My Regrets | Open University

hello and welcome back to my channel my name is Tom I used to be an open University student and if you watched last week's video you're probably very confused as well as Adam that I've actually done two videos in the space of a week is actually quite the achievement for me um I don't usually have such consistencies I've actually got my YouTube channel before right now and pretty much this is two videos in two weeks and the last video before that was like over a year ago so I think it's well over you guys than like 500 plus days ago so top two videos in space of a week is quite the achievement with me so put on the part for me anyway today's video is one that I entered on last week's video uh last week's video was about my time after graduation if you want to check that out the link will be in the description and I'll put it up in a circle card thing I never know which side it's on it's not one of them um feel free to watch that if you'd like but today's video is about my studying regrets um I will link it to open University but there is also an essence of a generalized studying regret with myself and how I'm trying to overcome that and going forward um so before I get into it and just want to preference this by saying this is not a short open University at all none of this is open University's fault as you'll soon find out it is just primarily me my bad habits and just what I would do differently if I was to go back and do another degree or any other form of study and even if it's like just an online course from a different website just how I would change my studying activities in shooting Behavior so to get preference on what who I am like or what I am like when I'm studying to preference to get an idea of my studying behavior um I will do a very quick introduction to me as a student and I am your classic leave it to the last minute sort of person um I always did reasonably well at school and more than like top grades but I would get above average without really having to put the effort in um this I also didn't have like the natural drive to get those top grades I probably could have got those upgrades if I did put the effort in um that is primarily what differentiated me from the people that did get the top grades they put that in they fully deserved it I didn't didn't deserve it it's fair enough um but yeah I am your classic leave the last minute sort of person so any sort of assignment anything like that coursework um I would leave it until I basically had to start it there and then otherwise I wouldn't be down in on time touch wood I pretty much handed everything on time I was never someone who submitted stuff late um but I did submit work um whether it was at school college or open University I would submit coursework or any sort of thing where I didn't show my true potential because I simply didn't put the effort in um the only time I didn't was actually a genuine mistake with the University where I missed the deadline um but luckily my tutor was very forgiving it just emailed me and was like Hey the notion it's meant anything I apologized profoundly about it and yeah she gave me a couple days extension um which was very good of me I think I had the wrong date down I'd like the week after um but yeah it was it was very forgiving um I forget his name um obviously I won't probably say his name anyway in this type of video but he was very forgiven and given the extension so shout outs to him um all my tutors are actually very nice people generally speaking um so yeah because I Leave You everything's last minute when it comes to open University I carried on that uh the first year all the modules are fairly straightforward they are not there to particularly they don't go in depth on topics it's a very ground level I feel like um and it is something that you can get you get year one unit is done fairly straightforward without too much stress saying that I picked the wrong Mass module um you know added a computer to 90 degree just in case you are not doing the same degree or you've not watching my videos before I did a computer in 90 degree and for that degree you pick you can you have to choose one of the two modules in your first year Mass module sorry um I chose mst124 and I think this is Mu problems here and I want to say mu123 don't think that's the case it's I picked the harder um Mass module and that's because master was always a strong subject of mine at school um and I wanted to continue that there was no benefit in choosing the harder math module um and because I did struggle with a particular unit um I ended up deferring that module to the next year a bit more I'll talk a bit more about that coming up because of my just a whole naturally I study and then leave everything to the last minute and I did the same thing with up University so although the first year was fairly straightforward I did continue with my leaving assignments the last possible minute scenario um which was fine with the first year because first year modules don't actually count anything towards your end degree um but your year two and year three modules do and because I continued this Behavior into those units and modules a basic hope to buy me the ass essentially um so what would what I ended up happening was I would start the year with good intentions I would get ahead um and then eventually what would happen is I would and an assignment give a couple of days to just mentally chill out nothing wrong with that um and then I would jump in and going straight in one unit or one module and get that done get the assignment done have a couple of days break continue the next one the opening of a size 34 modules for the first two years and then sort of three modules for the second two years because of the math module situation it meant I couldn't do full time for all three years um actually became a benefit but yeah that was my general plan but so going forward when I was studying when I was getting caught up in this bad poor cycle of concentrating one module at a time um eventually what would happen especially in the year three modules is I would leave stuff