AA100 students have received an email this Friday night saying the "Assignment Booklet for the October 2011 presentation is incorrect" and is being reprinted. It is totally unacceptable to email on a Friday night with no detail of the error, no timetable for correction, and no contact information for clarification. Sorry but this is a communications fail Module team.
- Platform
- #aa100 Assignment Booklet (Oct 11) incorrect. FAIL!
#aa100 Assignment Booklet (Oct 11) incorrect. FAIL!
Yes, it's annoying - but mistakes happen! I guess they could have emailed later with the full details, but they probably thought it was better to let everyone know they should ignore the booklet as soon as possible, rather than waiting for all the details to be available. And the course hasn't started yet - in many courses you wouldn't even have had the assignments yet! So unless you are completely perfect yourself, maybe chill out a bit?
Indeed everyone makes mistakes; fine. The point is that mistakes must then be handled professionally. The email has no explanation of the error, no timetable for getting a replacement, and (worst in my view) no name or contact information at all for enquiries.
I have to agree with Adrian. Some of us are well into preparation ( I personally am doing 2 courses this year) and this, frankly last minute news is something of a bombshell. The students need to have fast and accurate updates on what the errors are and when we can expect the correct book to be out.
I have to agree with Adrian too. Due to my baby being due in December I have been trying to get as far ahead as possible, to the extent of just having written TMA01. I accept that mistakes can be made, but at least give us a clue as to what it is, rather than sending out cryptic emails on Friday night, when no questions can be asked! Surely it would have been better to wait until Monday morning and send out a more full and detailed email to avoid mass panic?
I have to agree as well. Seems odd if there were just a few mistakes to send out a whole new booklet, they would have sent out a correction sheet or similar. Are they changing every single assignment? Not enough information, and it seems odd to send it out so late at night!
Like Kate & Adrian, I also wanted to get ahead, as it gets manic at my work place in the run up to Christmas, and I wanted to build in some emergency time.I would just like to know what is going on? Yes, Monday would have been soon enough to send out a fuller and more detailed email!
I'm feeling a bit shocked too. It's as well I checked my emails. I'd done rough drafting for 1st assignment and will keep that, just in case the situation re that is unchanged. Still unsettling though.
No-one's unsympathetic to your position - it's very very annoying, I can see. I have had similar things happen myself - and I'm almost always doing multiple courses and wanting to get ahead too.
But the point I was making is that surely it was better to email out immediately (so you wouldn't carry on working on it) rather than, say, waiting a couple of days and emailing with all the details you mention.
And also, don't take it for granted in future courses that you'll have the assignments at this stage - they are often drip-fed to you and not available until the official start date.
Personally I hope they change assignment 1 as I have found Cezanne, well, rather boring (sorry you Arts people out there). I haven't done any prep other than read book one. Having not done an OU course before I am waiting to see the calendar etc first.
However I know from professional experience it is better to let people know early (even if it is late the evening) as that's better customer service - but normally one would expect to give an indication of what the problem was!
I'm in the "Wait and see" camp
I cant help but smile. You think you have problems! My financial issues are still not sorted out despite the fact i booked and sent all my details in advance of cut off dates.(For AA100 October '11 start) The dates have come and gone and so have many e mails and phone calls from myself. someone from OU was supposed to contact me as a matter of urgency and didnt. I phoned again today and was told they dont have my forms, then told ah yes they have and that its down to their human error. Then I was told IF they can get me on the course they will!!! All of you complaining about the materials. At least you have seen them I have not.
Good luck all
Fatima
Hello everyone!
I was concerned about the email so gave the OU a call. I've posted the reply I got by email underneath, so you all get some idea of what's going on. Hope it helps and yes it is very annoying especially as I wanted to get ahead...!
-On Friday, you received a message explaining that we will need to send you a new Assignment Booklet for the 2011J presentation. I am sorry that the message was rather brief: we were trying to inform everyone that there was a problem with the booklet as quickly as possible. I am writing to you now with more information about how the situation has arisen and what we are doing to remedy it.
When we set the Assignment Booklet, we also write marking notes for tutors. Because AA100 is an interdisciplinary module, tutors often need to mark assignments outside their discipline. As a result, some of those notes contain quite specific information about the kinds of point we hope students will make in answer to the questions. On Friday, we were told that, due to a clerical error, a student (we do not know who) has been sent a pack of module materials containing set of marking notes. In consultation with the Head of Examinations and Assessment, we have decided that we will have to set a new Assignment Booklet. We need to do this in order to ensure fairness for all the students on the presentation and in order to maintain the integrity of our assessment.
Unfortunately, this does mean that the questions (with the exceptions of Assignment 02, 07 and the EMA questions) will be different from those in the booklet that you were sent. The new questions will be on the same chapters and will be in a similar form to those in the assignment booklet you were sent. For example, for Assignment 01 you will still be asked to comment on a piece of text about Cleopatra and to do a piece of visual analysis in relation to Cézanne.
We are working as quickly as we can to create the new Assignment Booklet. I am afraid that I cannot now tell you exactly when it will be ready, as it needs approval from a number of people, including our external examiner. We should be able to put the new Assignment Booklet on the module website before it is printed to ensure that it is available to you as quickly as possible.
I am also very sorry that this situation has arisen: I do understand that it will cause real difficulties and anxieties for some of you. We are trying to manage the situation as fairly and as quickly as we can.
I am getting worried as I didnt know what the first assignment was, and I can't find the new one.
Could someone let me know what it is so I can get started.
:(
Hi Ed,
The new TMA booklet is available on the AA100 course website now that it's open. Go to StudentHome, click on the AA100 website link, and then on the left is a link to Assessment Resources. The booklet is there.
Hope that helps.
Adrianne
Sorry Adrianne. That doesn't help me at all.
This website is dreadful to navigate, and impossible to find anything.
Hi Ed
Sorry you're having difficulties, the OU has a lot of different web spaces and it can get confusing. To access your course website, as suggested by Adrianne, you need to visit StudentHome which you'll find here: www.open.ac.uk/student and as long as you're logged in you'll be able to access everything you need for your student journey.
This website is Platform, the OU's community website, which isn't directly linked to your student journey but offers a place for you to chat and engage with other OU students - on any number of courses - as well as alumni and anyone else who cares to join in.
If you need any help, please give me a shout.
Thanks, Robyn
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Robyn Bateman (member of the Platform team)