The final results for M366 have been released (3 days earlier than stated) and I got a Grade 3 (OCAS 92 & OES 54). I felt that the exam didn’t go well for me and I have been worrying since then that I had failed the exam (thus the course) and would have to do a re-sit. So I am mightily pleased.
This means that I have got my degree and if my calculations are correct it is a 2:1.
Yesterday afternoon I took what I' am hoping was my last exam for my degree. To say that it was a joyous experience would be an extreme exaggeration as I found it concentrated to much on the minor aspects of the course, i.e. those areas that you think want crop up in the exam or if they do it would be the odd one or two questions. Plus they changed the way formulae were presented making them look partially different to how they were in the course text. Exams are a stressful experience and with the time constraints I for one did not need the challenge of having to decipher a formula before using it.
I now just have to wait until December to see if I scrapped enough marks together for a pass and not have to worry about doing a re-sit in April 2010.
Having attended the M366 strand at the M500 Revision Weekend and submitted my last TMA (Tuesday evening) I can now concentrate on revising for the exam on the 14.Oct.
To aid in my revision I have created a plan:
| Day | Date | Block | Unit | Description | |
| 1 | Fri | 18.Sep | 1 | 1 | Learning outcomes |
| 2 | Sat | 19.Sep | 2 | 1 | Learning outcomes |
| 3 | Sun | 20.Sep | 2 | 2 | Learning outcomes |
| 4 | Mon | 21.Sep | 2 | 3 | Learning outcomes |
| 5 | Tue | 22.Sep | 2 | 4 | Learning outcomes |
| 6 | Wed | 23.Sep | 3 | 1 | Learning outcomes |
| 7 | Thur | 24.Sep | 3 | 2 | Learning outcomes |
| 8 | Fri | 25.Sep | 3 | 3 | Learning outcomes |
| 9 | Sat | 26.Sep | Tutorial | 10:30 – 15:00 Croydon | |
| 10 | Sun | 27.Sep | Turotial | 10:30 – 15:00 UoW | |
| 11 | Mon | 28.Sep | 3 | 4 | Learning outcomes |
| 12 | Tue | 29.Sep | 4 | 1 | Learning outcomes |
| 13 | Wed | 30.Sep | 4 | 2 | Learning outcomes |
| 14 | Thur | 01.Oct | 4 | 3 | Learning outcomes |
| 15 | Fri | 02.Oct | 4 | 4 | Learning outcomes |
| 16 | Sat | 03.Oct | 5 | 1 | Learning outcomes |
| 17 | Sun | 04.Oct | 5 | 2 | Learning outcomes |
| 18 | Mon | 05.Oct | 5 | 3 | Learning outcomes |
| 19 | Tue | 06.Oct | 6 | 1 | Learning outcomes |
| 20 | Wed | 07.Oct | 2 | All | Recap |
| 21 | Thur | 08.Oct | 3 | All | Recap |
| 22 | Fri | 09.Oct | 4 | All | Recap |
| 23 | Sat | 10.Oct | 1 | All | Recap |
| 24 | Sun | 11.Oct | 6 | All | Recap |
| 25 | Mon | 12.Oct | 5 | All | Recap |
| 26 | Tue | 13.Oct | Study | exam | papers |
| 27 | Wed | 14.Oct | Exam | 14:30 – 17:30 |
and constructed a revision pack:
| 1. | Learning outcomes; |
| 2. | M500 slides; |
| 3. | TMA's & marked answers; |
| 4. | 08 exam & specimen papers; |
| 5. | Glossary; |
| 6. | Maths guide; |
| 7. | Course text index. |
Using the course text and my revision pack I plan to answer, on a postcard, each of the Learning Outcomes for course. I will then carry the postcards around with me all the time and use them (i.e. whilst commuting to work) to aid in an attempt in retaining all the necessary information.
Tuesday last week (9.Oct) I took the M359 exam. I haven't written about it until now as I came away from the exam very unhappy.
The reason for this was the layout of the exam paper. Although I was aware that for the 12 short questions we had to place our answers in the exam booklet itself in spaces provided directly after each question, I did not appreciate what a pain this would be. Each question tended to be a piece of description followed by 2 or 3 sub-questions, and the problem lay in if the question stretched over more than one page. This meant that I had to keep flipping backwards and forwards between pages, which was very time consuming. The worst culprits were questions 6, 7 and 8, as each of these questions referred to an appendix at the end of the exam booklet.
