Advice Please- Unsure about a degree in phisics

I can relate to what you have written (excluding the same name), Im in my late twenties now and finishing my BSc Physics with OU this year.

You sound pretty down about academic grades! Looking back I think I was when I was started the pursuit of the degree because I was working in pretty miserable warehouses for most of my early twenties and through my studies. Its quite a tall task studying with OU and working especially with a challenging subject like Physics, and I've seriously thought about throwing in the towel on soooo many occasions because its an uphill struggle. But I am now getting good career options.

Open University level 1 will 'ease' you into the subject, the maths and science literally start at day 1 of GCSE and go just beyond Alevel standard. School teachers are inadequate compared to OU level 1 books, specifically the MST124 and MST124 maths modules (you need MST124 for physics pathway). They are really well written and Open University clearly spent a great deal of time and money ensuring they are suitable for all levels. They will ramp your knowledge up at a good pace so everyone starts level 2 with the same knowledge.

Khan Academy is brilliant for maths but for physics there are better... These are the ones that helped me... (but some of these subjects will not be talked about in the OU degree pathway until year 2 (level 2 modules)). I have others for more advanced studies

https://www.youtube.com/user/lasseviren1/playlists
https://www.youtube.com/user/ilectureonline/playlists

Physics podcasts I listen to for inspiration....

http://titaniumphysicists.brachiolopemedia.com
http://www.startalkradio.net
http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/podcasts/astronomy/space-boffins/

Online physics courses at Coursera.org (honestly, these are a must for self studying like OU).

The best physics book I ever bought, which gave me a strong base is....

"University Physics - with modern Physics" by Young and Freeman

I used this book rather than OU book level 2 books on so many occasions. OU would introduce a new topic and I would go straight to this book to learn from because its awesome, then I just skim over the OU stuff to make sure nothing was missed. Get the 14th edition, it introduces annotation of equations a neat little addition that helps a lot.

If you other podcasts... let me know.

Thanks you for such a detailed reply.

Re being down about academic grades, I think it is that I am yet to achieve anything academic, I now value education very highly and in my current situation feel an under achiever.

I have managed to get the files for MST124 so that I can get an idea of what i'm in for. And as you say it is a requirement for physics so seemed the best place to start.

Its good to hear that although its difficult you've been able to get past the stumbling blocks and keep moving forward.

Thank you for the youtube links and the titanium physics podcast, startalk and the naked scientists are my regulars aswell as the infinite monkey cage (when its on), otherwise I listen to general science podcasts.

I'll also look into coursera.org and your book recommendation.

If you don't mind my asking, How competent at maths were you prior to starting your degree? That is probably my biggest concern right now.

I had an A-level in Maths, so I was very familiar with basic concepts but had pretty much forgotten it all by the time I started.

The MST124 books are good because they have hundreds of questions in there to practice and starts at the most basic level. In my opinion you cant revise at maths and cant memorise to be good at it, its learnt through constant weekly reputation of attempting questions and you will get that with MST124. Couple it with Khan Academy and its winning combination. In my opinion, there should not be any concerns when starting an OU physics degree, the 1st year is very kind, there are other educational content that you get as well as the books like tutorials, screencasts, practice quizzes, past papers with answers.... and more.

Maths can look very intimidating sometimes with all the symbols and notation thats used, its somewhat of an art form interpreting it lol and it comes with practice. You will get lots in the degree.


Yea same here, I underachieved and I think Im quite lucky to have the option of Open Uni because I don't know where I would be without it right now, its changed my outlook and prospects completely. Over the last few months I thought it would be difficult to make a career transition into Physics in my late twenties as I'm a lot older than most starting in the field, but I've done a 180 turn on this based from several recent experiences . The physics degree gives a broad understanding, it doesn't allow for someone to hit the floor running in a new job related to physics. High tech companies use on the job learning as their jobs usually go beyond detailed scope of a physics undergraduate degree (regardless of where the degree is obtained) so everyones kinda in the same boat, but mature students generally have more 'soft skills', which are valuable.

Let me know if you have any other questions

That's certainly reassuring, I don't have a strong background in maths but I do think thats more from lack of trying at school than anything.I have been getting on well with khan acadamy and will continue to work my way through it. Great to hear that between that and mst124 I should stand in good stead.I also would be taking 6 or so years to complete the degree so I think I should have plenty of time before I even start the maths module.Regarding your points about career choices, The degree for me is as much about furthering myself as it is my career. I don't see my current business for life and I feel a degree in Physics can open many doors. A problem I may have is that I won't really have anything other than a degree and my business on my CV, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.I do just have one other question for now. As I have no formal background in Physics my interest is really in the things like the universe, gravity or time, just a few examples. As I don't have the background in maths do you think it possible that a formal study will actually be a lot less interesting? If that makes sense? It may be a silly question but I don't yet know what is involved in say a formal study in quantum mechanics.

I kinda wondered the same thing if it would be as interesting, its hard to answer. I got interested in physics from films, tv and documentaries. As long as you have an interest in that and the spark of curiosity is there, the mathematical concepts and physical laws will intrigue you (unlikely all will appeal to you) and you get a appreciation of just how clever they are as the course goes on.

