Tutor Marked Assignments

New courses – it doesn’t matter how experienced you are – have one dreadful hurdle. That first TMA. You can expect them to get progressively harder throughout the course, but there is so much at stake with that first one. For a start, it’s a new tutor – you perhaps haven’t met them yet, and you haven’t got to know their likes and dislikes. And most of all, you want to create the impression you are intelligent. I agonise over each TMA01. Trouble is, when I am in agonising mode, the brain turns to mush and I write gibberish. No doubt the rest of the agonising is done by the poor tutor who has to mark it. At least after that first one is out of the way, you can act on the feedback and try to tailor them to the tutor's whims and desires. Perhaps that’s one of the things that attracted me to T189 (Digital photography: creating and sharing better images). No TMAs – and no tutor. True, there was a CMA – a computer marked assignment, but I was much more relaxed about that. I even submitted it two weeks early. That’s how laid back I was. I don’t mind if a computer marks it. I am happy for a computer to think I am thick. I am quite sure most of them do anyway. My various computers and I have come to an understanding over the years – if they do what they are supposed to do (or what I expect them to do) then I won’t hit them with a hammer. Perhaps I should have a similar arrangement with the husband?

The other advantage of T189 was the cost. I’ve just had an expensive couple of years with three 60 point courses. A ten pointer was a mere drop in the ocean by comparison. At least it would have been had I not been compelled to blow all my back-pay on a DSLR camera. I’ve never spent so much on myself for no reason other than I wanted it – there was no special occasion or event. Well I say no special occasion… last year was a ‘special’ anniversary – but did I get a silver present? Did I, in fact, get any present? I'm guessing you can tell the answer is 'No'. This year was a special birthday – and the husband gave me a tenner to go and buy myself a book. So perhaps I might be forgiven for indulging myself. I think I’ve earned it.