Student and tutor module reviews

This was my 2nd year course, having completed U101 Level 1 course in the previous year. I found the book based learning incredibly difficult after U101 which was solely online. The course materials were interesting and informative and built on the teachings in U101.

The TMAs seemed to last forever and I found it hard to keep up with the work as I did not really connect at all with the themes for the TMAs. However I think this is down to personal choice as other people were very creative and found the themes inspiring.

I really don't know how to advise on revising for the exams as most of what we were told to swot up on was not included in the exams. I scored average on the exam but managed a grade 2 pass which I was pleased with as my memory for revising is absolutely rubbish. The tutors were very helpful and I cannot encourage prospective students enough to make use of the forums.

Clare Hitchcock

Course starting: February 2011

Review posted: January 2012

Having had little exposure to the design process, I found this module to be very interesting. Case studies, the design process, methods and tools for design are all studied. I have since completed T307 for the diploma in design and innovation and really enjoyed both.

Course starting: February 2010

Review posted: November 2011

An interesting course that develops your creativity and ability to think outside the box. There is designing theory and the chance to develop ideas of your own as well as an appreciation of what makes good design. Each TMA except the first provides a choice of design challenges.

Some people have made hard work of the fact that the course requires sketching and some modelling. I have (had) poor drawing skills but the course taught me as I went on. It isn't the kind of course that you can rush a TMA out the night before its due, the thinking and sketching required to complete the TMAs just make this impossible but if you have the ability to manage your time well you will excel at the course. A crossover between various interests from arts, engineering and pure design, very interesting.

Ken Francis

Course starting: February 2010

Review posted: January 2011

I found T211 to be a great course overall. It gives a phenomenal understanding of the overarching practices of Design. It is billed as an 'overview of design theory & practices' and it certainly is, but it's much more in depth at times as well.

My only small gripe (& it's a personal thing really) was that I did the course as one of the compulsory courses of B44 - Computing & Design, and for the first 3/4 of the course I found it very relevant to me, but towards the end it started focussing on manufacturing techniques & the composition of materials etc (which is of no relevance to my career personally) and the 5th assignment was a lull in my grades as a result.
I don't think that the course overview fully makes that clear and it seemed a bit odd to have this as a compulsory course in what I perceived to be a computing degree - still, the other units were mostly relevant and interesting.

The final assignment is a great project to get your teeth into, where you design a product of your own choosing (restricted to a few categories) with the crux of the assignment comprising of a design diary over a couple of months, where you jot down ANY thoughts or sketches, photos of products that you are looking to emulate, research notes etc, all culminating in a full detailed proposal of your design.
It really pulls together everything that you have learnt & applied in the previous 5 assignments and acts as a brilliant revision aid for the entire course (useful as it's shortly before the exam).

The exam itself wasn't as bad as I'd feared. Although this was my 4th OU course, it was my first exam in over a decade and I was pretty nervous. All in all though it was pretty good and the fact that you can choose between questions means you can pander to your strengths & knowledge.

T211 has given me a lot of valuable knowledge in the field of design and although after TMA5 I was thinking of switching my overall degree, I think that now I may stay the course and do the second Design course in the B44 degree (T307).

Andrew Ball

Course starting: February 2010

Review posted: January 2011

I found course T211 Design and Designing not only very enjoyable, but interesting and thought provoking. It was a good introduction to the world of design and also gave an insight into the way in which psychology and consumer perception is considered in the design of everyday products.

Joy Mara

Course starting: February 2008

Review posted: November 2009

T211 was an excellent course, both in terms of the practical application of theory into sketching and modelling to convey ones ideas across, and in furthering ones understanding of the design process as a whole from idea generation through to concept design realisation and beyond. The materials were well represented, clear and easy to follow with excellent illustrations.
The tutorials were also of great benefit, providing some fun activities along the way!

However, be under no illusion that this course demands a great deal of work particularly in the TMAs which tend to last for ever, especially the last one. Also be cautious of your final exam revision, as most of the content I revised prior to the exam was not asked in the exam, hence, the previous exam papers helped very little here. But all that said, I managed an excellent result in both course work and exam, so don't be put off. Currently I am studying T307, which so far looks to complement T211 very well.

David Roy Allen

Course starting: February 2008

Review posted: February 2009

Being new to studying at the OU I wasn't exactly sure what to expect but I have to say that I made an excellent choice when I decided to do this course. It had been some years since I studied at this level and I last did any studying of a design nature when I was at secondary school 20 years ago.

