Student and tutor module reviews

I started this module in February and it was a step up from Essential mathematics 1 (MST124). I enjoyed it immensely and it provided a good basis on which to build.

Margaret Mackett

Course starting: December 2021

Review posted: July 2022

I would recommend this module to anyone who wants to study other mathematics modules. Although not a pre-requisite for some OU level 2 modules, it will make your life easier.
The module's content is well explained. However, I find the examples to be on the simple side. Do not underestimate how long it take to practice for the exam, and the exam itself. My exam was on-line because of covid safety measures, and I have to say that it was challenging! I managed to get a top score, but I had to work hard for it. Overall, I am glad I took this module.
My advice is: practice-practice-practice (as the module team already tell new students)

Jorge Tunon Mendez

Course starting: January 2021

Review posted: February 2022

This module was almost uniformly excellent. I enjoyed almost all of it, finding only some of the calculus stuff a bit of a slog (partial fraction stuff, and dynamics).

Beware that in unit 9 (of 12) you encounter proofs. I loved this but it was all familiar to me from having done logic on a philosophy degree. Others hit a brick wall with it. For me, the sting in the tail was the final unit on combinatorics! And most of that was due to linguistic ambiguity - it felt impossible to even get my questions understood! Lesson being: get ahead, stay ahead - you never know where the brick wall will be!

Assessments were fair and enjoyable, not least as I learned LaTeX.

The exam was reasonable but by no means easy. Having got high 90s or 100s for the coursework, I dropped to low 80s and walked away with a very unrepresentative 2.1 (merit). But I am not bitter as a 2.1 is a good grade, and I do not know what more the team could throw at you to make you both learn and enjoy the material.

Tutorials were hit and miss, as ever. Shop around to find a style that suits you.

You probably will not take this course unless you are on a maths-heavy pathway but I urge you to consider it if you have credit space. If MST124 is a hearty meal at breakfast then MST125 is wine tasting on a sunny afternoon. Oh my!

Course starting: February 2019

Review posted: July 2020

A superbly presented course. The creators of the course have done everything they possibly can to help the student complete the module successfully. The secret is of course to work through as many activities and exercises as possible, over and over again, and this is one area where the course stands out - there are a great many available to work through. Tutors even provided unofficial solutions to past exam papers, which was really helpful. I did feel several times during the course that I might struggle to keep all the different topics in my head at exam time but constant practice paid off in the end. The fact that you can annotate the handbook (which can be taken into the exam) as extensively as you wish is very useful indeed for the longer exam questions, and I would urge you to make best use of this facility. Overall a very enjoyable course, but hard work required to make the most of it.

John Robert Littlewood

Course starting: February 2018

Review posted: November 2018

I loved this course and am really looking forward to taking the subject further with my level 2 studies. I liked the mix of styles in the exam and found it a well written and enjoyable module. The mix of topics covered meant that if you don't like a unit then it's only one unit out of a whole module.

Course starting: October 2017

Review posted: August 2018

I found this module very interesting and enjoyed all the topics covered. While it's a little bit more challenging than MST124, I found that with a bit of hard work everything became clear. The face-to-face tutorials I found to be invaluable. If you're interested in maths you should take this module.

Rob Collinson

Course starting: October 2017

Review posted: August 2018