Foundation Degree Arb at Myerscough- Prep!

[chris cnc]

hi guys and gals

 

i am currently (as of today) in the application process for a place on the distance learning foundation degree held by Myerscough college.

 

I have previously completed the national diploma in arboriculture so have some appropriate background knowledge, as well as experience.

 

the course does not start until September 2011- i know what your thinking, im a bit keen, but im well up for it so thought id get stuck in early.

 

so as you can see i have almost a year to go before the course starts (assuming i get a place). i want to use this time wisely, so i would like to know:

 

to those of you who have previously taken part in this course, are there any books which you feel that you couldn't have lived without? any publications/ journals, that sort of thing? which were the most used books in your library?

 

i feel that doing a bit of reading in the next year will not only give me a taster/ head start on the degree workload, but it will also get my head back in the "academic" zone, thus avoiding the first couple of weeks of a new course where you have to re-learn how to read!

 

any books/ resources you could recommend to me would be much appreciated!

 

chris

[armchairarborist]

anything on soil science, plant cells and tree/fung ident, as well as sufficient funds for the course and approx 3hrs per module per week for research/assignments, my heads hurting now..thats why i'm on a gap year to save funds and braincells. Ed.

[chris cnc]

haha thanks for the reply! did you enjoy the first year though?

[RobArb]

i have just started my first year and not finding it too bad at all, best thing you could do is start reading up on soil science, plant biology/anatomy, basic gcse chemistry and biology and jot up on all things arboriculture (principles and practices). There are a lot of journals available through athens but you only get them once the course has started. Books wise there is so much reading out there its hard to pinpoint it down to a few that would do you any good this far in advance... Research the above subjects through google books or amazon, there IS plenty out there

 

Good luck to you on your quest, i know i am enjoying mine:thumbup:

[armchairarborist]

yes and the second year also, then found out i had two more years to do to get the foundation degree not the three yr course i was promised:thumbdown:, thats approx £1000 more than i expected, as well as the day off a week and low wage from a short week on the tools, i was attending campus 1day per week because i'm computer illiterate, i'm really enjoying this year off so far and my heads not hurting at all.

[RobArb]

what? the foundation isn't three years? I've got the full course prospectus and it lasts 3 years according to it? What happened with you?

[armchairarborist]

what? the foundation isn't three years? I've got the full course prospectus and it lasts 3 years according to it? What happened with you?

 

lack of space so they put me on the foundation cert in plant studies with a top up year to full foundation cert, or something like that..

[chris cnc]

good info guys cheers, sounds like plant biology is the way to go for now, as well as general arb principles.

[Gnarlyoak]

For the first year of the course you may find this book invaluable: Biology. By Campbell, Reece & Mitchell. It will cover all your bases on plant biology, and I think it is on the recommended reading list.

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

Im not even close to having the patience nor discipline to carry on with mine, nor the resources, good luck chris.