Masters degree

[jave808]

Hi
Has anyone here done postgraduate studies? I've recently started a Masters of Arts - Studies in Religion. My workload is 3 subjects - mainly essays and written answers in a quiz. Any pointers as to how I complete it?

I think I've taken on more than I can handle although I am interested in learning more. Knowledge is powerful!

[shift]

Is 3 courses full time, part-time or 75%? If you haven't come into the masters straight from a related undergrad then my suggestion would be to start with part-time (50%). 

[jave808]

Is 3 courses full time, part-time or 75%? If you haven't come into the masters straight from a related undergrad then my suggestion would be to start with part-time (50%).

It's 75% load, so I can get Austudy. My claim is still in the process of being approved/rejected. So far, so good.

[shift]

Essays and all that aren't my thing but from the students I deal with they tend to under-prioritise learning and over-prioritise doing the assessments. So they try to do the assignments without learning anything first. I'd suggest you don't do that. haha.

I'd also suggest you look at using the resources that the academic skills group have created and be aware of the support that they offer (most uni's have something)
https://www.une.edu.au/current-students/resources/academic-skills
https://aso-resources.une.edu.au/academic-writing-course/

[jave808]

Essays and all that aren't my thing but from the students I deal with they tend to under-prioritise learning and over-prioritise doing the assessments. So they try to do the assignments without learning anything first. I'd suggest you don't do that. haha.

I'd also suggest you look at using the resources that the academic skills group have created and be aware of the support that they offer (most uni's have something)
https://www.une.edu.au/current-students/resources/academic-skills
https://aso-resources.une.edu.au/academic-writing-course/

Thanks for the links!

Yes, essays aren't my forte either, but I will learn! Also, thanks for the tip. You need to learn your subject matter first, in order to write about it!

[Mike Mitchell]

... the students I deal with they tend to under-prioritise learning and over-prioritise doing the assessments.

Mine was just a postgrad diploma @ just 50% but I found that was how I dealt with, being time poor, too. I would only study parts of subjects that would be in exams. In the end, work won out. So I never finished it.

[Dataman]

Mine is a BA in Biochemistry. I was on a premed veterinary program. While waiting for med-school, I had a part-time job at a bank which was converting to this new thing called a "computer" (actually an IBM 360). They gave all employees a "Computer Aptitude Test" and I scored 3rd out of ~1,600 employees. I was transferred to the new "Data Processing" division and was offered a huge raise in salary. The rest, as they say, was history. 

"Life is what happens to you while you are busy making plans."

[Mike Mitchell]

... this new thing called a "computer" (actually an IBM 360).

Is that the one that had a RDB kind of built into the OS? When I worked for Computer Power Group's professional services, we had a bunch of people working on them. While I struggled learning this crazy new OS that was more like a network, called Unix! What a learning curve! God I missed DEC's VAX/VMS. It's OS, DCL, is the one Bill Gates and co, copied for MS-DOS. Made it look very different to CP/M.


DCL=Digital Command Language


Also, the VAX/COBOL compiler was written by Computer Power Group's professional services.

[Dataman]

... this new thing called a "computer" (actually an IBM 360).

Is that the one that had a RDB kind of built into the OS? When I worked for Computer Power Group's professional services, we had a bunch of people working on them. While I struggled learning this crazy new OS that was more like a network, called Unix! What a learning curve! God I missed DEC's VAX/VMS. It's OS, DCL, is the one Bill Gates and co, copied for MS-DOS. Made it look very different to CP/M.


DCL=Digital Command Language


Also, the VAX/COBOL compiler was written by Computer Power Group's professional services.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_System/360

[Dingo]

I had a similar thing happen to me when I was working for the Dept of Defence in Canberra in 1971.  They were looking for people to train on the new IBM computer they were installing in Canberra.  I did the test and did well at it and started my training using punch cards and readers and lots of tape drives.  I left to join the Army in March 1972 and stayed on for twenty-two years not in IT.   I think I would have been a lot better off now if I had staying with the IT world.

[jave808]

I had a similar thing happen to me when I was working for the Dept of Defence in Canberra in 1971.  They were looking for people to train on the new IBM computer they were installing in Canberra.  I did the test and did well at it and started my training using punch cards and readers and lots of tape drives.  I left to join the Army in March 1972 and stayed on for twenty-two years not in IT.   I think I would have been a lot better off now if I had staying with the IT world.

Ha ha! You joined the army when I was born!  (20 March 1972). How time flies...

[Mick Lindsay]

Dataman, In one of my past lives I maintained the front end processor and data streams of a IBM 360/75. The high speed tape drives use to be a nightmare, forever changing head units and degausing.

[Dataman]

Dataman, In one of my past lives I maintained the front end processor and data streams of a IBM 360/75. The high speed tape drives use to be a nightmare, forever changing head units and degausing.

How cool. I did a short stint in the tape library as a "tape monkey" as they called us as we ran around mounting reel tapes. Hard to imagine how much things have changed in 50 years.

[jave808]

Hi all,
This morning I officially withdrew from the Masters of Arts course at UNE. It was just too much, plus I have to deal with my mental illness as well. Never mind, I had a go and couldn't finish it. Maybe some other time when I 'm feeling better.
Jave.

[shift]

Better to have tried and withdrawn than never have tried at all.