Starting A Degree With The OU

Hi there everyone,

First of all, I hope I have posted this in the correct place, apologies if not!

Right, I have been looking into going back into Education via a course with the Open University. I plan on doing the BSc Natural Sciences (Astronomy and Planetary Science route).

The starting date for my first module is February 2014 and the module's ill be studying in the first year are as follows:

Exploring Science (S104) - 60 Credits
Investigate and Mathematical Skills in Science (S141) 30 Credits
Using Mathematics (MST121) 30 Credits

Are any of you guys (and girls!), studying any of these? Anybody recently got back into education?

I'd appreciate any advice, tips, warnings and general information that you can give.

Thanks for your time and help in advance!

Rob

Reply 1

Moho

Nice choice! It looks like exciting times in astronomy.

I did S104 back in 2011/2012. Brilliant course, they work you hard but it was very enjoyable.

As you've got a few months before you start it would be worth buying the first few books of your first course second hand and getting a head start. It's a good idea to be ahead of the schedule so you'll have some time to revise before the exam.

Open University

Milton Keynes

Reply 2

Hysteria8788

Thanks for the advice Moho! Glad that you enjoyed the course! Indeed, seems like very exciting times for Science on the whole!

Ive been doing a lot of research since I last posted into the course and to be honest, im a bit worried about the Maths Module (MST121). I only have GCSE Maths under my belt and its been 7 years since i left education.

Would this course still be suitable to me? Is it ''do-able'' on my previous qualification? The other alternative i have looked into is to study the Access Course ''Maths For Science'' (ST151?) and that seems a little more familiar and perhaps a way to break me back in gently.

Regards,

Rob

Reply 3

pippy123

Hiya,
I am doing those course atm :smile:

I left school with average gcses and math has never been a strength of mine. I recently finished an access course at college to prepare me but tbh the math was very basic.
I'm surprised how much math is involved with the courses, I'd say s141 is the 'easiest' well so far anyway. S104 is heavy on units and scientific notation which I can't get my head around! And I start the last course in Feb.
It's totally depends how confident you are in math but for me its been really difficult. My one piece advice would be to look at doing part time. I have gone full time and so far I'm regretting it as its a big workload with the amount that has to be read, I'd rather be able to focus solely on one course instead of juggling but again It's personal preference.
The courses itself are enjoyable, s104 seems to be heavy on the physics/chemistry so I must admit.I'm not liking that lol but as your taking a physics route but I think you like it :smile:

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Reply 4

Moho

Original post by Hysteria8788

Ive been doing a lot of research since I last posted into the course and to be honest, im a bit worried about the Maths Module (MST121). I only have GCSE Maths under my belt and its been 7 years since i left education.

Would this course still be suitable to me? Is it ''do-able'' on my previous qualification? The other alternative i have looked into is to study the Access Course ''Maths For Science'' (ST151?) and that seems a little more familiar and perhaps a way to break me back in gently.

Actually there is a new course MST124 starting this Feb, which will replace MST121. So I think your level 1 courses should be MST124, S141 and S104. It would be worth contacting the OU to check if there's any doubt.

I think it's doable. People start with a big range of maths skills, so the books do go over everything rather than assuming you'll already know it. For example the books will cover things like rearranging equations, how to draw graphs, what are significant figures.

It's a good idea to pace yourself though, like pippy123 says. It's good to be able to put enough time into each course to enjoy it.

There are self-tests here to check if you're ready for S104 and MST124:
http://www.open.ac.uk/science/main/studying-science/are-you-ready-science
http://mathschoices.open.ac.uk/are-you-ready

They created S141 by combining 3 short courses, S151, S155 and S189. So you probably don't want to do S151 as it's already in there.

Reply 5

Hysteria8788

Thanks a lot guys, your help is much appreciated :biggrin:

Moho, thanks a lot for your time sorting those tests out for me, great stuff. Also a great insight to the courses themselves. A new course, eh? Quality!

Pippy123, thanks a lot for your input, most helpful. Im sure you'll get there sweet if you want it badly enough :smile:

keep at it!

Im actually thinking of going the Part-Time route. Its a lot easier for me (as I work constant Nights) ad it appears that if I study 60 credits a year, I qualify for free Education as i dont earn enough.

Can anyone shed any light on this? Im sure i read somewhere you're elligable if you earn under £16k per annum.

Cheers