Comments for Just One More Ten Pence Piece ...

Comment on NS&I – redefining customer service, but not in a good way by Mark

Mark — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 20:16:21 +0000

Or you could just calm down a bit, think rationally…..
then realise that I have been purchasing the WINNING BOND NUMBERS
that you WOULD HAVE owned! …. But thanks for your comments that
directed me to who to thank for my amazing wins

Comment on DD303 Notes by dungan41

dungan41 — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 17:32:33 +0000

Thanks, Tim, All the Best, L

Comment on DD303 Notes by tim

tim — Sun, 09 Jun 2013 12:50:12 +0000

They’re very entertaining ramblings though! I’m sure you’ll enjoy DD307 … its approach to psychology provokes great debates!

Tim.

Comment on DD303 Notes by dungan41

dungan41 — Sun, 09 Jun 2013 11:47:34 +0000

So, ‘a little knowledge is a dangerous thing’, I’ ve peeked in Wendy Rogers’ book, ‘Social Psychology’, and got an idea of the postmodernism thing from a SP vp. Ignore these ramblings I’ve made as I try to fix on the scope of the subject. L

Comment on The crisis in the UK part-time higher education sector by Sonja

Sonja — Sun, 09 Jun 2013 08:12:52 +0000

True, there has been a lot of damage done.

Comment on The crisis in the UK part-time higher education sector by tim

tim — Sat, 08 Jun 2013 15:35:41 +0000

Hi Sonja,

No – the first two bars represent what’s happening in the part time sector as a whole. In effect, new enrolments are down 105,000 in the last two years, with an undershoot of loans for part time students last year of nearly 145,000 based on what the government were anticipating the demand for part time loans would be after the new fees were introduced.

One of the reasons for at least part of that undershoot could be that loans aren’t available to ELQ students (e.g. people who want to study for a second degree to change career) and the insistence that part time students complete their degrees within a fairly inflexible time period. As the OU is the largest provider of part time courses, the fact that the percentage increase in fees under the new regime is so much higher than it was for full time courses at “brick” universities (around 375% compared to under 300%) simply adds to the crisis the sector is going through. The IPPR are due to produce a report into the problems on Monday. My guess is that they will suggest that the way forward is to relax the rules surrounding loans for part time students. However, I fear that a lot of the damage has already been done and will take a decade or more to repair.

Tim.

Comment on The crisis in the UK part-time higher education sector by Sonja

Sonja — Sat, 08 Jun 2013 14:36:19 +0000

Hi Tim. Do these figures refer to the OU only (enrolment no. and loans applied for)?

Comment on DD303 Notes by dungan41

dungan41 — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 13:23:43 +0000

Postmodernism? I’m not sure of the implications of this – though I expect that it’s mainly to do with a kind of relativism that translates into the ‘situate’ concept in SP. I’ve become interested in Heidegger through Dreyfus’s podcasts on iTunes U, and have got as far as buying the ‘Being and Time’ book, but I’ve a way to go to understand what Derrida and others may be about. The OU seem to offer nothing on the ‘Continental’ stuff.

Discovered that DD307 doesn’t start until January, so may take A230 in Oct,, as literature is also an interest

Comment on DD303 Notes by dungan41

dungan41 — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 20:55:52 +0000

Ta for fast response, Tim, Leicester sounds good; prelude
to a Ph D? I take your point about not wanting to leave the OU. I’m
retired from a life in electrical engineering and took a course to
address my neglect of the humanities – have been through AA100,
A207, A222, AA308, L140 and L193. I study with the OU for the focus
this brings, though I begin to see that I might achieve this by
following people such as you and Linda Corlett. However, you are
all too rare, and possibly non-existent outside the psy area!
L

Comment on DD303 Notes by tim

tim — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 16:33:11 +0000

Hi Leslie,

If you’ve done philosophy and are comfortable with postmodernism and constructing arguments, you’ll probably really enjoy DD307! DSE212 is good background first though.

I’m not sure you can ever really leave the OU, but I’m no longer studying with them as they have no social science or psychology masters offers at the moment. However, I’m due to be starting as a part time distance student at Leicester on their occupational psychology masters in October.

All the best,

Tim.