For those of you that have completed a degree mainly from home how do you keep your motivation?

Do you set your self a certain number of hours per day/week that is dedicated to your studies?

When I have been studying full time at home I always treat it like a days work and work 9-5.  If it is part time I find it much harder as I will have worked a full day and then have to get the motivation to do it again in the evening or right through the weekend.

I have been doing Open University stuff on and off for the past 7 years.  I currently have 120 credits and am in the middle of a 60 point course (equal to part time study).  I find the easiest way to make sure all my housework and any shopping etc is done before I start otherwise I am always thinking of what I should be doing and not thinking about what I am doing.  I set aside a definite time duirng the day to do study new material (an hour possibly 2 depending) and then an hour in the evening going over it again (just sitting with the book reading whilst tv is on kinda thing) and also rereading my notes so when I come to study again the next day I dont have to go over old stuff again.  Also any assignments that I have to do I do as I go along, and type them up as well so I dont have the mad rush before the deadline.

When I worked I just used to reverse things and study for an hour in the evening (when the children went to bed) and then take my book/notes to work to read through during breaks etc.

I am looking to do a degree in nutrtion, it will be home based with probably a week per term at the private clinic to be shown how to do clinical testing for intolerances etc. I will be doing my studies whilst the children are at school but can see that sometimes it will be easy to lose my focus as I will be doing it all myself and not having to attend classes.It is something I have always been interested in and have finally thought its the right time to make a life change, when I go back to work I would like to be able to work from home to fit around our family life. I would like to learn as a beauty therapist also but I would have to attend college for this and won't be able to "get rid" of the children full time till they are both at big school lol

I have just graduated in Business & Economics with the OU. I did the degree over 6 years, and it took approx 20 hours a week, every week (expect xmas) without the long summer hols!!!

It is hard to stay motivated at first, but after the first module I found that I managed to fit study into my life quite easily. It's well worth doing, for the qualification and the satisfaction and pride of completing something of that scale at home. I did mine partly to stick 2 fingers up to the many people who told me I was too stupid to be able to get a degree in anything!!!

Provided you mentally prepare yourself for the big impact it will have on your time, it can be very rewarding. Good luck to you in whatever you decide to do - nutrition sounds very interesting

Claire

I'm in the middle of a biology degree with the O.U. and have 4 children so it is completely possible.

I put in a lot of hours per week, I would guess between 20 and 30 hours a week and study in the morning before the kids get up and in the evening when they have gone to bed. I don't find it to hard to study when I have multiple assignments due, but struggle when things are slower.I guess I need a little presure to perform.
When I feel really unmotivated I Just take a few days off and do something completely unrelated. i find that it's normally just a case of recharging the batteries a little. Thankfully it doesn't happen very often.

Nutrition sounds really interesting I would definitely give it a go.
Be aware though it can be very addictive, i'm always planning my next course.

I've got to pass Chemistry and biology first

Do you find their timescales realistic?

I have found that it never takes as many hours as the OU state. their rule is that you need 10 hours study for every point.
So a sixty point course would need 600 hours over 9 months, in reality I've haven't used anywhere near this amount.
The course material moves along quite rapidly but is normally superbly written and as long as you do little nearly every day it's easy to keep up and there are ways to catch up if you fall behind.

The OU are fantastic at supporting students who have problems, they understand that most of us have to fit our study around full time jobs or family commitments.
I really can't recommend them enough.

during my final year it was essentially "work when you can or flunk it", i was working (like employment) a lot as money was tight plus was very ill so essentially i grabbed every chance.

i usually started with the stuff i was really interested in, your keen to do it and learn more so its surprising how quickly it gets done.

i also found having a job gave me a structure to work round so that helped- know how much time you have and if you know its limited you'll use it to full advantage

I am getting inspired again with you lot!
I started an ou sociology course13+ years ago,(bearing in mind I had not even an o level at this point).
I found I was pregnant and they were so positive about how everyone can manage and all the women that had done it before, managing homes and families and disabilities etc...etc...
I got scared off!

