient?

Reply 186

Oppro

Personally I can't see how you could get to 1000 words without really padding it up with fluff, and in a legal setting courts & legal firms do not like unnecessarily loquacious documents so I would have thought getting into the habit of stating the relevant facts alone without pages of chatter would be the best course of action. I suppose it's just balancing including everything without yabbering on too much. I would imagine initially at least the stated word count is more than we should need, just to get us into it, before teaching us to summarise and talk the legal jargon, do you know what I mean??

There we go, a very wordy response to say I don't think it should be too wordy!!! :biggrin:

LOL

Luckily for me, my first tutorial was cancelled so they are combining this week's with next week's. Has anyone had their first tutorial yet?

Reply 189

Oppro

I'm at it now! Don't worry, actually been asked by the tutor to post and show what a forum is!! :wink:

Reply 190

legalboo

How did it go Oppro, were there people there that didn't know what a forum is then?

Reply 191

Oppro

There were people there who didn't know what email is. :s-smilie:

It was alright. Lots of time spent chatting & meeting everyone and going through the basic structures and layouts of OU study, only a small bit of actual work that isn't covered in the materials, and that was more practice than relevant study. They are not so much lectures as seminars, really. It was also rather frustrating how much time was spent on explaining word docs and forums and emails etc instead of actually getting on with law! Put it this way I won't be stressing if I can't make one. Nice to meet the other students though, I think there are a few potential friends there... :smile:

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 192

username883084

To begin with I really worried because I couldn't see how 1000 words could be reached. However going over things a little more carefully I've managed to reach 1000 quite easily. Also my tutor said you shouldn't go to far below the word count so I had no choice. Has everyone else managed 1000 words? Hope you're all finding it interesting, just about to start unit 1 :biggrin:

Reply 193

Oppro

Yeah I was told the same thing - try to get as close to the count as poss but don't go over. She did say the word count for eTMA was quite generous but try to get near it. Will have a go at padding it out a bit tonight.

Reply 194

username883084

By the way, I'm really interested to hear what everyone want's to do with their law degree? I know it's a bit early but I've been thinking. I don't mean just 'I want to be a lawyer' but more specific things. I'm thinking of doing my masters at a brick uni. I haven't got the first clue how to get legal work experience. There's so many different avenues, thinking about it is a bit daunting really.

Sorry, I have a tendency to think far into the future :smile:

Reply 195

Oppro

My general rough plan at the moment is to be a solicitor in family law, possibly working within some sort of child protection or domestic violence setting, something like women's aid or for families dealing with CAFCASS or social services. Maybe. It could well change but that's the motivation at the moment.

Reply 196

legalboo

Thanks for the heads up on the tutorial. I have to say I'm rather surprised some people didn't know what an email was. Sounds like a challenging but rewarding career by the way Oppro; one in which you could potentially make a real difference.

I am using this module as an introduction in order to pursue my degree at the University of London (where I have been accepted... yippee!). The OU points system are slightly different from a 'brick' university therefore I wont be exempt from any UOL modules. Ultimately I think I would like to teach Law however, like Oppro I may specialize instead.

Reply 197

Oppro

More for bitter vengeance than a sense of morality and care for the community!! :colone:

Well done on already being accepted for UOL! You could be teaching the next generation of OU students legalboo!! :biggrin:

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 198

clairelou90

Hmmm I'm unsure, W100 is counting towards an Open Degree at the mo but I'm thinking of switching it over to the Bachelor of Law degree instead, which do you think would be better, I set out originally to become a Legal Secretary, but with the job market the way is is at the moment I'm thinking more stick with the OU (or transfer my points and go to the College of Law) next year or year after (so I've had experience of a real Uni as well)

What do you all think? Stick with the Open Degree or change it?

Reply 199

Oppro

Ah! Just remembered something on of the guys at my lecture said! He said that we should get our free choice in now and do it ASAP, crossing over by a couple of months or we'll be subject to the new charges. Anyone know this for sure?? Anyone know what they are doing for their free choice yet? I tried to look on student home but it really wasn't very clear. I also can't find my regional or local forum on student home either. I must say I don't think the OU website is the easiest to navigate sometimes. :s-smilie: