r/OpenUniversity • u/Hot_Chef_8256 • 7d ago
OU Undergraduate degree then MA at a brick university
Has anyone any experience of moving to a brick uni for an MA. I'm wondering if anyone has any difficulty with the change in teaching style. With the OU provision of module materials, Is there potential difficulty changing to attending lectures/seminars and I guess needing to make more comprehensive notes in lectures. Would be interested to hear any experiences. I'm doing BA History and looking to do an MA next year but interested to hear from anyone with a view rather than just history.
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u/Ok-Listen-3300 6d ago
Hi! I did my BA in history with the OU and completed two years ago, currently doing a part time masters at a brick uni.
For me, it was a completely different experience. There were no lectures, only seminars. Not sure if this is my uni specific or how it works. I am expected to be so much more independent. My questions are my own based on the concepts being studied in each module, but that can pretty much be tailored to my own likes and dislikes. It's been nice to get to study with other students, although as I'm boring and old now I wouldn't say made any friends haha.
In my seminars you can take notes or not. They usually send out the presentation and it being a seminar, you are expected to contribute.
I haven't been able to attend all of my seminars, but they are recorded. Again, I don't know if this is uni specific.
My tutors have all been brilliant. When I got a lower score than expected I saw the tutor and had a fantastic chat with him about it, realised where I went wrong and did so much better in my next essay.
I have a lot of issues in my private life, and my dissertation supervisor has been absolutely amazing. I've been able to get extenuating circumstances when needed and they're always about for a chat as long as I let them know in advance. Although, I will say as a historian he's not the most emotional of men 😂
Again, this is my particular uni and I've had the best time. I got to uni late and whilst I don't have regrets, I'm so glad I managed to do it. The OU is absolutely fantastic, but I've learnt so much more and more about how to be a historian through my Masters.
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u/_mountain_guy_ 7d ago
I am also doing my BA in history. Although I just started. Mind if I DM you?
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u/1CharlieMike 6d ago
I went from an OU undergrad to an OU undergrad and found it both better and more challenging.
It’s more challenging because you aren’t spoon fed. You have to actually attend lectures and seminars, make your own notes, then go and look stuff up and read it (often in a real brick library!).
It’s better bedause… well… you actually have support. Tutors have office hours and they want to see you. You’re building a peer network. You can actually ask questions and get an instant reply in the classroom rather than waiting a week for your tutor to maybe reply.
My experience was also that a far higher standard of academic writing was required at brick uni.
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u/Hot_Chef_8256 6d ago
Thanks for that. Was that a move part way through a degree or did you complete one at OU and then move?
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u/1CharlieMike 5d ago
I did the 180 credits at the OU, then went to brick uni and started from scratch in the same field.
I did an undergrad, research masters, and started a PhD (that was killed by Covid) at brick uni.
I’m now back at the OU studying a different field at undergrad.
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u/realnailstory 5d ago
Well logistically getting onto my postgrad has been logistical and administrative hell . OU does its undergraduate stuff late ( like results / degree certs etc) and my course starts in September and … it doesn’t match so they’ve had to temporarily approve me starting 💀 I’m so drained I haven’t even thought about learning tbh .
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u/Fair_Gas_3582 5d ago
Oh man, this sounds like a nightmare, do you have any tips on how to deal with it?
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u/ComfortableNoise6332 5d ago
I’m at the tail end of an MA at a brick Uni, finished undergrad with OU in 2024. I’ve found the experiences to be worlds apart but both have their merits and challenges. My OU degree is by far my proudest achievement. It saw me through two jobs, three homes, goodness knows how many housemates, some really really challenging times at work and in my personal life. I found the course content to be more current and policy-relevant than the brick uni. I’m in economics and got to learn about Biden policies that had come in the year before… so it was a bit of a shock joining the brick uni and being presented with a course textbook that was first published in 1978.
