Tip 2: Remember this is a creative process. You can make the template look however you wish. You don\u2019t need to copy someone else!<\/em><\/p>\n I\u2019m sure there is a quote somewhere that relates having a messy work area with having a messy mind. Personally I find this to be true, and having a nice logical directory structure means that I don\u2019t have to waste time panicking over where I put \u201cthat important paper that I read four months ago\u201d.<\/p>\n When I attended a bricks and mortar college it was handy to keep all of my coursework on a USB storage drive. That was until the drive died and I lost all of my work.<\/p>\n So now I use a combination of Dropbox and OneDrive to keep all of my important work backed up online and accessible across all of my devices. Whatever tech ecosystem you\u2019re using (Apple, Android etc.), you will have a similar service available. I highly recommend making use of it.<\/p>\n I love to have visibility of a project because it helps me to sleep at night (most of the time).<\/p>\n As an engineer my tool of choice for this is typically a Gantt chart, although there are many other popular methods you can read about online. You don\u2019t need any fancy or expensive software to do this; I just use a spreadsheet as in the example below.<\/p>\n I use them for everything: my overall degree progress, planning individual assignments, revising for exams, even when planning DIY jobs around the house.<\/p>\n I’ll now describe the seven main stages that I use for planning and developing my TMAs.<\/p>\n There is nothing worse than staring at a blank page!<\/p>\n When you need to start a TMA, don\u2019t procrastinate, just take your generic TMA template and start customising it for the assignment at hand. Start with the module title, assignment number and date.<\/p>\n Next I copy in the question headings (separated by page breaks) to give the document some structure. Microsoft Word has a \u201cheading style\u201d feature that you can apply to each of these headings which gives you a table of contents for free:<\/p>\n Here is a simple rule of thumb that has worked wonders for me over the years:<\/p>\n Take the word count that you have been given for a particular part of the TMA and divide it by the total number of marks that are available for that part. I\u2019ll demonstrate with this example of a typical TMA question (note this is not an actual TMA question, as those are subject to copyright):<\/p>\n Using [the framework covered in Block 2], assess the extent to which it applies to your chosen organisation. There may be no exact match, of course, in which case you need to explain and justify why you draw such a conclusion.<\/p>\n Your review should include:<\/p>\n –\u00a0The results of your analysis (20 marks) So there are 45 marks available here, spread across 800 words. This suggests that we should be writing roughly 17 words per mark (800 words \/ 45 marks, rounded down).<\/p>\n Now we can scale this number up to get a rough guide to the word count for each part of the question:<\/p>\n Analysis: 340 words (17 word per mark * 20 marks) I love data. I’ll show you why.<\/p>\n During several of my past assignments I collected data on how many points I could make in a given word count, the number of paragraphs this consumed, and how long it took.<\/p>\n When I say \u201cpoints\u201d here, I mean points within the argument (not to be confused with the marks available). These points could be references to a particular concept or topic from the module material, or maybe a point based on my own experience of the subject.<\/p>\n I have used this knowledge to create a simple estimation spreadsheet. I plumb in the number of words required for a question, and out pop the relevant stats.<\/p>\n Bear in mind that this is a guideline only, albeit a very useful one. Also bear in mind that the data will vary for each student, and between different types of module.<\/p>\n As with all types of estimation, you should continually check how accurate your estimations are and correct the process if necessary.<\/p>\n Once I know roughly how many points I need to make in an answer, I then create a list of candidate things to talk about (i.e. a skeleton answer).<\/p>\n I find that I don\u2019t need to be sitting at my laptop to do this; inspiration for the logical structure usually hits me when my mind is on other things (e.g. sleeping, in the shower, or driving). So be prepared to quickly write down the list wherever you are.<\/p>\n It is important to cover enough concepts from the module material to demonstrate that you have actually read it (and thought about it), but don\u2019t fall into the trap of thinking that you have to cover everything that you have read.<\/p>\n Also don\u2019t feel that your list has to have exactly the same number of points \/ topics that were estimated earlier. Remember it\u2019s all just a guide at this point, I never know exactly how deep I will go on each topic before I actually start writing.<\/p>\nFile storage and disaster recovery<\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dawilson.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/dropbox.png\")
<\/a>Tip 3: OU TMAs can be viewed online as a single webpage. I print this page to a PDF file and put it in my study folder so I can access it without having to log in to the website. Be careful though, there have been occasions when the \u201clive\u201d version on the website has changed after I took a copy.<\/em><\/p>\nTime management<\/h3>\n
<\/a>Planning and developing a TMA<\/h3>\n1. Copy the TMA questions into your assignment document<\/h4>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>When the basic structure is set up I start to bring over the questions themselves. I find that it helps to rewrite the question in my own words as this forces me to really read it rather than just skimming it.<\/p>\n2. Calculate the word counts for each question<\/h4>\n
\n–\u00a0A summary of your conclusions (15 marks)
\n–\u00a0Reflection on the use of this framework as an analytical technique (10 marks)
\n(Guide length: 800 words)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nConclusions: 255 words (17 words per mark * 15 marks)
\nReflection: 170 words (17 words per mark * 10 marks)<\/p>\n3. Estimate the number of topics to cover for each question<\/h4>\n
<\/a>So I now know, on average, how many topics I can cover for a given word count, how many paragraphs this will consume, and roughly how long it will take me.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n4. Develop skeleton answers<\/h4>\n