for the last couple of weeks before it was due would cram it because obviously the tougher modules they get more in depth you were bound to struggle more in those departments if you especially if it's brand new um information you know new learning to learn something you can't really just crumb something so intensely in a couple of weeks so what would happen is I would cram for two weeks or three weeks get this assignment done be genuinely mentally exhausted because I just crumbed my head with all this information and give a couple of days and then do the same thing for the next module and it was a very poor cycle it meant I was always playing catch up and I also meant because I was doing assignments like last minute um it generally meant that if I came across a part of an assignment I struggled with or I didn't quite understand um it would be a bit late to ask my tutor um because I would naturally leave those bits that I know I'm gonna Shuffle with I would leave it to the last bubble well leave it later on in the time and I'll try and do everything else that I can do straight if I would which I think is generally good good information because you'd only get stuck on one bit and struggle for a couple of days or a couple of weeks um and then still have everything else done so I always went in with the intention of doing everything I can do straight away get that done and out of the way and then concentrate in the tougher bits but because I left everything to couple weeks before I started module I would stroll struggle struggle with one little bit go on the forums and that's mature and stuff like that and eventually it would be too late for them to have real any sort of help for me um they generally especially like E3 modules can only point you in certain direction anyway they can't really obviously can't tell you the answer as such but like if you say oh I'm not sure on this question they would say hey cool reread um unit three of the module or Pages X to X of the module um and that's basically what they can only tell you because it's like hey read that bit you know take that information from that and then refer you to the question of the assessment it's on for the fourth that's basically I can do so if you really struggle um it was a tough situation to be in um so yeah it would it would generally leave me it would leave me constantly at playing catch up so I would get this bad cycle of crime for two weeks and then having a mental break and then crime for two weeks three weeks whatever having a mental break and yeah constant catch up it meant I didn't intake my information because I was learning completely different modules in set times so when it came back to me learning that same module again um it was like six eight weeks down the line where I've not touched that module since so I just had to really a hard time recalling all that information and it generally just backfired on me trend is as you can imagine um so that was how I messed up with my open University student studies didn't mess up it to the big pictures of all my degree um I'm very proud of getting a degree but generally speaking looking back I know I could have done better um that's just it's just a way of life I suppose I like to think I've changed obviously I'm not studying now and just with my different mentality and I know I've messed up and I think just getting older and becoming more experienced and going forward with that I think you just look it in in a better picture um so yeah that's how I messed up um so this is what I would have done differently firstly picking modules I chose modules that sounded interesting on the front on the face value I will read through the description and I will generally feel whether we're interested or not I also don't particularly like take in exams um you can't really avoid exams in open University but obviously some modules have an exam some modules have an EMA and a module assessment I would I would primarily I can do coursework better than exams primarily because of my post studying like mentality and because I'm a crummer um is good for coursework because you can concentrate on the questions and you can basically take a question like cool I need to answer this question go in the information get all that answer that question move on to the next one an exam obviously going into exam you need a very broad understanding of the subject to go into it and then when they give you the question you know you can at least answer the majority even if you even if you don't know that particular question very well you can still answer it and get a couple of marks of such that's the that's the best like General way of going to make some obviously you hope you go in and you're just like oh yeah another question it's my shout out but German speaking because I because I'm a crummer for a couple of weeks and it doesn't help me retain information exams that just didn't work for me I did a couple of exams I did one exam I did the maths exam which was fine um my other I should have had other exams but they got canceled due to covered um which got replaced with the image which suited me perfectly um and yeah so going back to the modules um try not make the assessments influence your decision I don't think it did generally because like I said I did eventually did pick some modules I had exams anyway and obviously covered we weren't sure but it was going to cancel the exams at that time um so try not to let the assessments influence it but also do your own reading up of the material um of the open University's website the open University is a great way of showing you a brief description of the module just try and take the topics it mentions and what you are going to study and just go on Google slap that in Google and just read up on those topics in a bit more in depth don't go like full deep in that's what the cost is for but read more about it because for example for me I'm looking at my screen because I can't believe it's got a code it's isolated tm354 which is um software engineering which on the face of it sounded great um it sounded really something I would really enjoy um but as