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David McDade Post 1

18 May 2020, 8:27 PM Edited by Nigel Gibson on 19 May 2020, 12:04 PM

Section 4, Activity 7

TogetherThis thread is for section 4, activity 7

What challenges motivate you to help our students?

Pick one of the modules discussed briefly over section 4 and consider how you would address the challenges described.

Also comment on some other ideas posted. How do you think the students would respond to the proposed help?

These are examples of the types of posts we might expect to see:

"I might support a project student by listening carefully to their idea, and mapping this to my own experience." 

"How long may this project take, what are the opportunities for the student to learn new things, what are the key difficulties in this area of work? I would use this information to prompt discussions with the student so they discover this information for themselves, but in such a way that they feel supported and avoid going down dead end routes.

Use the "Reply" button below to contribute to this discussion.


(Image CC BY 2.0 Flickr user Alan Levine https://www.flickr.com/photos/cogdog/)

Shane Ogilvie Post 2 (summarised) in reply to 1

4 June 2020, 5:55 PM
Project work of this kind is quite alien to students they have been used to...
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David Sherlock Post 3 (summarised) in reply to 1

8 June 2020, 3:11 PM Edited by the author on 8 June 2020, 3:11 PM
Reflecting on the TM353 example, I think that I actually have quite strong...
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Rod Gliven Post 17 (summarised) in reply to 3

13 July 2020, 12:28 AM Edited by the author on 13 July 2020, 12:29 AM
David Sherlock: Completely agree on TM353. I too have some quite strong...
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Martin Hillson Post 20 (summarised) in reply to 17

7 August 2020, 8:20 PM
I agree with both you and David that this is a debate that garners strong...
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Lucy Gillett Post 4 (summarised) in reply to 1

12 June 2020, 10:31 PM
To support a project student I would begin by asking them to explain their...
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Marcus Young Post 5 (summarised) in reply to 1

13 June 2020, 9:06 PM
The tutor has a key role when the student is trying to decide on their...
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Toni Walton Post 16 (summarised) in reply to 5

9 July 2020, 1:10 PM
My A Levels students have to do a project and yes I can really relate to your...
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Tamara Lopez Post 6 (summarised) in reply to 1

14 June 2020, 11:21 AM
Ah, defining and scoping project work. I was never particularly good at this...
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Adrian Hehir Post 8 (summarised) in reply to 6

15 June 2020, 1:49 PM
This reminds me of my own Msc project, it was over ambitious, long, technical...
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Adrian Hehir Post 7 (summarised) in reply to 1

15 June 2020, 1:45 PM
Managing IT in schools, I came across the whole big brother/security debate...
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Ben Pike Post 9 (summarised) in reply to 1

15 June 2020, 2:29 PM
To support a student in their project I would try to help them be sure that...
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Anna Pietrzak Post 12 (summarised) in reply to 9

24 June 2020, 1:18 PM
I agree with you the good support is essential for any project.
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Michael Liedl Post 15 (summarised) in reply to 9

2 July 2020, 1:20 PM
Hi Ben, I can't but heartily agree with you that making sure the they get the...
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Emmanuel Isibor Post 10 (summarised) in reply to 1

15 June 2020, 5:31 PM
With respect to “The Computing and IT Project” (TM470), developing work plans...
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Graham Smith Post 19 (summarised) in reply to 10

14 July 2020, 9:36 AM
Hi Emmanuel, You make some really good points. Having undertaken a lot of...
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Anna Pietrzak Post 11 (summarised) in reply to 1

24 June 2020, 1:17 PM
To support a project student, I would start from a group discussion and that...
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Colin Jenkins Post 13 (summarised) in reply to 1

26 June 2020, 3:33 PM
As an IT engineer in the NHS, the security vs. privacy element of TM353 is...
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Michael Liedl Post 14 (summarised) in reply to 1

2 July 2020, 1:14 PM
The project work is a golden opportunity to learn some fundamentally life...
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Silvia Varagnolo Post 24 (summarised) in reply to 14

3 November 2020, 9:24 PM
Hi Michael, you mentioned interesting tools I didn't know before and I might...
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Graham Smith Post 18 (summarised) in reply to 1

14 July 2020, 9:27 AM
Regarding TM112. I can remember back when I started studying with the OU, a...
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Raj Seepersad Post 21 (summarised) in reply to 1

8 August 2020, 7:15 PM

Section 4 Activity 4.6.4

 I would assist students on their project tasks by...
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Coffee on Tyne

