HWU MSc RED Week Notes - Week 1

Last week was a whirlwind. This week (beginning Sunday 11 September 2022) has seen me begin to establish some routine, some boundaries, and some realistic short- and medium-term goals. This is still very much a work in progress, so I may say more about that in future weeks. So far, and it's very early days, getting a balance between my paid employment and my studies has not been too bad (at least from my point of view - I hope others at work and on campus broadly agree!), and I have felt I have done justice to both, throughout the week, with few if any compromises required. 

On Monday, I finally worked out which courses to take this year (being part time, I am required to choose 2 of the 4 courses available, leaving 2 for next academic year). I am very happy with the advice I got on this, as the recommendation was to take the 2 courses which I happen to be most excited about, and interested in: A11ER Economics of Renewable Energy (PDF), and A11TZTransition Engineering – Achieving Zero Carbon InTIME (this article is from before Prof Krumdieck moved to Heriot-Watt in Orkney, to set up a new transition engineering research unit).

The first Transition Engineering tutorial was on Tuesday morning. We "on-campus" students didn't realise that the intention was for us to attend this online, via Teams. In fact, at one stage the main lecturer for the course was in one room in Stromness, along with me, arriving late. In another room at ICIT were all the other MSc students registered on the course, and the two PhD-student teaching assistants were joining the teams call from yet another room at ICIT. There were also a good number of "online only" students, which was good to see! Lots of basic information was shared- including that I can attend that tutorial online in future weeks, which means I don't have to go to Stromness on a Tuesday. (I already knew that I normally don't need to be on campus on Mondays and Fridays, as I have no teaching time scheduled on those days.) It was also great to meet some of the so-far-mythical online students!

The economics course kicked off on Thursday - 2 back to back lectures, on the basics of economics (supply, demand, price, "ideal" markets - free and command, effects of regulation, elasticity (or not) of demand, and much more), over 3 hours in the middle of the day. It sounds like it might have been hard work, and a bit dry; but Dr Sandy Kerr really did make it interesting, and engaging - even with a group of students (in the room, and attending online) with massively different levels of prior knowledge about economics. (For myself, I was relieved that the knowledge Sandy assumed was almost zero!) 

As well as being engaged in the content, I was in my element as (due to a slight technical hiccup), I was monitoring the chat from online participants and voicing their questions and comments in the room. Another welcome chance to get to know the online-only students a bit better, and to make sure that we all regard ourselves (as far as pracicalbe) as having the same access to the teaching and other resources, whether we are based on-campus in Edinburgh or Orkney, or are attending entirely online. 

The view from the Robert Rendall Building, during the break betwen lectures

Thursday was also the day I was confident enough to buy an Orkney Flexi5 Student ticket for the bus - in the morning, on the way out west, I was relying on a printed "letter of confirmation" to prove I am a student.As it turned out, the ever-helpful Claire on campus in Stromness handed me my newly-minted student card later in the day. Neither bus driver asked to see student ID, but I felt like I was playing by the rules!  At just under £5 per day (and I will need at least 2 per week), that is quite a good discount off the standard adult day return, which costs £6.85.

Friday (like most of my time from Monday to Thursday, despite what I have focused these notes on) was spent making very pleasing progress on projects at work (my day job is Digital Transformation Officer in the Improvement and Performance team at Orkney Islands Council). If anything, the opportunity to work a bit flexibly, and to be engaged in study once again, has motivated me to work at least as hard (and as long) as previously: the activities I seem to naturally cut back on are watching mindless TV, doom-scrolling on twitter and facebook, and wandering aimlessly around the streets of Kirkwall. I don't think my life will be any the worse, or any more stressful, for cutting down on those things! 

There is still a bit of work to be done to formalise how and when I do the work for my day-job, and how I record that. But all early signs from management are that sufficient flexibility will be available to ensure that I do not become overwhelmed, and that I do not needlessly cut down the hours I work (and get paid for!). It's still hard to say exactly how that will pan out, as there has been little assigned private study this week, but I am absolutely confident it will work our very soon (in days or a couple of weeks!).