The exam

This exam is in 2 parts:

• Part 1 is 16 questions about the whole course work, the set book, the standard and also some technical background paper you can download as part of the course resources on the web site.
  This part is worth 40% of the mark. Nothing traitorous, just the course.
• Question 17 is actually Part 2. It is worth 60% of the total mark.
  The principle seems simple: You choose a theme, you find 2 or 3 peer reviewed papers on the theme. On the day of the exam, without notes, you have to be able to give the references of the papers, explain why you chose this theme and how they are relevant. You need to be able to summarise them, compare, criticise them, etc. This was pretty scary at the start.
  I would advise to refer to the exam preparation booklet for more details.

A few tips to prepare for it.

• My first tip is not revolutionary, you have to work all year.
• Second: There is a revision week-end, attend it!
  I know it costs around £250 but the one I attended was worth every penny especially when we reached the subject of Part 2 of the exam.
• Use the OU library to find the papers.

My recipe for part 2

I quickly decided that 3 papers was too ambitious, too much to remember and too long for the exam. It proved right for me as I finished just 5 minutes before the 3 hours allocated.

I chose 2 papers presented at the same conference this made the comparison easier. I will update this article after I have received my results to see if it was OK.

I summarised both papers using mind maps (A thank you to Adrian who introduced me to a free mind map app called freemind). I built my summaries from the top level items of the mind map. I kept those maps handy all along my study.

I did  more research on the subject, I found further papers which I kept as references. I find remembering these references very difficult.

When I felt ready, I answered part 2 at home and timed it. I was quite lucky as my timing was not too bad at my first attempt. For this attempt, I had all my notes and mind maps.

I kept reading my papers again and again and tried to get more background.

I recorded my first attempt at part 2 and loaded it on my Ipod so I could listen to it at will (I used Audacity, a free, open source software for recording and editing sounds). Apart from discovering how strong my French accent is, it worked well to memorise it.

Last week-end, I had a second go at part 2, without my notes this time. This second attempt did not give exactly the first text as the first attempt but it was a pleasing result.

At this point I stopped. I sometimes had a quick look at my mindmaps to remember some details of the papers.

This morning about three hours before the exam, I realised that I could read most of my Part 2 in my mind! Miracle or work?

Exam Part 1

For this I relied on my notes during the revision week-end, the sample questions in the exam prep booklet and a set of questions given to us at the revision week-end. Don’t count on previous exam papers, the course team has decided not to release them! I guess there are only a few ways to ask you what you think of confidentiality, integrity and availability!

I produced a high level mind map of ISO27002 to force me to read it.

Following this there was only one 2 marks question I could not takle.

In summary

Writing to my blog I realised that that the exam prep was quite an effort.

Perhaps the best tip: Look at the exam prep document early in the course and try to find a relevant subject. That will give you more time and flexibility.

I hope this will be of any use.

I will sleep well tonight.

Ciao

The course is dedicated to the Standard ISO27X (ISO27001 and ISO27002).

I have to admit that I found this fairly relevant to the real world. It probably was the only way to force myself to read and understand these standards without falling asleep.

Apart from a few annoyances, for example the exam which is some kind hybrid between an exam and a project, I can say that I enjoyed it and I will make good use of it. I will talk about this for longer tonight as I am preparing for the exam and I’d better be reading some course material.

I will develop my reflections on the course and ISO27X in later posts.

Ciao.

Anyway, who cares about submarines?

“Oh my god, I cannot believe you’re giving me this ugly statue! I came to this ceremony but, I swear, I did not want to win. Let me thank a few people: Mum, Dad, My cousin Vito who lives in the south of Italy, the producer, the guy who wrote the book, the girl who read it, the guy who will read it, my butcher, this girl at the local fast-food who dropped my burger on the floor, all these people without whom it would not have been possible for me to receive this ugly statue tonight. Thank you, thank you!”.

Pathetic! I really miss Terry Wogan sarcastic comments in these moments!
As we are on the subject, let’s talk about The Eurovision Song Contest.

Do you know what France and England have in common (apart from winning the football world cup once every 300 years)? They always end up at the bottom of the list! You already new this but this year is the year they will both win:

In England, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber decided to rescue the country and make sure that England wins. The public voted for the singer, Jade. She is excellent. We are missing one small point. Let me spell it: THE ENGLISH PEOPLE CANNOT VOTE FOR THE ENGLISH SINGER DURING THE COMPETITION!
Is this sentence written big enough? Unless there is a plot by the British secret agencies to rig the voting system, I don’t see how this can work. Unless our Prime Minister promises Billions of Pounds to the east European voters… Mind you, he will have to hurry up as the exchange rate may drop a bit further when he starts printing money.
In France, another strategy was adopted, they are represented by Patricia Kaas. You don’t know her, I know that you don’t know her. She has been singing for more than twenty years. Have a look at Wikipedia on her page.

Here is an extract from this article about her 2008- tour:

“To support her new album, Kaas is going to have new solo performances in France, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Finland, Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and other countries.” .
Not bad an idea! So this time, perhaps, no “Null Point” but will it guaranty a victory? When one thinks that, this year, the competition is run in Russia, I cannot see Estonia voting for anyone than them. Perhaps the dispute about the gaz between Russia and Ukraine was solved when Ukraine promised to vote for the singer representing Russia!

Anyway, who cares about the Eurovision Song Contest?