System Integration

Dedicated to the dissemination of System Integration information

Week Minus Four

Dates: 7.1.2007 to 13.1.2007

 

The past week has mostly been spent updating this web site.  The purpose of the web site is to encourage people to contact me with comments on System Integration (S.I.) and my methodology for completing my dissertation.

 

Hopefully people will start contacting me with comments, if I can add more unique content this will, hopefully, encourage more site visitors and, thus, more Emails from people.

 

I have added 16 new pages in the past week which is good going, all the new pages can be accessed from my What’s New page. 

 

Today (13.1.2007) I have started looking through the Open Universities M801 course material.  This was received before Christmas, I quickly checked the contents then left alone, it wasn’t a case of being wary, or not wanting to look at the stuff, more a case of needing to get more info onto the website so as to encourage more visitors.

 

The major difference between this year and previous years study is that there is a lot less guidance this year.  In previous years you got a set of books and a study calendar.  Week 1 was book X, week 2 was book Y, week 3 book Z etc.  A few Tutor Marked Assignments (TMAs) thrown in along the way and the exam on a set date.  It was very structured, you knew what you were doing when and it was easy to see if you were ahead or behind.

 

This year is not so structured, the first seven or eight weeks have some structure, i.e. ensure you understand the problem space, define background reading etc, but thereafter you are very much alone.

 

The Open University (O.U.) assign a tutor so you are not totally alone but the emphasis is very much on self discipline, not only do you need to do the work you also need to define the work, the onus is on you to get things done.  The O.U. are very good at providing support, they have been doing it for years, but they stress that part of the dissertation is the ability to define what needs to be done as well as doing what needs to be done.

 

They provide a Study Guide that leads you through the process but a quick ‘skim read’ reveals the emphasis on the word you.  As I read the Study Guide you appeared a lot.  Many people must have written dissertations so, in the grand scheme of things, what I am doing is not something groundbreaking but, to me, it certainly is.

 

The O.U. provide a book called ‘The Management of a Student Research Project’ (Sharp, Peters and Howard - ISBN 0-566-08490-2) as part of the study materials. In the first week of study you have to read the first chapter - I’ve just had a quick look.  In the first chapter the high attrition rate (50% +) of students not completing thesis or dissertations is mentioned, I am fairly sure I won’t fall by the way side, I’m fairly dogged in this respect, I will complete the dissertation, I’m not saying I’ll pass, just that I will complete it.

 

 

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