I am not the only one who feels this way about the exam paper, as there has been a general outcry from a lot of students concerning the layout, with a number of us making official complaints.
In conclusion the layout of the exam paper made a stressful situation even more stressful, wasted time and has cost me marks. I now just have to wait until the 14.Dec to find out what my final grade will be.
On Sunday morning at the M500 Revision weekend Stuart Hutchison (our tutor for the weekend) discussed with us a possible exam strategy, and this is detailed below.
Note: It is up to the individual how they use the following information; I am only documenting it as I believe some people might find it of use.
Format
2 part exam, with 3 hours allowed.
Part 1: 12 short questions worth 5 marks each, giving a total of 60% of the overall exam mark. This equates to 108mins for part 1 with 9mins per question.
Part 2: 2 out of 3 long questions worth 20 marks each, giving a total of 40% of the overall exam mark. This equates to 72mins for part 2 with 36mins per question.
Breakdown (and possibly what could be expected)
Stuart has based this breakdown on his experience of tutoring M358 and reviewing the M359 sample paper.
Part 1:
Q1., Q2. Warm-up questions, normally quiet easy i.e. “Describe the differences between data and information”.
Q3. Entity – Relationship Diagram to Relational Model.
Q4. Relational algebra.
Q5. Normalization.
Q6. SQL – Code supplied, what does it do / correct the mistakes.
Q7. SQL – Write some SQL from scratch.
Q8. SQL – procedures, triggers, cursors, views.
Q9. Entity Relationship Model – Revise / update.
Q10. De-normalization, complex data.
Q11. Data warehousing.
Q12. XML.
Part 2:
Q13. Entity Relationship Model to Relational Model (including relational algebra).
Q14. SQL / Restructuring / Normalization / Access control.
Q15. Sub-typing / Entity Relationship Models / Populating a database.
Revision Strategy
A high percentage of the exam appears to be based on SQL and data modelling, therefore by using the following strategy a student could potentially expect to get a good overall mark for the exam.
1. SQL – A must.
2. Data modelling – Entity Relationship Models.
3. Relational algebra – borderline effort.
4. Normalization / de-normalization – borderline effort.
Block 1 – skim.
Block 2 – learn well.
Block 3 – the bible, a must.
Block 4 – skim.
Block 5 – section 1 skim.
Conclusion
By concentrating their revision on blocks 2 and 3 (especially block 3) a student should be able to do enough in the exam to get a good mark.
One final exam tip ;) “don’t think as thinking costs time” In other words do not waste time on questions you will struggle with, move onto what are the easy questions for you.
Sunday 16th
Today was very similar to yesterday. 2 sessions each comprising of a short lecture followed by answering a selection of questions. The only difference with yesterday is that Stuart also did a session on exam strategy (see follow-up posting).
Session 4 (SQL) covered:
Cursors
Sub-queries
Views
Handling NULL
Keys
Data insertion
Queries
Wildcards
Group By
Ordering results
Joins
SET operations
Access control
Session 5 covered:
Distribution models
Distribution architectures
Technology drivers
Technology terminology
Multi-dimensional models
Information integration
Markup fundamentals
XML document structure
XML versus relational data
Embedded SQL concepts
Embedded SQL Statements
ODBC
JDBC – executing SQL
The weekend has proved very useful as it has highlighted to me where my weak areas are and given me some clear ideas as to how to proceed. My thanks goes out to Stuart Hutchison, a most excellent tutor.
Having just recently come back from a glorious 2 week holiday in Italy I am finding it difficult to get back into the groove. With the exam for M359 looming (09.Oct) I have now made a start on my revision, with my plan being to cover a block a week. I still have not completed TMA04 but am now treating it as a revision aid rather than worrying about what final assessment score I might get. Also I have decided not to bother doing question 4 as this covers topic 2 of block 5 and therefore will not be tested in the exam. So apart from going through my notes, making new ones, and re-reading the course text, I will be meeting up with friends who are on the course as well and also attending the M500 Revision Weekend at Aston University, Birmingham.
My only concern is that I start MU120 on the 29.Sept, with a CMA to submit by 11.Oct. This means that for a week prior to the exam I am going to have to split my time. Hopefully the prep material for MU120 want be to complicated.
The course result for M263 is now available, and to my amazement I got a Distinction. Well chuffed considering how concerned I was after the exam with regards to running out of time.