If you put a fair bit of effort into the assessments then you should be able to get relatively high marks. I surprised myself as I managed to get a Distinction which I certainly wasn't expecting. Give yourself enough time to do each of the assessments. Don't leave things to the last minute as you'll only put yourself under too much pressure. A good tip for your assessments is to try and put down on paper some additional sketches to try to explain things a bit better as you can pick up some additional marks.

One thing that I would say is try to attend some of the tutorials as the tutor can provide a good overview of each Block and I certainly thought the last tutorial before the final exam was of great benefit as it brought together a lot of things.

Colin Graham Leggate

Course starting: February 2008

Review posted: January 2009

Took this course at the same time as T307 which is acheivable although this is a much more time consuming course due to the pages of sketches that are required for the assesments. The sketching and drawing are easy enough to pick up and anyone with a basic knowledge of technical drawing shouldn't struggle with it. Design however is like art and what the course material states as design classics could be argued the other way. Last TMA was a bit nasty as envolves doing a mini project encompassing elements from previous TMAs into it. Exam followed way of TMAs and was not asking unknown questions. Overall an ok course with easily read materials.

Stuart Robert Rennie

Course starting: February 2008

Review posted: December 2008

If you're planning on studying T307 in the future, I'd really recommend doing T211 first as it gives a superb grounding for it. This was a very enjoyable course and the exam wasn't too bad although you don't stop writing from start to finish. The past papers are really useful though as they give a good indication of likely questions and structure of the exam. Timing is critical in the exam. Allow a certain amount of time for section 1 and when its finished, get started on section 2 regardless of whether you've finished or not. You can always go back.

The only thing that bugged me about this course was the fact that TMAs had to be submitted by post. This may have changed now but having experienced courses which used the eTMA system; this was a bit of a step backwards!! On the whole though, very enjoyable, not too taxing and certainly worth doing.

Michael Houghton

Course starting: February 2007

Review posted: December 2008

On the whole I found this course to be well balanced and it opened my eyes into the theory of design. I found it releveant to my job which is product development related.

I was a bit nervous about the exam but there were no major surprises and I managed quite a respectable result.

A course which is well worth a look.

Paul Anthony Jones

Course starting: February 2007

Review posted: October 2008

I found T211 to be a varied and interesting course. This is the first course I have taken with the OU and I found it to be a great introduction.

One piece of advice that could be made more explicit by the tutors is that even if you are unable to complete an assignment(TMA), on time and utilise the substitution mechanism, you really should try to find time to complete the material as it is a great way to familiarise yourself with it.

A lot of the exam questions are very closely related to the questions and excercises in the TMAs.

This course has really spurred me on to further study with the OU, I hope other courses are as well structured and enjoyable.

James Lewis

Course starting: February 2007

Review posted: December 2007

I teach Design and Technology as an instructor in seconday schools so I had some previous knowledge of the design process itself. That said, I have to agree that the TMAs were time consuming due to the amount of hand drawing and sketching required. It may have been helpful for other students if the OU could supply Isometric matrix tracing paper to help students to get to grips with this area of 3-D sketching. Overall I found the course 10 times easier than S103! My tutor was a great help and was always at the end of the phone if I had any concerns. Go for it!

Paul Young

Course starting: February 2005

Review posted: March 2006

I enjoyed the course very much indeed, it was full of unexpected areas of interest, it had just one failing, a bad one: no index! I've not met that on any other course and I can't tell you how much time and cursing was wasted trying to track down an elusive mention of a designer or product. Am I really asking for the impossible? Otherwise it was great!

Germaine Brotherton

Course starting: February 2005

Review posted: February 2006

T211 is fundamentally a good course. The course materials are excellent. The breadth of the topics covered is very very good. All in all it's potentially an enjoyable and enlightening course. Sadly it's ruined by the extraordinary time required to carry out the assignments. I had to forego coursework to do the TMAs justice. I got an excellent course result but felt that the TMAs destroyed the experience. I can't recommend it unless the student has a LOT of time available. I'm disappointed as I wanted to do the third level course but I dare not.

John Edwards

Course starting: February 2005

Review posted: December 2005

T211 was the last course of my degree and the most enjoyable. I felt that a great deal of care had gone into the preparation of the materials and they were very well presented. You most certainly do not have to be technically minded to get the most from this course!

Deborah Jean Chowney

Course starting: February 2005

Review posted: December 2005