Worst TMA mark ever!

[prettypurpledaisy]

On my fifth OU course and just had a really terrible tma back, I thought it was ok, not great but not 42!!! I feel really bad, I know it is a new subject and a new tutor but if that is the sort of mark I get on a level 3 maybe i should give up now.
Anybody out there that this has happened to? pleas reassure me.

Oh don't give up! It was probably just a one off.

What was the subject? Did the tutor put loads of useful comments? Were they comments about content or style?

I bet the next one will be excellent as you will know what the standard is.

Was that your first TMA for this course? What's the course?

I am doing the Nineteenth century novel AA316, yes it was the first one for the course but it was something I had covered in A210 so felt ok with a close reading but must have missed the target completely. Tutor comments were not that useful to be honest except for offering to look at my draft next time to check I am on the right track before submission which I will do.
Just feel really sad that I did so badly.

Sounds like you may have misinterpreted the question, hence the tutor offering to check you are on the right track. That is a bit of a fear of mine actually, especially in exams, that I will happily churn out an essay only to find that I haven't answered the question in the way it should have been answered. But in a way it is the 'best' mistake to make as it doesn't mean you don't know what you are talking about and you aren't up to the work, it just means you misunderstood the question that possibly was not very well worded in the first place.

And isn't 42% a pass anyway? Do you have substitutions on this course?
Don't give up though - put this one down to experience and next time take your tutor up on his offer and let him check your approach.

Have you joined the first class chat group? That can be incredibly helpful.

I was going to do that course this year but had just finished 20th Century novel and wouldn't have gotten any reading done in time. I'll be doing it next October.

However........... try not to worry. Check if it's one you can substitute. Email your tutor and ask for more feedback/pointers etc.

Are you in London at all? If you are or can get there you should try to get to the LRAC readings. Dr Lynda Morgan does them and she really makes the works come alive and the TMAs make sense.

Hi - I'm sure that it's likely to be a one-off. I'd certainly take up your tutor's offer of reading through the draft - but if you want more info - phone or email. My tutors have always been really helpful, if I need something clarified. Good luck with the rest of your course. My next ones don't start until February next year - so enjoying a Christmas break.

Yes get more tutor feedback PPD.. that's what they're there for.

Random opinion here.. but do you know what bugs me about those OU forums? The way some of them list their wonderful accomplishments under their names?!

EG ShinyHappy 2003 - Distinction
2004 - Dictinction
2005 - Grade two Pass
206 - Distinction

Why do we all have to have their grades shoved down our throats??! It really puts me off going on there!!

If its any help to you , i got my first TMA from my Literature level 3 course back: 33% (see my other thread about this!)
Its my 6th course, and final one, and i failed the first TMA!!!!

So at least you cant feel so bad now?!

I'm not trying to ram anything down anyone's throat, I'm just telling you this for reassurance - I finished my OU degreee last year and got a first, but there were some really dreadful marks on the way. I realised that I wasn't going to do brilliantly on all courses or all TMAs. Some of the courses I didn't do too well on, sometimes life got in the way of study. Substitution helps too.

What's a TMA? Is it like a coursework grade?

42 is nothing compared to some of the spectacular fails that were handed out on a paper last year.. cognitive psychology.. I scraped a 56 but my friend got 22, another fella got 28 & the chap I lift shared with got 29!!

surely 42 is still a pass?

Hi prettypurpledaisy
Please don't give up - a new course, a new tutor and a new level, it's not easy, you'll be fine. Have you spoken to your tutor - it may help. I've had some problems with my course this year and was very close to giving up (I was ill a couple of times and got really behind), my tutor was an excellent help and sometimes it makes what they're saying clearer if you actually speak to them rather than just relying on their written comments.
Namelessnewbie is right - substitution helps and despite maybe only getting a third for this year, I'm still aiming for a first in the end.
Good Luck