Dorothy

I'm finding it hard. I've been out of school for over 25 years. And even then I only studied at college level. I'm finding the writing to be a bit tougher than I thought too. Thankfully my husband is really supportive so I've organised study times on the weekends and I listen to the lecture podcasts on the train on the way to work. It also helps that I work at a hospital with a fantastic library I can use any time.

And I care about this why? I don't know what Canada's NCA is or why it would care about my foreign qualification - which by the way will be from the University of South Australia.

Oh, and in North America online qualifications are NOT useless. I did my training via correspondence (which is the equivelent to online) 25 years ago and it was accepted just fine. Online qualifications from accredited universities are accepted everywhere. You really do like to talk shite.

keel

I'm not surprised. I work with Indian "Engineers" all the time and I'm not sure where to place them. It's normally between first year apprentice and third year apprentice.

Honestly I don't rate them at all.

Keel

ROMFT_WO2RN

Or both


Apologies for jumping on this bandwagon but would my UK OU degree and diploma be recognised in Oz? If not then there'd be no point staying in to get my MSc from Pompey either

Oh and good luck with the swotting Slaps and Dorothy

man_called_Horse

My old employer had been stung a couple of times by Indian "Engineers", the stuff these guys used to do was ridiculous..... and then lie about it.

Its the lies that used to get to my old boss the most..... there seemed to be absolutely no shame is telling a completely fabricated story when its came to f**king up. It was always someone else's fault.

In the end any job applications went straight in the bin without consideration.

slapphead_otool

Yes, absolutely (assuming the bit of paper isnt a fake). Get yourself down here and I will buy you a beer.

What work area are you looking at? You could complete the Masters by distance from here.

Dreamy

I've done loads of course with the OU and did a couple of units with OUA last year.

I definitely found the support structure much better with OU - very hit and miss with OUA (although it was only two units so perhaps not representative)

Very similar situation to your daughter - one lecturer was fantastic - loads of support on the forums, loads of support when I had a disagreement over a grade assignment (with a very positive outcome too ) and the unit itself was very well set up with proper online lecture recordings. He didn't give specific answers.. but led you to the right place by careful responses.

The other unit.. well, I was glad I didn't have any problems. The tutor's response to any question on the forums was 'you've covered this in the coursework, go back and read it again'.. not very helpful for people struggling to understand basic concepts. Bizarrely, just before the final exam she posted some 'practice' questions.. every single one was in the final exam multiple choice section. Made me wonder if it was the only way she could get an acceptable number of people through the course, as her support throughout had been dismal.

I think a big problem with OUA is that you do a unit with a specific uni - there's no central regional support from OUA itself, which is completely different to OU.

If its any help to your daughter, Middlechild did the same as her when he needed to bump up his grade. We changed tack after his first two units as it was very patchy support wise and he's now doing a diploma at Uni which will fasttrack him into Second Year. He's found attending physical uni much more supportive than when he did his distance learning and can apply the knowledge he gained in the two OUA units which has helped him immensely - so I'm sure she'll do great

ROMFT_WO2RN

Nope not a fake On last 30 points to upgrade to an honours this year Unfortunately the Masters in question needs to be done whilst I'm still in as it's a workplace course where I'd get lots of points off just for being a WO

Work area is one of those where our jack-of-all-trades approach is a pain. As a weapons tiff I've mostly done radar/sonar/It/comms but then as a WO it's engineering management. I'm also adding in the civvy IT quals to back up the actual IT stuff I've done. Can't really work out what to do hee let alone in Oz Quite fancy some sort of FIFO, not necessarily in the mines, as that's the sort of lifestyle we're used to. My question is, is it worth getting UK civy experience before Oz or just get out there straight from the mob?

Now the beer however sounds like a good idea Might even have to bring the mess undress down under with me

micmay3_in_oz

[QUOTE=Dorothy;9335924]I'm finding it hard. I've been out of school for over 25 years. And even then I only studied at college level. I'm finding the writing to be a bit tougher than I thought too. Thankfully my husband is really supportive so I've organised study times on the weekends and I listen to the lecture podcasts on the train on the way to work. It also helps that I work at a hospital with a fantastic library I can use any timeQUOTE]

Hi Dorothy

I know you probably have enough to read already but I always recommend Stella Cotterell's study skills and critical writing books to my students http://www.borders.com.au/by/stella-cottrell/151700/ some of them have found them really helpful. I think her writing is accessible and has some good tips for students (and lecturers!)

If it is basic english grammar (something with which I still struggle) I get them to look at the Purdue writing lab - http://owl.english.purdue.edu/ again, another accessible and helpful resource if you can get over some of the Americanisms

Good luck and hang in there.

Mx

Dorothy

Thanks for that. I'll defo take a look at the Stella Cotterell book. I reallly, truly hate writing but it's a huge part of two of my subjects this semester and again next.

HelenTD

Hi Dorothy, you can often do an inter-library loan when you're at uni, so it might be possible to borrow books from ECU Joondalup/Mt Lawley, UWA, Curtin, etc, as well as from one side of the country to another. It's quicker and easier to pick up locally, though may not be available to undergrad students at some unis. Some textbooks are also available on line, as some of those Stella Cottrell books are at UniSA.

Just in case you haven't had time to find it, UniSA has online learning support courses to help with academic writing http://www.unisa.edu.au/learningadvice/ and they will also have learning advisors - I wish I'd known about these sorts of services earlier in my studies. The AELDP link has some really useful stuff on it, and there's the online course as well. Other unis have online resources that you can easily access as well, or you can just stroll in and grab some copies.

Wondering if we need a "studying at uni in Australia" thread?

Dorothy

Thanks for that. I'm lucky I have a good tutor for my major subject so lots of help online from her. I'm also going away for 3 weeks with my sister who's done 3 masters degrees so she'll also be a great help.

Of my 3 subjects this semester I have to say there's only one that I'm not getting great feedback from but that's human biology and I've done that subject before so not finding it too difficult. So far UniSA has been great for me.

A Studying in Australia thread may be a good idea. I know a few others are studying and it would be good for people coming over.

aman_sharma2k1

You don't worry about my homeland, worry about your job or may be your kids jobs.

http://www.businessspectator.com.au/...cument&src=hp4

slapphead_otool

What do they mean by "trained to Australian standards"?

discuss.

MarkMC

That article is related to digging holes not IT. Maybe the "Australian and Indian officials" have agreed that Indians would be better at digging than at IT?

^purely speculation on my part.

aman_sharma2k1

Well.. till now you were good in digging the holes..now you are on the edge of loosing that capability also.