Annnnnnd... Another semester is over. I have officially completed the first
year in my uni life. This semester was definitely more interesting than last
semester due to my choice of modules. So here's the review which I did up in 15
mins. Hope it isn't too shabby. Well, the language is shabby. But whatever.
CS1010S: Programming Methodology
Lecturer: Leong Wai Kay
Compulsory module for Stats majors. No previous knowledge of programming
needed. The module teaches Python programming, plus, NO BELL CURVE.
The homework was done over an online platform called Coursemology. So
apparently there are missions, side quests, contests, trainings. And you get
exp from completing them, which allows you to level up (sounds totally like a
game, yeah?) Your final level on Coursemology determines your CA component. I’m
pretty sure the game-style learning was the thing that motivated me to do the
homework. But it was fun to do all those questions actually. Sure, the
questions were hard, some super hard. But that sense of satisfaction when you
finally managed to solve them? Priceless.
There’s a weekly lecture, as well as recitation (they go through the
lecture stuff again) and tutorial (go for them to get participation exp). The
tutors were mostly undergraduates. Since we’re all students, I felt more
comfortable talking to them. Tutorials were like gatherings instead of a
lesson. It depends on who you get as your tutor though. My friend apparently
got a lousy tutor who was unresponsive outside lessons.
That aside, the workload for this module is super high. I mean it,
seriously. The problem with programming is that if you know the answer, you can
do it in 3 minutes. But if you don’t know, you can just stare at your computer
for 3 hours and still make no progress. That was apparently what most of the
tutors said during the first lecture. In fact, I spend more than half my homework
time just doing this module. I had no time to do other modules! So I would
advise potential students to balance it out by taking other modules with lower
workloads.
ST2131/MA2216: Probability
Lecturer: Ho Man Wai
Probability is no longer just about permutations and combinations and
whatever you have learnt in A-levels. Apparently, there's way more stuff to
learn for a module with a deceivingly simple name.
Some people claim this is the hardest module in NUS. Well, I’m not sure
about that but I guess they are close. The first 3 chapters were basically
topics learnt already in H2 Maths, so I kind of skipped lectures and didn’t
watch the webcasts. I guessed that was a bad move as it dragged on to the later
chapters too, I did not understand how to do the tutorials. So I worked harder
(when I wasn’t doing programming) and I read the textbook (the textbook is
good), which helped me to understand much better than the lecture. Not that the
lecturer is bad, I just can’t concentrate when he’s teaching.
I was really awesome at probability in JC, my friends used to approach me
to solve problems, and I solved all of them. :D But I guessed that caused me to
be complacent and assume that I can just skip past the first half of this
module. Sigh. So my advice, please go for all the lectures and practice doing
the problems. Oh, and buy the textbook too, there are tons of exercises inside.
PC1143: Physics III
Lecturer: Kenneth Hong Chong Ming
So... I realised that doing well and getting an A for A-level Physics is of
no use at all for uni physics. This module covers electricity and magnetism, a
core module for physics majors. I found it really interesting that people who
ask me about taking this module all have the same responses. Basically the
conversation will go something like this:
Person: ‘So what major are you?’
Me: ‘Stats major’
Person: ‘Whoa! Then why did you take this module?’
Me: ‘Faculty requirement?’
Person: ‘You took the wrong module… This module damn hard!’
Me: ‘I know. Everyone says that. Stop reminding me OMG!!!’
Yeah, so I guessed I made the wrong choice? Less than 10% of the people
taking this were non-Physics majors. There was a lot of integration to do. And
sadly, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but integration is a piece of cake as
compared to the other parts of the module. I’m referring to solving the
integral, not coming up with it.
We also had lecture quizzes where I had to use those clickers (Hi clickers!
We meet again!), and tutorials were once every fortnight. The tutorial
questions are crazy, apparently you are supposed to spend 3-4 hours on 1
question?! Even the physics majors cannot solve them. And we had online
assignments on Masteringphysics, where I relived the horror of submitting
answers online, sometimes I obviously got the answer correct but apparently the
system wants the answer to be presented in another form… There are also 5 lab
experiments and you have to hand in a lab report after each lab session. That is
actually the easiest part, since the reports just require you to be tedious and
spend some time on them. I usually just dedicate 1 afternoon to them.
GEK1062: Bridging East and West: Exploring Chinese Communication
Lecturer: Guest lecturers
I totally did not waste my bidding points on this module. Don’t be fooled
by the scary-sounding module name!
So basically, every week you just read the reading provided. Then you attend
the lecture and listen to the experts talk. Some of them are really prominent
in their field. At the end of the lecture, you write a reflection and hand it
in. Those reflections make up 50% of your final grade. Every fortnight there
are tutorials which are just group presentations. But the tutorials are really
slack. Eg. For the first tutorial, we just had to collect info of our parents’
and grandparents’ name in English and Chinese, then present on the trends found
from the group members. Easy peasy.
You have to remember your Chinese though. Some of the guest lecturers
talked in Chinese. So I was kind of surprised when I saw foreigners taking the
module(in the end, they got people to buddy the foreigners and be their
translators). So just remember your basic Chinese from school and you are all
set to take this! I actually have nothing to write about this module other than
it’s slack, so so slack.
SSA1201: Singapore Society
Lecturer: Rose Liang Yee Hing
I have no idea what to write for this. Basically, I would rename this
module as Sociology of Singapore. And I still have no idea what sociology is.
The most important part of this review: if you see this lecturer, do NOT
take this module. I don’t even know how I survived through her lectures. I
dozed off a lot of times, and I had to bring in food everytime so I had
something to keep me awake. The lecturer is horrible at explaining (proof: she
cannot even explain the essay question for the midterms properly. In the end,
our tutor had to step in to explain) and I don’t even know how she qualifies as
a lecturer.
Tutorials are once a fortnight. I noticed that FASS modules seem to have
less lesson hours as compared to FoS modules. Basically, just read the readings
and turn up at the tutorials for the participation mark. I felt like I learned
nothing from this module anyway. Ok, maybe a little from the tutorials. Oh my
gosh, I just realised I DID learn everything from the tutorials. I don’t
remember the lectures at all! Anyway, I ended up writing every essay like an
A-level GP essay since I didn’t understand what sociology is. Lesson learnt:
check which faculty is teaching the module before taking it. Oh, and also the
lecturer too. Gotta remind myself not to make the same mistake.
