TMA07 Passed; Revision in Full Swing!

Okay, so I thought that I had bombed TMA07, simply because I had decided to spend the time messing around with revision rather than trying to get a distinction mark on this TMA.  I was amazed to see that I scrapped a distinction with 87%.  Interestingly, yet again, I rushed through a TMA to find that despite spending about 40% less time completing it, I only dropped about 6% from my average marks.

Food for thought there, when it comes to next year's study schedule.

So, onwards, and upwards.  I have taken a few days off work, and really got stuck in to some past paper revision.  I have kept it simple and tackled questions in an exam style, under the clock.  I have then marked the results and spent the second half of the revision period checking where I went wrong; then making some notes in my handbook, of important stuff to remember.

It seems to be working well so far.  I started off with about 70% correct answers and I have moved that up to 78%, this week.

Having said that, I have only really been tackling the part one questions at this time.  I plan to begin introducing some part 2 next week and I will then make some additional notes in the handbook, to help me structure my answers.

There are some big gaps in my knowledge; for example, I skimmed through Analysis B, so my Integration needs some serious extra study, to be up to speed.

My goal is simple.

All I want, is to be able to walk out of that exam room, feeling that I couldn't have performed any better.

If I then get a disappointing result?

Eh bien...c'est la vie.

Don't Panic!

I've had a month off from blogging, as I found that I needed to reduce my focus on the day to day detail of OU work, and take a more strategic view of the course, as I started to think about the exam.

Well, during that time, I have managed to score 83% on TMA06 which was the second analysis paper.  I was pleased with that mark, since I really didn't understand some of it, partly due to the fact that I simply couldn't settle quickly enough, back into the subject.

I really do hate the way that some of the most interesting material, so often feels crammed into the end of each OU course.  But such is life at this University.

So, tonight, I have rushed like crazy, to try and get TMA07, completed.  I've managed to complete approximately 83% of the paper. There were two questions that I tried to do battle with, but I was spending so much time on them with not much progress, that I realised that it was time being wasted.

I should mention, that using the course score calculator, it seems that in order to reach distinction level with my TMA work, this year, I now only need to score 30% in this last TMA.

I therefore rationalised, that if I could score about 70% , then my ego would not take too much of a bashing, and this would then leave me several more precious days, to fit in some exam revision, whilst still leaving the door open for an overall distinction, if I have a good day during the exam.

On the subject of exams, I normally like them, but I really feel that I may have met my match, this time around.

Having worked through some of the TMA07 exam style questions, I realised just how shaky some of my most basic maths foundations actually are.  Silly mistakes in TMA06 caused lost marks such as arithmetic errors and other trivia.  Also, some of the part 2 questions on the past papers, look formidable.

We shall see, in due course, how the nerves of the exam, will affect my accuracy and focus.