I studied it it just wasn't quite what I imagined I don't know why I imagined but it just wasn't quite that it was a lot more um corporate focused which is understandable um again open University is nothing wrong with universities nothing wrong with the content of this module it just wasn't well expected and that's just primarily my fault that's because I didn't do them you know I didn't do the homework on the subject before going on it I just read the description like cool yeah that sounds great go done I should have done my homework on it if I did my homework on it probably realize it's not what I initially thought it was going to be like um and yeah would have saved myself the struggle because I am also going into it and when studying if I'm someone who loses focus on it loses interest in that subject I find it very hard to like study it I think that's generally I think I was generally accepted by a lot of people that if you've not interested in the subject it's going to be hard to study it but I think some people have a really good ability to just read and study things regardless of their initial interest because they know they need to study it um suddenly I'm not one of those people I need I need an interest to keep me focused otherwise it becomes more of a chore whereas I think ideally studying should be exciting um it should generally look forward to learning this new subject which I didn't have for that not all my modules are the case um I really enjoyed my YouTube modules I enjoyed all them I enjoyed all my year one modules actually yeah and even the math one even though I struggled with it um yeah I enjoy being on modules in year two modules I just in my A3 modules generally struggled with more but I think that's just because the hardest subjects as well and also like for tn3454 in particular I had students do my homework in it I just didn't go in knowing what it was going to be like which again completely my fault nothing open you guys could have done about it they gave me the information asked to do anything with it I just yeah um also going forward I mean I can't I don't think I have access to open University much anyway now but um I actually don't know what other module I would have chosen Chronos some new ones now as well um but yeah just saying do your homework and also going into a bit more so the other thing I would change now is make a plan and stick to it I've mentioned this before in a couple of my videos is General tips um but please do do makeup on and stick to it I didn't I had a very weird situation where I had too much free time which sounds ridiculous to say that you have too much free time for study Enlightenment what do you mean you have too much free time but my too much free time paired with my poor stream mentality meant that I would plan to study one day wake up that day just generally not feel it it's also not time where I have to study it and I've passed it off about I'll do it tomorrow I'll do after the weekend um you know I'm going out this afternoon so I just don't want to do it this morning whatever General BS to be honest but I would make excuses um whereas I think go into it if you have a busy personal life like work kids general family activities General like other other things going on I think it's a bit more obvious when your study time would be so my plan my my advice would be to plan it out make sure you know when your study time is and stick to it I wish I planned out a five-day week give me the weekend to chill out because I think you do need a lot of time there's absolutely nothing wrong with that but ideally I would have planned out over the five day week Monday's Friday study this then study this on that day or that morning in the afternoon study this subject and stuck to it and I think it would have been a much better place going throughout the year um if I just made that basic step top make a plan and stick to it um when it really occurred to me my my situation that I'd got myself in with this recurring couple of weeks cramming submitting an assessment that I've got in quite meet my potential and so forth by the time I hit that I noticed that bad cycle I was already deep in it I couldn't really if I if I did if I went and planned it out and then to like a five day a week I would have messed up with my assessments to the point where I probably might not have passed because I wouldn't have given myself enough time to do that assessment so I got a cycle through my own fault and I had to stay in that cycle as a way of a need because I I didn't really have a plan to get out with that um which is annoying so also I think if you plan it out and you do do the general tips I've mentioned with the videos such as do a plan or release three plan um when you start a new unit um or a new part of the module look at the assessments look what you need to learn make sure you pay cluster close attention to that when you are studying um if you can answer your TMA EMA questions as you study that material when it's refreshing your brain um all these little steps super basic um the vast majority of the watching is probably already doing that if you know congrats for doing the obvious thing I didn't people mess up I messed up and I didn't do these basic steps um so please do as I say and as I do bit of a cliche saying but it is learn from my mistakes do the plan do the in-depth not in depth but look deeper into the subjects before you pick them um and also just notice what your assessments are what you need to learn make sure you constrain them if you can't answer the assessment questions as you study them um and then also no one does for help um I think G tutors are there for a reason right you choose are there to teach you the course material the best you can and help guide you to producing good assessments and getting a good general knowledge of these subjects um use them and I I attended tutorials by the I watched more of the recordings rather than live if you can turn live tend them live um if not email your tutors stay in contact with them your tutors won't mind you emailing them every now and again checking with something um