OpenMusings

M255′s out of the way now, and I’ve just submitted TMA04 for T224. Since the T224 exam’s not until mid-October & my next SSC (S199 Modelling the Climate) doesn’t begin for another month, I’m at a loose end for a month. This is a new experience for me – although I suspect someone will have a list of chores for me, now that I’m not disappearing into the study 4 days a week.

A thought about S199. This involves using a distributed processing tool (climateprediction.net) for the duration of the course – my “general use” PC is an old G4 Mac mini, which doesn’t meet the system requirements for BOINC CPDN, so I’ll have to fire up The Beast: my Windows XP gaming PC. The problem with this is that The Beast generates so much heat (and chews through so much electricity) that it’s almost a climate change factor in its own right. Somehow this doesn’t seem quite right…!

Curious things you notice when reading exam feedback and such. In the case of M255, it appears that 2 people turned up for the exam, filled in their names & PIs to register that they were actually there, and then didn’t bother answering any questions (724 students “took” the exam, 722 gained a score in one of the parts; I assume the 2 that got an overall ‘G’ on the University Scale were the two that didn’t bother).

I can’t help but wonder: Why!? If you’re so past caring that you don’t even attempt a question, why bother turning up, as a no-show is the same as a nul-points in the end – and I can’t see the exam paper having been so scary to anyone that they couldn’t attempt anything.

One of those questions that’s destined to remain unanswered, but definitely made me curious…

Well, that came back better than I thought it would:

I hadn’t been at all sure about my exam performance in this one, it being the first “real” exam I’d done since my GCSE’s (1988), but it turns out I needn’t have worried – the exam score was actually better than my OCAS. Go figure. That gets me off to a good start in the quest for a 1st-class honours – 30 points down (excluding the level 1 courses), 270 more to go…

As an interesting aside… I took another look at the M255 question paper this morning, alongside the student performance info. It was like looking at a whole new question paper – I couldn’t remember seeing the questions before, and I certainly can’t remember what I wrote for any of the answers. Not sure if that’s a good thing or bad thing..!

M255 results are due next Wednesday (1st July) – this is my first Level 2 course, and the first that will count towards my honours classification, so I’m understandably nervous about the result. Already. Strange how the mind will fixate on little things like that, even though you know you can’t get the result any quicker or change it when it comes.

M255 was fun, with the early programming exercises involving all sorts of froggery being pitched just right to ease you into the subject matter without threatening you right off the bat with untold lines of code. They came before the end of the course, of course, but it’s a very well-presented course that’s paced almost perfectly, and the sense of self-satisfaction and achievement you get from getting a block of code to finally work as intended (sometimes after hours of puzzlement and hair-pulling) is hard to beat. You do need a certain way of thinking to do well at programming, I think, and if you don’t have it you’ll struggle – but as an introduction to object-oriented programming and a way of seeing if you have a) the interest, and b) the aptitude, it’s hard to beat.

I have possibly unrealistic hopes of gaining a First for my degree, so a Distinction here would be a good, positive start, and I was fortunate enough that my Continuous Assessment scores for M255 where in the range where that’s a possible result (my employer’s also jumping up and down for good results – they’re funding my degree units) – but I think I’d be happy with a Merit. Just over a week to go to find out…

The last exam I sat was way back in 1989, when I did my GCSEs.  On Tuesday, I had the joys of sitting the M255 exam – and after checking out the past & specimen papers for the course, I wasn’t hugely confident.  Having to wade through Belfast’s flash floods to get to the exam centre didn’t help my mood, either.

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