Post graduate diploma for maths teachers UL FREE!

blueberrypie · 06-08-2014 9:20pm

Just checked online its still saying
"late applications will be accepted till quota is filled"
I'd say you will be accepted alright.

I have applied but have received nothing yet.

When were they in contact with you?

Scooby29 · 06-08-2014 10:32pm

blueberrypie wrote: »

Just checked online its still saying
"late applications will be accepted till quota is filled"
I'd say you will be accepted alright.

I have applied but have received nothing yet.

When were they in contact with you?

I received a letter today!

One of the requirements is that you

A. Have a teaching contract at the time of application and B. Have a teaching contract at the time of course start date i.e. September.

It doesnt say how long your contract has to be for!!!

RealJohn · 06-08-2014 11:46pm

I would think you should be fine. I imagine those regulations are to make sure that it's genuine teachers are applying, not people who just feel like doing a maths course or over-enthusiastic PGME (or whatever the dip is called these days) students trying to add another subject before they've even qualified.

blueberrypie · 20-08-2014 4:43pm

bump

evolving_doors · 20-08-2014 8:06pm

blueberrypie wrote: »

Just checked online its still saying
"late applications will be accepted till quota is filled"
I'd say you will be accepted alright.

I have applied but have received nothing yet.

When were they in contact with you?

If I remember correctly On the application form it says that they will wait for applicants who are waiting to sign teaching contracts... so could be another week or so!! esp if the course hasn't filled its quota yet.

ldoll · 10-09-2014 11:40pm

Hi guys,

Do any of you know if the Saturday lectures run in all venues (as opposed to just UL), and is one lecture a week definitely online?

Trying to decide if I'll be able to manage it Literally only got acceptance letter today. I started a PGSEN on Monday convinced that I hadn't been accepted to the maths, but in two minds whether to just try and do both...

Any help on answers is much appreciated!

blueberrypie · 11-09-2014 8:51am

Hi
there are no Sat lectures from now on.
It will be every Tues in your local centre and the Thursday session will be a tutorial in your centre or a recorded lecture which you can watch at home.

They are strict this year only wanting people with contracts in year 1 of course a contract in year 2 is not a requirement.

Another year they only required teachers to have contract in year 2 not year 1.

evolving_doors · 11-09-2014 11:07am

blueberrypie wrote: »

Hi
there are no Sat lectures from now on.
It will be every Tues in your local centre and the Thursday session will be a tutorial in your centre or a recorded lecture which you can watch at home.

They are strict this year only wanting people with contracts in year 1 of course a contract in year 2 is not a requirement.

Another year they only required teachers to have contract in year 2 not year 1.

are you sure about the no saturdays? I thought they said it would be a couple of saturdays after christmas? Actually, where the heck do you get a course calendar.

blueberrypie · 11-09-2014 11:14am

Sorry no Sat lectures just 5 workshops in UL before the year end I think.
We only got the bear outline last Sat of what was happening.
Isn't there a specific website being set up
for us with that info.
I cannot get into it and my ul email isn't working either. Is yours working?

evolving_doors · 11-09-2014 11:46am

blueberrypie wrote: »

Sorry no Sat lectures just 5 workshops in UL before the year end I think.
We only got the bear outline last Sat of what was happening.
Isn't there a specific website being set up
for us with that info.
I cannot get into it and my ul email isn't working either. Is yours working?

ill tidy up links later but ya the main log in screen is frozen... however... got to https://www.outlook.com/studentmail.ul.ie then yourstudentnumber@studentmail.ul.ie and yer password
loadsa junkmail in there already but you should get a mail with a link to the maths4teachers site with password... then calendar is online

saturdays ...
13dec exam
31 jan wrkshp
21 march wrkshop
25 april exam
16 may wrkshp
13 june exam

blueberrypie · 11-09-2014 5:33pm

thanks for links and dates.

clearview99 · 13-09-2014 5:51pm

blueberrypie wrote: »

Sorry no Sat lectures just 5 workshops in UL before the year end I think.
We only got the bear outline last Sat of what was happening.
Isn't there a specific website being set up
for us with that info.
I cannot get into it and my ul email isn't working either. Is yours working?

Blueberry Pie -

Any idea if they are still accepting recruits for this year? UL kind of left me hanging and I never heard a thing back from them. You see, I don't have any timetabled maths hours this year and that's what was holding me back - do you know of anyone taking the course this year who hasn't got any maths hours? Any ideas how i'd get around this?

clearview99 · 13-09-2014 5:55pm

rainbowtrout wrote: »

Of course it is. It's supposed to be degree level maths.

It always worries me that teachers are coming on here looking for short cuts to getting qualifications. The teaching council qualification requires maths to degree level, why should anyone get a qualification for not reaching that standard?