Karen

just out of interest why does everyone do their course through the OU? (not dissing, just asking!), depending on the course actually attending uni doesn;t take that much time...my course was a maximum of 7 hours a week in class (obviously sciency stuff would be mroe, that was sociology)

I'm studying through the OU because their fees are substantially less than a brick uni and I won't graduate with a huge amount of debt behind me.  I'm just about to start my 2nd year of a BSc (Hons) Criminology and Psychological Studies and realistically I'd never be able to actually 'go' to uni to study, so the OU is the only option I have available to me.

For me its because there are no uni's out here lol

For me I went through the OU becuase I already have a full time job - and the OU course fees are I suspect a lot less than those of a physical university.

I found the OU great, very supportive and everything is well written. We also had a week's residential study in 1 module, so we spent a week at Bath uni during the summer - that really was worh going, I learnt soooo much, and made some really good friends (plus I liked the cheap uni bar beer too!!)

I study with the OU because it fits around my life.

I have 4 children the youngest of who has medical problems and I just can't attend uni full time.
The OU enables me to have the best of both worlds. I study from home allowing me to devote my time to my family during the day and to study when they are asleep. I also go to occasional tutorials and always a week long practical summer school in July/August.

Same as everyone else, I also have 4 children, the youngest doesnt start school until September.  I can fit my studying around my children and my husbands work (in the Forces so i cannot rely on him being home all the time).  Also I am not aiming for a specific degree, and have no set timescales.  When I eventually finish I will have an Open Degree, either BSc or BA classification depending on which courses I do.  I am choosing courses that interest me which all happen to be BSc ones at the moment.  So far I have done 2 maths courses, a health and social care one and one biology and 2 chemistry based ones.  Unfortunately due to my family life I cannot attend their residential schools at the moment which rules out a lot of degree paths anyway with the OU.

Also cost is a major factor for me .  To attend a university the fees for 3 years would be in the region of £9500 not including the books, equipment, travelling and childcare etc etc.  Prices for courses with the OU include the course materials/equipment etc and tutorial support plus face to face tutorials.  At the end of my current course I will have gained 180 credits and will have cost me £1800 approximately so to gain a full degree would cost less than £4000 .  Occassionally there are set books to buy but these are usually study guides to assist although I have never bought them and obviously if you wanted to attend the residential schools then it would cost just over £400 per course.

I would love the opportunity to actually go to university and maybe next year I will but its just not feasible for me at the moment timewise or financially.  Plus like someone else has already said, I wont end up with the student debt at the end of it!!

> just out of interest why does everyone do their course through the OU?

some courses in universities are also accredited through the OU.  I did a post grad at a time when the FE college was being incorporated into one of the Universities and we had the choice of having our qualification (PG Dip) accredited through the OU or the university.

I have also studied with the OU as well as at Uni and both suited at different points in my life.  I liked the OU becuase I could study and still earn a decent salary but like the peer support from being at Uni.  The OU used to have a stigma of being inferior to traditional uni (possibly as many long term prisoners came out with OU qualifications!) but I think that has gone now.

i think the OU is a wonderful thing and i totally understand most peoples reasons for doing it but do you not all feel your missing out a bit on the uni experience (again, just asking! have no personal experience of the OU but just finished uni so interested)

wow! £9500 for 3 years?? i think its on average £1500 a year up here, big difference!

for the time thing i wonder if it does make time constrains easier (of course depending on subject). for example in my final semester i was in for:

human rights- mon 1100-1300
dissertation- technically 2 classes of 2 hours in the whole semester but i'd usually spend an hour with my advisor on a tuesday afternoon (not compulsory)
social origins of sexuality- thurs 0900-1100
and, media, self and society friday 1400-1600

so not terribly many classes, though the ones we had were dense and there was a lot of reading, which of course can be done at home.

again, not critising the OU in any way, i just get the impression for a lot of people i meet who want to go to uni that they think they can;t do it with kids or while working etc so just wanted to show they can, and generally very well. i knew loads of mums on my course who did the best out of most people. my sis for example started uni when kai was 1- she got a first class degree and was given an award for the best student out of the whole year then the uni gave her a job! she says she worked so hard to get the best career to do the best for her wee boy (which i guess is why all the parents here are doing it to). i don;t know how it is in england though, uni;s here give help with childcare costs etc so its easier for parents i guess.

