Masters: standard of work...

The Black Oil

Hey,

If all goes to plan I'm starting a distance learning Masters with a UK college in September and I'm not sure what to expect. I've a good deal of information about the course and they've been pretty helpful with on the phone and via email. What I'm wondering is, what should I expect at Masters level? What sort of a jump is it from UG? What will be expected of me with the standard of work, etc? I know this may vary from course to course and with each college, but if anyone has some general pointers it would be great. I'll have a couple of essays that are a good bit longer than those I've done before. I'm alright at essays, chasing up the information and stringing it all together, I'm just not sure about sustaining an argument for 6,000 words. I will get a better idea once the course starts and when the assignments are set. It's an area of study that's different to what I've done in the past, but it's still within the social science field.

I have a friend doing a Masters in UCD and he has one tutor/lecturer who is a real stickler for grammar to the point that he doesn't seem to give much feedback on anything else. I'm not sure if I should expect the same, but you never know. I want to do well on my own course so any ideas or advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

baby and crumble

Well, what I found when starting my masters is that there's a definite assumption that you'll be 'upping your game' slightly- you'll be expected to read lots around your course, outside the strict confines of what's given to you in lectures... i know at UG you're encouraged to do this, but it's 100% expected at masters level.

You're also expected to engage with the material, theorists, etc in a slightly deeper way, think out non linearly about things... It's also expected that your grammar, spelling, formatting etc is a non-issue, so tb you shouldn't be getting pulled up on that stuff.

And something I noticed from other people doing out course, who didn't quite grasp the 'postgrad' nature of the thing- the lecturers you have aren't 'teachers' anymore. They expect to treat you more like colleagues, and in turn you're expected to treat them the same, a lot of the time. See i more as two equals sharing knowledge, rather than someone teaching you stuff, and you'll get on much better. Used to do my head in when people complained about the lecturers giving them work to do, or telling them to read stuff. At pg level you're expected to do a lot of the learning yourself, with direction from those more knowledgeable than you.

It's tough in the beginning to figure it out, but try and see the lecturers as equals, they're there usually to help you, and they see new intakes every year struggling with the same stuff. TBH a lot of it comes naturally, like your progression from 1st y ear undergrad to the stuff you were producing in final year...

Best of luck!

The Black Oil

Thanks for your thoughts.

I have a preliminary reading list and a main one. The latter being 55 pages or so, though that includes stuff for modules I'm not doing. I've organised a few folders on my computer to be ready. I've skimmed a book or two and have a vague idea of what to expecting. I'll be getting some course material on CD, but I'm not sure if it will be just text or interactive, etc.

That's what I'm wondering, if more marks might be given for independent thinking than just the presentation of the argument/material, providing you've backed up your thoughts with evidence..

Interesting re the lecturers, on my last course the youngest person was 23 and we all had degrees before starting. I think most were reasonably tuned in and tried to be on the ball. Don't think we gave out much about being given work so much as miscommunications and the like!

I found Masters study to be drastically different to undergrad. I prefer it in a lot of ways, as you have a lot more opportunity to engage with the topics which interest you and most of the work is down to you, so it cuts out a lot of the problems with bad lecturers and things like that. I could have done well on my course without attending a single lecture, although I did find them helpful to supplement the self study. On my course, I was able to pick the topics I really liked to focus on and pretty much ignore what I didn't like, provided I did the basic reading and had an idea of what it was about. I did have a little trouble adjusting to the fact that I was expected to be really original, as most of my BA was regurgitating stuff from lectures and putting a weak personal spin on it, whereas here I'm expected to come up with my own theories and ideas. I got used to it quickly and now far prefer that - I've been getting the best grades of my life here. I got some really great feedback early on from lecturers and PhD teaching assistants who basically said 'you need to up your game if you want to do well', I took their comments on board and it really helped.

brianthebard

The Black Oil wrote: »

That's what I'm wondering, if more marks might be given for independent thinking than just the presentation of the argument/material, providing you've backed up your thoughts with evidence..

Yes most likely. Lecturers don't want to see the material you read repackaged any more, you have to be able to do more than just show you understood it. If you're worried about your grammar and writing style there are books you can get, its a simple fix and will stand by you. I found that having read so much more for modules than I had at undergrad level that 6000 word essays were quite easy. I ended up doing a 40k draft for my thesis before whittling it down to 20k for instance. At this level you'll have so much more information to work with that it won't be as hard as you think.

catho_monster

I've done two masters, one distance learning and the other in person, if thats the right phrase...I've found that the distance learning one in my case was a lot more spoon-fed, particularly because of the materials you are provided with.
I wouldn't worry too much about the standard you'll be required to meet to be honest at this stage. The way the masters will be structured and the topics you will be studying will be framed in such a way as you will automatically step up your game.
As others said, regardless of whether the reading list is as long as your arm, you'll still be expected to do your own research around the topics. So really, the biggest difference between undergrad and masters is theres more reading involved, more research, because the more different opinions you read on a subject, the more your own opinion on the topic will start to develop and that'll be your starting point then.
I wouldn't worry too much either about sustaining an argument for x,000 words, it won't be the same argument you'll be expected to sustain, but individual aspects of the argument, and you can break it down that way into smaller portions. And you won't have trouble doing that, because you'll have read so much.
So anyway, see your first assignment as testing the water. Stick your toe in, do what feels right, and see what your marks and feedback come back as. Then you'll know which way you need to move forward in the next assignment. I will never forget the first assignment I got back from my distance learning course, my feedback was that my writing style wasn't academic enough. I had to laugh, as I was at that time tutoring postgrads in academic writing style. The disciplines were entirely different though, and I had to learn how to cut my cloth according to what they wanted.
Good luck!

The Black Oil

Thanks for sharing your experiences.

With essays, I think my academic tone was of a reasonable standard. Still, probably need to keep an eye on it and cut your cloth as CM says. I still have most if not all of my old essays with corrections. The only verbal comment I recall was that my conclusion could have been more punchy. That's likely a fair comment as I'm a bit wary of conclusions and probably back off a little.

I'm looking forward to stepping up my game...whatever that entails mentally and practically. A friend has given me a dose of articles that relate to the field, but I've no idea if they'll be relevant as they're largely about children and educational practice/theory, etc. If they're not relevant they'll probably be tangential, but it won't hurt to be familiar with stuff that's a bit outside the area.