From what I've read on this forum, I suspect some teachers signed up to the course thinking it was just going to be a handy inservice type thing and wouldn't go beyond LC level maths. I think teachers who can get on this course are very lucky. Despite the problems with the delivery of the course that have been posted about here, those who have enrolled are getting a third level qualification in maths for free. I did my maths qualification through open university and I was happy to pay for it, but to meet requirements it's cost me about €4000.

Rainbowtrout - would you recommend the OU route to getting a maths qualification - i'd love to teach it at post primary - I toyed with the idea of Maths and Home Ec. (I know, funny combo!) when deciding on an undergrad course and in the end, went with the H.Ec. Now I'd love to have some sort of qualification to teach maths at PP, particularly as a lot of people have said to me about the risk of H.E. becoming obsolete in the future if schools decide to stop offering it? Any advice? I tried to get on the UL dip. but once they knew I hadn't any maths hours, they were having none of it

evolving_doors · 13-09-2014 6:01pm

clearview99 wrote: »

Blueberry Pie -

Any idea if they are still accepting recruits for this year? UL kind of left me hanging and I never heard a thing back from them. You see, I don't have any timetabled maths hours this year and that's what was holding me back - do you know of anyone taking the course this year who hasn't got any maths hours? Any ideas how i'd get around this?

Any resource hours teaching maths???? Maybe you could offer the school to be available for free for a few resource classes on some type of trade off!

evolving_doors · 13-09-2014 6:03pm

clearview99 wrote: »

Rainbowtrout - would you recommend the OU route to getting a maths qualification - i'd love to teach it at post primary - I toyed with the idea of Maths and Home Ec. (I know, funny combo!) when deciding on an undergrad course and in the end, went with the H.Ec. Now I'd love to have some sort of qualification to teach maths at PP, particularly as a lot of people have said to me about the risk of H.E. becoming obsolete in the future if schools decide to stop offering it? Any advice? I tried to get on the UL dip. but once they knew I hadn't any maths hours, they were having none of it

DIT do a part time maths degree !! It'd take a while though. Think it's 6 years to ordinary level degree which is accepted by TC. Not as expensive as the OU I;d imagine! (Sorry for butting in)

rainbowtrout · 13-09-2014 6:04pm

clearview99 wrote: »

Rainbowtrout - would you recommend the OU route to getting a maths qualification - i'd love to teach it at post primary - I toyed with the idea of Maths and Home Ec. (I know, funny combo!) when deciding on an undergrad course and in the end, went with the H.Ec. Now I'd love to have some sort of qualification to teach maths at PP, particularly as a lot of people have said to me about the risk of H.E. becoming obsolete in the future if schools decide to stop offering it? Any advice? I tried to get on the UL dip. but once they knew I hadn't any maths hours, they were having none of it

If you can afford it, then yes. I found OU very good to deal with. They are well established and well regarded. You can work at your own pace - in the respect that if you have time to take on one module this year, and two next year then you can do that once you have the money. So you will be setting your own schedule. Their Maths and Stats degree is recognised by the TC so no problems there, but you wouldn't need the whole degree to get maths recognition.

Their materials are of a high standard, they also have audio CDs for some sections of their books and I got maths software from them too. They also have forums for OU students so you can discuss problems with them, but you can't discuss assignment questions for obvious reasons. They have tutorials for each module 3-4 times per year and you have access to your tutor by email/phone.

The only thing I would say is that when you enrol for a module, you will be sent all your materials along with a calendar. You have to study things in the order laid out and assignments have fixed deadlines. So you generally need to stick to the schedule you are sent. It's completely manageable though.

clearview99 · 13-09-2014 6:13pm

rainbowtrout wrote: »

If you can afford it, then yes. I found OU very good to deal with. They are well established and well regarded. You can work at your own pace - in the respect that if you have time to take on one module this year, and two next year then you can do that once you have the money. So you will be setting your own schedule. Their Maths and Stats degree is recognised by the TC so no problems there, but you wouldn't need the whole degree to get maths recognition.

Their materials are of a high standard, they also have audio CDs for some sections of their books and I got maths software from them too. They also have forums for OU students so you can discuss problems with them, but you can't discuss assignment questions for obvious reasons. They have tutorials for each module 3-4 times per year and you have access to your tutor by email/phone.

The only thing I would say is that when you enrol for a module, you will be sent all your materials along with a calendar. You have to study things in the order laid out and assignments have fixed deadlines. So you generally need to stick to the schedule you are sent. It's completely manageable though.

Thanks for this - what modules then would I need to apply for and complete? Is it doable considering I've only got LC HL Maths to my name i.e. none what so ever from undergrad??

clearview99 · 13-09-2014 6:14pm

Armelodie wrote: »

DIT do a part time maths degree !! It'd take a while though. Think it's 6 years to ordinary level degree which is accepted by TC. Not as expensive as the OU I;d imagine! (Sorry for butting in)

Thanks Armelodoe! Any idea of the DT code for this course??

evolving_doors · 13-09-2014 7:25pm

clearview99 wrote: »

Thanks Armelodoe! Any idea of the DT code for this course??