like I said primarily like I said earlier in the video they can't always give you the answer that you probably really want but they will give you a nudge in the right direction and sometimes that's all you need sometimes you just need that I have did I think it was in year two there's one particular assessment I can't remember which one it was but it don't matter anyway I I want to clear something up so I emailed that you and I'm like hey I've got this question I know you can give me the answer blah blah um I think I should be writing about this this and this um but I also know there's that I could possibly write about this in introduces in the right direction sort of thing and they basically said basically hinted at one of the subjects was not needed that I thought I needed to write about which ignore that and then also did the generic look at this bit in the unit you only need to look at this this look at this specific section read through it the info there just in in you know I was overthinking the question essentially um they were basically just trying to say you you go into too much it's more basic than you think um so yeah those are my general advice in general questions I really have rumbled quite a bit um what's new but those those are my student regrets um going forward now I actually plan my days a lot more I plan my weeks out a lot more um I may do a video actually about generally generally how I plan things out now um if you did watch my video last week you will know that I am like studying again not without University but just in my own time on this particular subject um I may do a video about how I'm sitting top of that now um especially now that I'm working full-time um all that other stuff I don't have I don't have too much free time like I did before which again sounds ridiculous to say but it really was an hindrance for me a hindrance for me um with my past student Behavior so I've changed as my history you can as well if you do have power steering behaviors I would actually like to know is a bit not really upbeat and positive but if you are comfortable saying it say you are like studying poor behaviors or what any sort of regrets that you have with studying um it'd be interesting so I think there's probably a few people that have similar experiences to Me Maybe the common thing works for you if it does fair play it just didn't work for me um but if you've got any other regrets or any other tips or other people please leave in the comments because I think that would help other people out um also don't be random random advice don't be put off if you look in the forums and if you are struggling with the question an assessment or a part of the unique stock it's not quite clicking your brain do not be put off the thought that other people are dealing with that question fine I had that couple of times where there's one there'll be like a question that I just not really sure about and it seems everyone in the forums seemed to have just got it straight away um or they were all talking about like a different question that I probably already also struggled with um don't be part of if you're showing with Intel question ask for help throw it in the Forum no student is going to make a belittling comment about how you should know this stuff they're not they're all other Learners the I did not meet a single student that I can recall that gave me bad vibes or was any sort of judging any sort of judgment you're there to support each other same with just tutors obviously are there but as long as you get you can get a reply in the Forum a bit quicker than you can find me money to you directly so don't be afraid to put up a question on the forum for all you know someone else is dealing with the exact same question struggling the exact same way you are or maybe like between the both of you you kind of like aim yourself each other in the right direction that can also be the case and but other students are really hopeful my forums were always quite active and the students that were great and I kind of wish I could just like high five each individual student that posted something or the the moderator team of the forums as well they were also fantastic as well and I wish I could just like shake that handle but like thank you for just posting that random comment that you probably didn't think much of it but it actually helped me quite a lot um there and the helpful use them um so yeah that's my rumbling video for this week um I can't promise that I'll do a video next week but I think my next video probably will be about me planning out my study behaviors now and how I plan my days essentially um and I don't know when that'll be up but over the next couple of weeks hopefully I don't know anyway I hope you enjoyed any comments or any questions anything like that you can do questions about open University and I will answer what I can but also bear in mind that I loved it I'll be University quite a while ago now so I don't really have access to like dashboards and stuff like that so not sure how much info I'll be able to get but any sort of questions anything like that feel free to drop them down or inbox me on Instagram I'm trying to be more active on there I do real there's been a couple of people that have inboxed me over the past couple of months when I just weren't really active on social media in general um sorry for that I'm not purposely being rude I just wasn't there I'm now that in that mental space where I'm open to help as much as I can and I thank you for the people that are left positive comments amongst the video again if you want to see that links in the description yeah but thank you for those positive comments it was really nice and see see that in the video was a little bit active and stuff is it was nice to see so anyway I will go now in uh so yeah see you whenever adios

Channel: Tom Wagstaff

Views: 4,859

Keywords: Tom, Waggy2709, Waggy2709HD, tomwagstaffprod, open university, ou learn, studying experience, study planning, ou tma, ou ema, ou exam

Id: fRT75Z-NcN4

Length: 25min 51sec (1551 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 16 2023