Although the University is not actively looking to recruit for this course, vacancies may occur if there is a sufficient increase in expected student numbers, or if there is some staff movement.
February to October
This course is a compulsory component in several single and joint honours degrees in the Undergraduate Computing programme, and is essential for BCS accreditation. The course gives students the skills necessary for specifying and completing an individual project. Students' work builds on the material introduced in any of the Programme's suite of Level 3 courses.
About 40 per cent of the work develops and assesses skills for project scoping and specification, self-monitoring of progress and presentation. The remaining 60 per cent concerns the technical detail of the project and is project specific. Course materials will be made available online. Students are expected to retain the material associated with the courses on which they build for their project.
Students will develop a project topic, specification and plan, carry it out, and then write it up. A tutor will advise and guide students, but they will be expected to produce their work independently, without close supervision. The emphasis is on students being reflective practitioners, developing not only the technical aspects of their project but also reviewing and thinking about what they have learnt from doing the work, to further improve their skills. Tutor-marked assignments provide milestones and feedback to help them monitor their progress. Guidance notes, study calendar and other supporting material will be made available on the web.
Tutors will be expected to have technical expertise associated with at least one Level 3 course on which the students build - currently that is at least one of M301, M362, M363, M358, M359, M364 or M366. New Level 3 courses may be introduced.
Students are expected to use software and materials from relevant Level 3 courses. Associate lecturers are expected to participate in peer online forums, student-group online forums and email.
The associate lecturer's role is to provide face-to-face and online support for up to eight students and to mark students' assignments. Associate lecturers mark three assignments for each of their students and mark their own students' project reports (6000-8000 words). In addition, associate lecturers second mark the project reports of another associate lecturer's students. We encourage applicants from associate lecturers who are tutoring or have tutored the related Level 3 course.
One important facet of the AL role is to judge whether a project fulfils the British Computing Society's criteria for projects and to advise students accordingly.
The Computing Project is a compulsory Level 3 course in many of our qualifications in the computing and ICT areas. In this course, students will gain practical experience of independent learning and reflective practice. They will apply advanced principles and techniques to solve problems in the context of a project topic that they have defined. Students will write up their experience and findings in a substantial report. Students will be responsible for the management of their project with the help of an individual supervisor. They must have completed at least one of the Level 3 computing courses before starting this course.
The person specification for this course should be read in conjunction with the generic person specification for an associate lecturer at The Open University.
As well as meeting all the requirements set out in the generic person specification, you should have:
It would be an advantage to have:
Tutor marked assignments (TMAs): 3
Level of information communication technology (ICT): 3
Workload - the average teaching hours per week: 3
Before making an application applicants are asked to refer to the full course description in our Online student prospectus. Come back to this website to apply.
The Faculty of Mathematics, Computing and Technology (MCT) teaches at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Its award areas cover a range of subjects: information and communication technologies; computing; mathematics; statistics; engineering; environment and development; design, systems and technology management.
At undergraduate level awards include certificates, diplomas and honours degrees. At postgraduate level the offering includes awards in mathematics and also professional development programmes leading to awards in computing, global development management, engineering, environmental decision-making, technology management and information systems.
A significant feature of most MCT courses is the use of computing as an integral part of the course, both for personal work and for electronic communication with students, other associate lecturers and the course team. Some low-population courses rely extensively on electronic communication for teaching. Appropriate training materials are available to enable associate lecturers to use this teaching medium. Staff development and training for associate lecturers is provided regionally and through constructive feedback from the monitoring process. Course teams are also encouraged to develop the expertise of their associate lecturers by involving them in course presentation. Associate lecturers must be able and willing to provide general learner support in addition to subject expertise, and to help students develop their communication and study skills as appropriate.
Credit points: 30
TMA submission category: 1a
Recommended group size: 6
Pay: 3