DT248 , just knew of another teacher who did it, I think they dont run the introductory stage one level sometimes depending on all applicants experience etc.

rainbowtrout · 13-09-2014 9:09pm

clearview99 wrote: »

Thanks for this - what modules then would I need to apply for and complete? Is it doable considering I've only got LC HL Maths to my name i.e. none what so ever from undergrad??

The modules the TC look for are MST121, MS221 and M208. The first two are 30 credits each and M208 is 60 credits. OU operates slightly differently as a whole degree is 360 credits, where our degrees are 180 credits. So their credits are half the value in Ireland.

But you still end up with 60 credits of maths overall when you have the three modules complete. OU did an update on their modules in the last year or two so the module codes may have changed.

clearview99 · 13-09-2014 11:11pm

rainbowtrout wrote: »

The modules the TC look for are MST121, MS221 and M208. The first two are 30 credits each and M208 is 60 credits. OU operates slightly differently as a whole degree is 360 credits, where our degrees are 180 credits. So their credits are half the value in Ireland.

But you still end up with 60 credits of maths overall when you have the three modules complete. OU did an update on their modules in the last year or two so the module codes may have changed.

Thanks for that - I must ring the TC next week and check with them (if I can get talking to someone!) - Thanks again!

blueberrypie · 14-09-2014 1:06pm

clearview99 wrote: »

Blueberry Pie -

Any idea if they are still accepting recruits for this year? UL kind of left me hanging and I never heard a thing back from them. You see, I don't have any timetabled maths hours this year and that's what was holding me back - do you know of anyone taking the course this year who hasn't got any maths hours? Any ideas how i'd get around this?

There was/is a grace period of another 2 weeks when I asked Fiona Faulker as I asked on behalf of another staff member, that was two weeks ago. Lectures starting Tuesday so ring UL ask for Fiona Faulker/Prof John O Donoghue and email or fax on the contract straight away if you have maths hours.
Its the Dept who are clamping down on teachers applying who do not have any maths hours in their contract not UL.
To clarify an earlier point I made on the thread with teachers doing the course with no maths hours, they are teachers who would have had hours in year 1, got enrolled on the course and in year 2 they had no hours but were allowed continue on, in the course.

Beaulieu · 06-12-2014 1:36pm

Anyone out there doing the exams next week? Its tough going...

blueberrypie · 06-12-2014 2:51pm

ya exams next wewk.
It is a really tough and timeconsuming course.
Please god we all pass these 2 exams.
For me the mb5021 will be more difficult to pass than mb5022. How about you?

evolving_doors · 06-12-2014 4:24pm

blueberrypie wrote: »

ya exams next wewk.
It is a really tough and timeconsuming course.
Please god we all pass these 2 exams.
For me the mb5021 will be more difficult to pass than mb5022. How about you?

I'd say don't put all your eggs in the graph sketching question for the 2nd exam, from looking at the previous papers the values given to work with are crazy going so you could spend ages doing it. Maybe just write down what to do and skip to the next question then come back to it. Maybe this is to encourage folk to look at all the topics on the paper rather than depending on 1 and gaming the system with good results from assignments.

If one of the questions is on sequences and series then that's just the last video lecture to practice!

Beaulieu · 14-12-2014 5:34pm

Well fellow boardies..thoughts on yesterday MB5021 & MB5022?:(:(:(

All I need to do now is check to see when the repeats are on....:o:o:o

blueberrypie · 14-12-2014 8:59pm

Exams yesterday were really difficult.
If I couldn't pass yesterday I'm won't be able to pass the repeats so I will probably leave the course.
I felt the 1st paper was going to be tough and it was.i was at least hoping to pass the 2nd paper based on previous papers but he threw in a few things and left out a few of the old reliables so I was/am screwed.
Has anyone any other views?

TheBody · 14-12-2014 9:00pm

Can somebody upload a pic of the paper? I'm not doing the course but am interested to see the kind of questions on the paper.

evolving_doors · 14-12-2014 9:32pm

I thought paper 2 was grand..... if you had 3 days to do it! Questions weren't as bad as some of the curveballs in the tutorials, still ran out of time so got about 50% of exam finished well and the rest was sketch a few diagrams and throw down random numbers.
Was it just me or did the realworld questions in q2 & 3 just go on forever!
Anyhow... hang in folks.. algebra next... just rearranging a bunch of x's and y's!

Now I remember what it feels like to be a student in class.

mrboswell · 14-12-2014 10:58pm

Wow - 2nd paper was was V tough.
If I somehow pass that I'll be straight out to buy a lotto ticket.

I suspect there will be a lot of people repeating (or is that just me feeling sorry for myself?!?)
some people I know on the course that are very good a the material said it was tough AND they didn't have time to finish…

Post graduate diploma for maths teachers UL FREE!

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