## The Midlife Geek

### Ramblings of a middle aged engineer, runner and open source enthusiast

#### Tag: Open University (page 1 of 5)

With a bachelors completed, a sense of “what now” quickly settles in and a masters degree is a logical next step. After graduation, the Open University (OU) was quick to respond to tweets:

Struggled to get my head around Euler problem 15:

Starting at the top left of a 20×20 grid and only moving right and down, how many routes are there?

I figured that this was a combinatorics problem but couldn’t see what to count or choose from.

Project Euler problem 21 is to find the sum of all amicable numbers under 10000. An amicable number is:

Let $$d(n)$$ be the sum of proper divisors of $$n$$ then $$d(a)=b$$ and $$d(b)=a$$ if $$a!=b$$ then $$a$$ and $$b$$ are amicable numbers.

I attended the University’s Graduation Ceremony at Ely Cathedral yesterday. If theres one thing that the UK loves, it’s a ceremony.

It was very well organised and planned. Free parking wth a shuttle bus to the Cathedral, clear direction to registration, robing and photography. There were a lot of nervous graduates but there needn’t have been. Ushers sent each row of graduates up along the side, where out of sight lists were checked and someone straightened our robes.

I think there’s probably more value in these things for family than for the graduates themselves but I enjoyed the day.

Not sure where to go from here. I enjoy studying – masters seems logical but I don’t have the interest I once did in Computing. I’ve looked at the Open Masters but would need to focus on science and the choice seems a little narrow. I guess I’ll figure it out.

Booked a graduation ceremony at last. Trying to find a suitable location, that fits in around work and family is a bit of a Travelling Salesman Problem.

I’m still not sure where to go next.

My current contract employs me until the end of 2021. Looking at an MSc with the OU, the Information Security and Forensics specialism looks fascinating and will no doubt continue to be an important area of the industry. To complete the qualification by 2021, I would need to register on Digital Forensics (M812) to start in May.

That means I could have started an MSc before my BSc graduation ceremony!

I haven’t posted in a long time. I’ve been busy with the final part of my Open University studies – TM470 (The Computing and IT Project). But I submitted it in the early hours of this morning!

My project was an Android application, the development of which I have enjoyed. Over the next few months I intend to develop another application and post here on the process.

TM470 Tutor Marked Assessment results are out. With 73, 75 and 81% there is weighting to consider – 5% for the first and 10% for the others. That gives a total score of 19.25%. The pass mark is 40%, with at least that much in the End of Module Assessment.

I’m also in a funny position. Given my scores on other modules no matter the result of this module (assuming I pass), then I get a 2:1. There’s another thing – I’ve taken this qualification over about eight years. That rules out British Computer Society accreditation as that requires qualification over six.

So I can’t say that I have the best motivation – I want it over. There are a pile of books, games, movies and TV shows waiting. I’m tired of planning my life around study. It feels like a chore now.

Learning is something to enjoy – studying is not.

Like many students I imagine, I’d no idea where to start with my final project. Having read the preparatory material I had some idea of what was expected but didn’t understand how to write a proposal.

The book How to Write Dissertations & Project Reports (McMillan and Weyers) has been invaluable. While the first tutor marked assessment is the proposal itself, I needed somewhere to start and the chapter on writing a proposal is clear and concise.

The university allocated my tutor this weekend. Seems quite real now – going to be busy for the next six months!

An oversubscribed TM470 has seen the Open University de-register students. It seems the University was unable to recruit enough tutors. I was fortunate to secure a place but can only imagine the frustration of those who didn’t.

I would make an educated guess that there are two reasons for the increased volume. First the introduction of tuition fees. Five years after their introduction, transitional arrangements end this year. Second, B62 degree is being removed (of which this is a compulsory module). I would have thought extending this degree for a further year would be a solution.

This doesn’t show the University in its best light.