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You've joined a quality institution: the OU is currently ranked in the top ten amongst UK universities, which is an astounding achievement for a university wholly based on distance-learning. Their high-quality, challenging courses require a significant amount of input on your part. Most courses have a written exam at the end, and 60-point undergraduate courses typically have 7 assignments (TMAs) during the 8 months of the course, while 30-point courses usually have 3 or 4. Essay-style TMAs often have a specified length: 1500 - 2000 words is quite typical. There is no oral component, except with language courses, and developing good writing skills is an important road to good marks. When you have submitted your TMA, you will usually have to get straight back to the course materials to read the relevant sections in time for the next TMA. The pace can seem relentless; for some courses there is no Summer/Christmas break, and most of us take our books on holiday with us. Indeed, while it may be a holiday from work, it won't be a holiday from your studies unless you can get far enough ahead before you go away. Supportive families and colleagues are very important. Does this all sound awful? I hope not, our reason for writing is not to put you off. We believe that your chances of succeeding are enhanced if you go in with your eyes open. There are many of us who consider ourselves 'study-junkies' after having completed a few years and courses with the OU. Some even begin to wonder what on earth they did with their time before they started studying! Students registered for a Foundation Course will usually have the support of a local tutor and face-to-face tutorials. Students registered on other courses rarely get this outside the UK, because the student body is too thinly spread out to justify hiring tutors in each area. Until a few years ago, it was compulsory to start at Foundation Level, where the courses are designed to take students 'by the hand' and lead them in the development of the academic skills necessary for higher study. Undergraduate courses at Levels 2 & 3, and postgraduate courses assume you already have these skills, so it is worth investing some extra time on this element if you are entering the OU at any of these levels. Whatever course you decide to begin with, and whatever your previous experience, we recommend you purchase an excellent book called The Good Study Guide [ISBN 0 7492 0044 8], which was purpose-written by an OU tutor and spells out all aspects of returning to study. As well as the original, the following later-generation versions are now available: The Manager's Good Study Guide; The Sciences Good Study Guide; The Arts Good Study Guide. Buying one of these now would be a good move. They are all available from OUSA Mail Order in Milton Keynes or you can support OUSA NI by ordering here with Amazon. Or, check out our merchandise page for more info. Another very useful idea once you start studying would be to set up a self-help study group with other students from your course. Your tutor may offer you the chance to include your name on a Student Link list, which will then be circulated to all participants, allowing you to get in touch with each other independently of any tutorials, or you can talk freely with other students using FirstClass. If you don't have a dedicated conference, you can check if OUSA provides one and if not, you can send in a request to OUSA Conference Request. If all else fails, several study groups have been set up on Yahoo! Groups and on Smartgroups, so do make sure to take a look. Many of you will have been through the British or North American systems of education and are now living as Expats in Italy or Ticino, so while the OU will differ from school or previous higher education because of the distance aspect, the approach will be familiar. Many others, however, will have come through the Italian or other European systems of schooling and you should be aware that the OU will present significant differences of style compared with what you are accustomed to, as well as the challenge of studying in English. Support is available, in the shape of tutors and counsellors and other staff too, but most of these are in Britain, not in Italy. There is also an OU Coordinator in Italy that you can contact. If you are elsewhere in Europe, you can find the OU near you on the OU website. In Northern Italy, there is an active Students' Association branch, which offers another level of support in the form of fellow students. If you live in Italy and are registered for the OU, you are automatically a member of the OU Students' Association (OUSA). OUSA NI is the branch for students in Northern Italy and Ticino. Students in Southern Italy are currently represented by the OUSA Rome branch. In addition to the Students' Association, the OU has also set up its own Firstclass server (where students can connect to each other through email, chat, and various online forums and interest groups. This email client is a MUST! Please download it rather than using the OU Student Hompage to access your OU mail!
OUSA also
provides services in the form of Student Support Links (SSLs) and
Student Academic Links (SALs) and a description of these can be found on
the main OUSA homepage. Peer support is
also available through Firstclass (Peer Support Online) and disabled
students are represented by the Enabled Students' Group (ESG). But most of all, we look forward to meeting as many of you as possible at functions through the year: at an Induction Meeting perhaps, a Study Skills Workshop, a Course Choice meeting, or at a branch meeting or social event. Welcome to the OU & to OUSA! |
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