Bloody ECA, i dont know where to start!

[allgonebellyup]

My tutor and other students keep reiterating how difficult it is to get a good score on the ECA, and now i am panicking slightly.

i am course E301, and i need 55% on this eca in order to get the 2:2 i need to do teaching. Not much pressure then!

i have no idea where to start. The point of the eca is to show your breadth of knowledge of the course but i am worried on focusing on something too small

Help!

i am NOT course E301.
i am ON course E301.

I'm also about to start my ECA (different course though: DD308) and also feeling daunted. Have you got a choice of questions/topics and if so, have you decided which one(s) you're going to tackle?

Have you got a sense of the whole course in your head (that 'falling into place' feeling when you get what the course team were trying to say as a whole)?

I haven't made a final decision about my question/topic yet, but when I do I'll start revising the whole course to gather any material that looks promising (this will probably involve 7849873 post it notes stuck on the wall).

Have you had an ECA planning tutorial?

thanks for the response.
The main worry that i have, in fact, is that i dont feel as though i have a grip of the course as a whole. I have understood various parts here and there but have no idea how to link them.

We dont get to choose the essay question but we do get to choose the two texts that we need to analyse for the question - which in some ways i think is hard, as you may get penalised for choosing unsuitable texts. :-(

im just so worried, as if i (or anyone) fails the ECA (i need to get 55%) it means i have failed and wasted the whole bloody year.

What do you usually get in TMAs? I generally got about 5-10% less on ECAs. If you just put in lots of work, then 55% should not be a problem. Use your feedback on previous TMAs and advice for planning. You should be able to see a copy of the grading criteria too, which can be helpful.

Yes, can you start by going through the ECA student guidance notes with a fine-toothed comb and list everything that you have to achieve to pass? Then take the question and analyse the hell out of it - make loads of notes about what issues the question raises, what terms will need to be defined, any hidden assumptions etc. Try answering the question in one line and see what emerges?

Thanks for your help.

i have written 3/4 of the ECA now, but it needs the conclusion and then i need to go back through the whole thing with a fine toothed comb.

On my usual essays, i only really get about 60-65%, so this is why i am SO worried, i cannot afford to lose 10% in marks, as then i will only get around 50% !

I'm about halfway through mine ... what a slog

Good luck with finishing yours AGBU x

i was going to finish mine tomorrow and post immediately, but now i am at work and have just thrown up twice, and feel like hell. If i am ill all weekend i dont know when i can finish the stupid thing

Good luck too Moleworth

Is yours due in on 13 October as well?

Hi!! I am currently doing my ECA for E301. I've got an average of 92% on my TMAs so far and expected to be whizzing through my ECA - but instead I am finding it really distressing! I've chosen my texts and have had them okayed by my tutor - I've written the ECA up and it's 5000 words!! I was wondering whether anyone would be kind enough to send me an ECA they have done so I can see the structure and whether I'm going into too much detail - or not enough detail!! I am not intending on plaigarising because as I've had my texts accepted by my tutor and love them too much to change now! If someone is ok with me seeing their ECA my email address is [email protected].
Thank you xxx

OMG OP - you could be me!

I'm also doing E301 and have got 60/65% on my TMAs. I need 55% on the ECA to get my 2.2 so I can do my teacher training. But I've just written off my ECA so far and am starting again (I know - incredibly late in the day to be starting over but my chosen texts just weren't working for me).

I'm now back to square one deciding which texts to use with one full, jam packed weekend ahead of me.

Oh, can I ask a question about this? I did U210 years ago and have intended to do this one at some stage?

Do I need any of teh OU books from U210 at all? I've just found them in teh garage looking very sodden... And, how does it compare to U210 - some of the students comments suggest that they found this course more enjoyable?

Good luck OP!

I've not done U210 but I know my tutor mentioned several times that all the stuff you need is included in the E301 course books and you can successfully complete the course without looking outside the materials supplied. The assignments are there to test the work you've been doing so if you bring in stuff from other courses it won't count.

But don't get rid of them on my say so!

Yhanks SandStorm. I suppose teh OU can't assume everyone will do U210 or do it first.