A difficult TMA

I've just submitted my second assignment for Managing Systemic Change ...   It was hard - much more difficult than expected - but what made it so difficult?  Apart from my preference for expressing myself verbally rather than in writing?

The assignment presented the usual challenges of writing succinctly to meet a word target; of synthesising a volume of material to construct a response to the exam question.  This is something I have experience in - both in academia and in work.

Upon reflection some of the reasons I think it was so difficult this time:

• I was uncomfortable with the language used in some of the questions (eg I was asked for 'arguments' where I wanted to provide 'reasons' or 'pros & cons')
• The sheer volume of new material and nuanced concepts made it challenging to know if I was using them in the correct way or had missed the mark completely
• The concepts in the module are nebulous and difficult to grasp - they are not definite or obvious - which makes it (for me) more difficult to explain to others.  I believe I understand what it means but I can't explain it easily to others.  I asked my husband to proofread my assignment. He did (thanks!) but did ask if managing to read it all the way to the end meant he could get a postgraduate qualification too 😁

Nothing I can do about it now though - just wait for my tutor's feedback! 

Onwards to Part 3