Bill Tarpy Post 22 (summarised) in reply to 1

27 August 2020, 4:39 PM
I can foresee the Student Project being the hardest thing that many students...
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Silvia Varagnolo Post 23 (summarised) in reply to 1

3 November 2020, 9:21 PM
In the development of the project I would support the student by considering...
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Dhouha Kbaier Post 25 (summarised) in reply to 1

25 November 2020, 2:37 PM
Schedule, Gantt chart, setting the milestones and deliverables and how to...
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Kevin Frost Post 26 (summarised) in reply to 1

1 January 2021, 3:29 PM
I would first want the student to consider how much time would be involved in...
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Fiona Baxter Post 28 (summarised) in reply to 26

23 June 2021, 12:17 AM
I think this is helpful, as it might be difficult for a student to know if...
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Amanda Williams Post 27 (summarised) in reply to 1

13 June 2021, 12:41 PM
In the past I have supported projects by listening to the interests of the...
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Fiona Baxter Post 29 (summarised) in reply to 27

23 June 2021, 12:20 AM
This is a good approach, especially if a student is having trouble choosing a...
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Fiona Baxter Post 30 (summarised) in reply to 1

23 June 2021, 12:44 AM
Within a module, some brainstorming / mind-mapping group activities could be...
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Richard Collins Post 35 (summarised) in reply to 30

15 August 2021, 9:08 PM
That is an excellent discussion on who you would address the challenges. My...
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This is one of my latest pictures.

Elena Sanchez-Heras Post 31 (summarised) in reply to 1

6 July 2021, 12:06 PM
I would talk to the student to get an idea of what type of reports they have...
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John Dunning Post 32 (summarised) in reply to 1

8 July 2021, 3:15 PM
I would listen to the student idea, giving them suggestions and prompts where...
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Suzie Miller Post 33 (summarised) in reply to 1

3 August 2021, 5:01 PM
Work backwards from the submission date to try and work out how much time...
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Richard Collins Post 34 (summarised) in reply to 1

15 August 2021, 9:02 PM
What grabbed my attention was 4.6.3 and TM353, here the talk about students...
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Bob Moore Post 36 (summarised) in reply to 1

18 September 2021, 4:13 PM
My own immediate thoughts on the challenge of privacy vs secuity in the...
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Andrea Davanzo Post 37 (summarised) in reply to 1

2 October 2021, 6:26 PM
Looking my experience with TM470 I will probably start with a warming welcome...
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Dodi - Post 38 (summarised) in reply to 1

31 December 2021, 7:05 AM

TM353

 TM353
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Kate Sim Post 39 (summarised) in reply to 38

31 December 2021, 8:36 AM
Dodi, Welcome to the course and forum. Can you add an introduction on the...
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Ravi Rajani Post 40 (summarised) in reply to 1

19 May 2022, 10:57 AM
I think time-management is very important in a big project. Making sure the...
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Neil Hodge Post 41 (summarised) in reply to 1

2 November 2022, 12:52 PM
Having recently completed my own project module, I fully understand how...
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Thomas ODaniel Post 42 (summarised) in reply to 1

3 January 2023, 5:29 AM
TM353 is a space which I have been introducing to students for a long time...
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Thomas ODaniel Post 43 (summarised) in reply to 1

3 January 2023, 6:14 AM
The project itself, whether it is an incourse assignment or a phd thesis,...
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My Picture

Muhammad Altaf Post 48 (summarised) in reply to 43

11 October 2023, 5:33 PM
Yes, time management and scope of the project are very important. It is...
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David Harvey Post 44 (summarised) in reply to 1

26 January 2023, 12:04 PM

Activity 7

 Many years ago I followed a Masters in Digital Computing Networks...
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Khadijat Abiola Olorunlambe Post 45 (summarised) in reply to 1

28 May 2023, 12:39 PM
My approach to helping students with their project will be to have an initial...
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Sergejs Afanasjevs Post 46 (summarised) in reply to 1

20 September 2023, 3:08 PM
One module discussed in Section 4 is 'Introduction to Computing and IT...
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My Picture

Muhammad Altaf Post 47 (summarised) in reply to 1

11 October 2023, 5:31 PM
The final project or dissertation is usually focused on a variety of areas;...
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Head shot of Martin smiling.

Martin Wheatman Post 49 (summarised) in reply to 1

29 February 2024, 10:59 AM Edited by the author on 29 February 2024, 11:03 AM
My own undergraduate project (in the 1980s) was 'not very good', so I learnt...
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Discussion tags: section 4