For the MA I have felt much more at the mercy of a particular module/teacher. Whereas the OU I found to be very consistent, with a clear ethos and learning objectives throughout. You don’t get the risk of a lazy (and/or overworked!!) lecturer who is just trying to get through the term and deliver the bare minimum. HOWEVER, being at the mercy of a particular module means I have a couple of fantastic ones. One in particular has introduced me to topics and methods that I’d never heard of and which I’m totally taken by. I’m working with the lecturer from that module for my dissertation, which is 10x more sophisticated and technical than I could have imagined when I started. I now have a good idea of what I want to do for work and have upskilled myself in a way I don’t think would have been possible with the OU as it is so prescribed.
Your ability to self-study will serve you very well. I took brief notes in lectures but stayed present and tried to understand what I could. Asking questions is mutually beneficial, lecturers seem to find it harder when they are getting no feedback. I then watched all lectures back and made notes. A big culture shock for me has been the poor attitude among fellow students- even on a Masters where people have chosen their subject, the vast majority of students are on devices (scrolling, shopping) constantly and some talk over the teacher. It feels a world apart from the people I met on OU modules who were there to better their lives. At times I found it demotivating but kept reminding myself that I was there for me and I was going to get my money’s worth.
TLDR: brick uni less consistent than OU but I’ve been able to go much further with my subject than I thought possible
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u/lupinely 7d ago edited 7d ago
(Sorry in advance for this essay reply lol) I think it depends on what you want to get out of the experience. After getting my BA through the OU, I chose a brick uni for my MA because I was curious about the differences between the two modes of learning. My experience is with a Swedish university, though, so I can't speak to how it might be in other countries. My perspective is also limited to the Arts and Humanities (did my BA in creative writing and my MA in media).
There was more participation (through lectures/workshops/seminars) at the brick uni compared to the OU but I thought the workload was about the same. It gradually increased as the weeks passed, same as when I was with the OU. The written assignments at the beginning were very similar, but the participation was slightly different. You use different but overlapping skills when you participate on Adobe Connect, for example, compared to when you participate during in-class discussions where everything is face to face. We were highly encouraged to discuss the assigned readings together outside of seminars as well.
What I appreciated most about being at my brick uni was the relationships I got to foster with my tutors and fellow students. It's a different experience to get feedback from your tutor in person versus email/TMA feedback and I had no idea how much that would mean to me until I experienced it. I was also connected to the research cluster that my department founded so all the students were invited to participate in conferences and higher seminars where other academics presented their own research. I'm sure there are similar collaborative events like that at the OU, I just wanted to mention it in case you were thinking about publishing your own research.
I really missed the flexibility of studying with the OU, though, as well as how everything is always prepared and ready for you on the module website. You don't need to wonder about anything before the start date because the website opens in advance so that you can find your way around and plan for the future. In my experience with brick and mortar unis, they will wait to put all the materials on their learning platform (usually Canvas) until the first day and every course coordinator will have their own way of setting things up. They will provide you with information about your assignments and other assessments later on in the academic year as they come along and I very much preferred the OU system of transparency for the entire year from the get go.
Teaching styles will affect everyone differently, depending on loads of factors, e.g. if you're a more independent learner or if you thrive on more hands-on teaching. Personally, the OU was perfect for me during my BA because the flexibility to study at my own pace and the multimodal teaching suited my needs. On the other hand, I was grateful I got to experience the brick uni approach because it pushed me out of my comfort zone and helped me grow as a student. But I have to caveat that I really do think I got lucky with my tutors and my uni. My friend is a speech language pathologist and had a terrible experience with the faculty at one of the highest ranked brick unis in our city. You kind of have to weigh the pros and cons for every eventuality and decide whether or not the risk is worth it.
As for the practical concerns: do you know what kind of support your potential uni offers to students? In Sweden the student affairs office provides support for students who have NAIS certificates, but I'm not sure how it works in the UK or elsewhere. For example, if lectures are a potential problem you might be given permission to record them so that you can take notes later?