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Oscail Arts-Using extra reading for assignments

sunbeam · 2005-12-27 01:25:08

If there are any Oscail Arts students reading I'd appreciate your input with this. :-) I'm currently doing the postgraduate social science foundation course with the OU and had hoped to go on to complete an MA in Cultural and Media Studies with them. It initially seemed like a good option for me as I have not taken…

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27-12-2005 2:25am

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sunbeam

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If there are any Oscail Arts students reading I'd appreciate your input with this. :-)

I'm currently doing the postgraduate social science foundation course with the OU and had hoped to go on to complete an MA in Cultural and Media Studies with them. It initially seemed like a good option for me as I have not taken Sociology, or Media Studies to degree level and the OU did not require this.

However, I'm becoming increasingly frustrated by the nature of assessment, which consists of extremely short (2000 words or less) essays based on knowledge of course materials only. Although there is access to online databases via the Open Library, there are no marks allocated for any extra reading, for this or any later courses bar the dissertation. While many people might find this ideal, I'm coming from having done a research masters in another social science subject and and finding it extremely demotivating. I'm considering bailing, taking some of the Oscail undergraduate Sociology courses and then either applying for a part time M.Litt with an Irish university or finding another distance MA that is less exclusively 'course material' based.

The assignments I've seen on the Oscail website seem a lot more like those I did for my undergrad degree-a lot more library/research based. I notice that the assignment booklets give a list of sources after each essay topic. Can anyone tell me how essential it is to actually use these specific materials in the assignments, and if it is permissible to use other material as well? How prescriptive are the 'essay guidelines'? Are students penalized for going over the 1500 or 3000 word limits?

Thanks,

sunbeam

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