> The OU used to have a stigma of being inferior to traditional uni (possibly as many long term prisoners came out with OU qualifications!) but I think that has gone now.

oh definately, OU qualifications are very well respected now

its nice to hear about the contrast between the two

I don't feel I'm missing out at all.
Perhaps if i was 18 it would matter to me but at this time in my life I'd rather be with my family than out and about.

You aren't total cut off with the O.U. there are tutorials and summer schools and often local students will meet up.
There is also a huge on line community with forums ranging from individual course help to Harry potter. I believe there's even one about dogs.

> do you not all feel your missing out a bit on the uni experience

I am 37 and didnt get married until I was 27.  I led a very singles life until I met my hubby when I was 25.  I house shared from the age of 18 when I moved out until I met my OH, partying most nights, playing a team sport every weekend etc etc so no at my age I dont think I missed out or indeed feel I am still missing out!  I wouldnt be living in halls or shared accommodation obviously if I went to uni now anyway so the only thing I would lack is the daily face to face contact but like others have said, OU still run tutorials and support groups and I am forever on the forum pages!

> wow! £9500 for 3 years?? i think its on average £1500 a year up here, big difference!
>

Uni fees here are around £3145 per year for 2008/2009 I think.

Obviously those times were for your final year but even then I would still struggle to meet that timetable.  My nearest uni is over an hours drive away and by the time I dropped off my children at school I wouldnt arrive until around 10.15 at the very earliest and again I would have to ensure I left by 1.45 to make sure I got home again to pick them up.  Unfortunately with my hubbys income we fall into that horrible area of earning too much to get financial help but not earning enough to pay for childcare and with a household to run and children to care for, it isnt always easier for parents.  I would actually class doing a distance learning course at home amongst the chaos and riggors of family life to be more difficult than actually going to university as you would be able to take yourself away from everything at home and leave it there until you get back. 

lol, i don;t mean going out and getting steaming, lord knows i didn;t actually get the chance to do much of that. but lectures and librarys (god i love libraries....)and what not is what i ment.

the flexability must be good though

> would actually class doing a distance learning course at home amongst the chaos and riggors of family life to be more difficult than actually going to university as you would be able to take yourself away from everything at home and leave it there until you get back

thats something i would think to actually as with having classes you have set study time that your family know of etc.

its been interesting getting the different views.

best of luck to everyone doing their courses!

warn you all though, its horrible when you finish

> lol, i don;t mean going out and getting steaming, lord knows i didn;t actually get the chance to do much of that. but lectures and librarys (god i love libraries....)and what not is what i ment.
>
> the flexability must be good though

I love being in a library too.

With the O.U. you have access to a huge online library and also have use of the university library at Milton Keynes and also the local uni library.
I spend a lot of time reading around my subjects even if it isn't strictly necessary to get a good grade, but I am a little obsessive.

Just been reading this topic and thought I would add my experiences.  My partner teaches at a traditional university but also tutors for the OU.  He intends always to do so because it is so enjoyable, the materials the university produces are excellent and, most importantly, the students he teaches are so interesting, enthusiastic and hard-working - they have to be because, as has been said, the studying has to be fitted in around 'real life'.  The course he currently teaches at undergraduate level he is always saying is pretty much equivalent to post-graduate work and the OU is now certainly extremely well thought of.  The quality of the students he teaches for the OU is generally rather better than those in the 'normal' university despite the fact many may have no previous formal qualifications.

As far as motivation for distance learning degrees, I think to benefit fully as a student it is great to attend any tutorials or day courses held if possible because they do enable you to meet other students, experience face-to-face teaching as well and get a bit of the social side of things.  I didn't do my degree through the OU but part-time during evenings while I was working full-time so a little bit different but I think you will probably find that, if you are studying a subject you are really interested in, you will actually look forward to your studies - it is something you have chosen to do rather than something expected of you - and you will not find you have too much difficulty 'getting down to it'.  When you do just do something different for a while and come back to it.  Oh and do try to stick to deadlines because, if you do get behind, it is quite hard to catch up again.

Good luck and enjoy it!!