I dont think level 1 covers much detail of what you just asked about, All Science degrees with OU share the same level 1 60 credit science module, it was called S104 when I done it, it was basically a very well written crash course in GCSE/Alevel Biology,Chemistry and Physics. People complained it contained too much content and it was changed dramatically this year or last year and is now called S111. You could do this compulsory module alongside the physics required module MST124 comfortably. 90 credits of level 1 in one year is very doable, even if you haven't had the A-levels. These modules really do start at the uttermost basic level and it would shorten your degree time down.

I studied 120 credits level 1 credits in a year and then the following year 120 level 2 credits, both years alongside a full time job. Arguably I should have only done 90 level 2 credits in my second year, because 120 at level 2 was a lot with a full time job, but I got through it. I think its worth doing 90 level 1 credits, MST124 will complement the level S111 module.... and MST124 goes well beyond the scope of maths used in S111, so you wont be playing catchup.

I dont particularly like Quantum Mechanics. The maths involved at undergraduate level is relatively straight forward, its a branch of maths called linear algebra. Its covered in MST224 (maybe renamed) and the maths is again refreshed in the QM modules books.

I cant stress this enough, if you look at physics content thats beyond your current understanding its really intimidating, well it was for me and still is! I questioned whether I would even get some parts, But you build up to it if you put the hours in.

Another link for visualising maths and physics concepts https://www.youtube.com/user/EugeneKhutoryansky/playlists (its probably the best, dont know why i missed it off my first post)

I'm planning on studying Physics, however, will be attending a University as oppose to the OU. I would say it is a highly mathematical degree and would suggest maybe taking a year out to study GCSE Maths or A-Level maths before you start. Is the only physics course with the OU the Mathematics and Physics BSc?

If you are able to I would definitely try to do a part time course with a college for Maths before you start. Are you intending on doing it full time or part time? What do you hope to do after the degree?

I'm planning on studying Physics, however, will be attending a University as oppose to the OU. I would say it is a highly mathematical degree and would suggest maybe taking a year out to study GCSE Maths or A-Level maths before you start. Is the only physics course with the OU the Mathematics and Physics BSc?

That would advisable for a brick university.

Open University has a totally different module setup and you cant really comment whats best until you have experienced both.

You can embark on a science degree with out Alevels and GCSE's with OU. Year 1 teaches you the low level content found on GCSE and Alevel. Then the year 2 (level 2) and 3 (level 3) have steeper learning curves than traditional brick universities.

OU have "Maths and Physics" and then "Natural Science (Physics)". "Natural Science (Physics)" is by all counts a Physics degree. Its has full accreditation by IOP. Some universities don't have that, and some only have recognition. It has all the maths needed for undergraduate physics (which is a lot) but all the maths needed is taught on the course, you dont need any other external qualifications or books. I have not a bad word to say about any of the OU Maths textbooks for the maths modules, they are really well explained, I have a few gripes here and there about the Electromagnetism and Quantum Physics textbooks but the maths is on point.

No problem! Let me know if theres anything else that I may know.

MST124 covers well beyond the maths in physics module S217.
So you could arguably do S111+MST124 in your 1st year, see how that plays out with your results and understanding. If you do okay, 90 credits the following year... S217+MST125 then 90 again with MST224+SXPA290(project module)+S382. That way your maths is always ahead of the physics (which is the way to go!), because S382 astrophysics is not heavily maths based (some may argue that, but its nothing compared to the other level 3 modules)

MST224 contains all the maths to understand the rest of the level 3 physics modules, (SMT359,SM358) its not required for physics level 2 so you can do after physics level 2 (s217). If there any gaps between the maths and physics modules, they are always written into the physics modules books. Though I cant recall any major gaps.

Thought of another quick question today, I had a listen to a few episodes of the titanium physicists podcast (really enjoyed) and it made me wonder.

Do you feel listening to Physics podcasts over the years has aided in your learning/ understanding when its come to the degree itself?

Its certainly helped me with some aspects, they offer some really good analogies on those podcasts for really complicated subjects. Some of the time i didn't have a clue what they were on about, until I started reading the texts books on a subject. But its still fun to listen to and it inspires me somewhat to work.

When you embark on a degree with OU, its freaking hard to self study, Motivation is a huge problem after a long day in work and you can find yourself falling behind REALLY fast, but whats helped me is having these other outlets to study from apart from OU textbooks that help in so many different ways.

I'd like to think education is going to change soon. People don't need to spend 9,000 a year on a degree and students should be demanding more for their money if it doesn't. Majority of lectures at uni are just fancy powerpoints where lecturers have extracted key points out of standard textbooks, they will never be better than the rating of lectures on youtube where the best make it to the top of the list with thousands of likes.

Some people take the approach that its easier to learn at uni because you can speak to lecturers etc, mature people dont need to be spoon fed, you just need to know the best place to learn stuff and willpower to spend the hours learning it. You can go on one of the many physics internet forums when your stuck understanding a problem and kind people half way around the world will explain it to you, or alternatively there is a wealth of content on youtube, coursera, intuitive textbooks, MIT free courses, free lecture pdfs, hyperphysics website (one of many), wikipedia.... its all out there and free. Oh... Sidetracked and ranted...

No problem! Let me know if theres anything else that I may know.