How to survive S104 Exploring Science

Apparently S104 is said to be one of the hardest Open University level one modules. I can certainly see how this might be the case. However I believe that it is also extremely rewarding and surviving it will definitely motivate you for continuing your studies.

I am not a study expert and certainly not a brainiac but there are few bits of advice that I am hoping will help people studying S104. Some of the below are things that I should have done, but didn’t. Hopefully you can learn from my mistakes.

1.       Get ahead and stay ahead.
Oh I am a master of procrastination. I plan and organise but never ever stay ahead of my schedule. What I have learnt about myself is that I work best under pressure and leave things until last minute. Now… you definitely don’t want to do that with this module. You won’t have time for procrastination because you will constantly be under pressure. The best thing to do is start studying as soon as you’ve got your materials, don’t wait until the actual module start date. Try to get yourself ahead and stay ahead. It will give you some time to breathe and if your life ‘happens’ then you will have that bit of extra time to do things other than studying without feeling too much guilt.

2.       Make study cards as you go along.
I made little study cards that I used when preparing for the exam. The mistake I made was that I left it till the end. The best thing to do is making cards after each block. It will seal your knowledge and you will be able to use them when preparing for the exam.

 

 

3.       Have a go at the iCMAs.
I know things often change and get updated at the Open University but when I did S104 the iCMAs were not part of the assessment. I kept having a go at them until I had over 80% on each. They are a great practicing tool, especially when preparing for the exam.

4.       Find most efficient way of taking notes.
I personally did not take any notes just because I wanted to save time. Instead I took four different colours of highlighter and corresponding post-it notes. I assigned a category to each of the colours and bookmarked the blocks with post-its.This off course might not work for you so try a few different ways of taking notes at the beginning of the course and see what method is best for you.

5.      Activities.
Make sure to do the practice questions and activities throughout the module and have a go at them again before the exam. This is essential because you will never truly know if you understand the scientific concepts until you have a go at solving the problems and doing the calculations yourself.

6.       Download advice from your student website.
Do a bit of research on your student website and you will be surprised how much help there is. I found some percentage practice questions that one of the tutors posted, no one from my group even knew this existed! I believe there was also a study calendar that had ‘essential’ and ‘non-essential’ activities written down.

7.       Don’t worry too much.
I know it’s easier said than done but think about the knowledge you will have after finishing this module, not about how hard it is.  S104 covers so many sciences that it is bound you won’t like some of it and you might struggle with some of it. Don’t beat yourself up too much about that, ask your tutor for help. I am sure you will get there in the end. And even if not, then … oh wells! You will be fine even if you don’t understand one subject. I hated geology (booooooring) and could not grasp any of the quantum physics (this stuff is super interesting but a bit mental).

 

Good luck! Remember, if I did it, so can you J

 

Everyday life planning – what planner will work for you?

This may seem like a simple choice but once you start researching, with a massive choice of planners out there you will get overwhelmed. It’s best to do some research first to see what planner will work for you. However you won’t really know what work best for you until you try it. Don’t get discouraged, we are all different and we have different lives with different priorities so what works for me might be simply rubbish for you.

I found few links to different planner videos and websites for you to have a look at:

Simplified planner vs Day designer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYo7BRt3VcU&index=2&list=PLmXnvEsseo1S-fyEa8jV9qKyhpLv3L-Rw

Kikki K planners (these are very girly) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1iYOpGXOHM&index=1&list=PLmXnvEsseo1S-fyEa8jV9qKyhpLv3L-Rw

Plum planner vs Erin Condren https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-k3ziZFHBDQ&index=3&list=PLmXnvEsseo1S-fyEa8jV9qKyhpLv3L-Rw

Uncalendar vs Planner Pad https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dnb-4tlyvnE&index=4&list=PLmXnvEsseo1S-fyEa8jV9qKyhpLv3L-Rw

Filofax http://www.filofax.co.uk/

Paperchase http://www.paperchase.co.uk/stationery/diaries-organisers/organisers

When choosing your planner, an important thing to consider is size because it does matter ;). Questions you need to ask yourself are:

·         Do you want to carry your planner around with you? If yes, choose a smaller personal size, if not then you can go A5 or bigger

·         What will you be using your planner for? If it’s only for one or two categories e.g uni and blogging then you probably won’t need much space. If you want to cram your whole life in there then you will probably need a bigger one

·         Are you a person that likes to jot details down, have your whole week planned out to every detail or are you happy with main appointments, assignment due dates, business trips or child play dates?

·         You might need both! Small one with main appointments and important dates to carry with you (small diary will probably be sufficient there) and a bigger planner to keep at home with all of the details, breakdowns, preparations etc.

Now onto inserts:

·         Will you be happy with generic planner insert or will you want to personalise your planner?

·         How much writing space will you need? There is loads of choices; month, week or day per page.

·         Are you a person that needs things categorised or happy to have everything randomly jotted around the page?

I realise that it may seem like these questions are a bit excessive for choosing a simple planner. But you will understand this once you watch the videos I posted. There is just so much choice out there and it’s all designed to motivate productivity and good organisation.