Upon completing my last paper for the semester, I felt that the world on my shoulder is finally gone. This is by far the craziest semester ever. Now, I shall share my experience of the modules that I have taken this semester.
- EC2374 <Economy of Modern China I>
Professor(s): Prof Hu Guangzhou, Albert
Unrestricted Elective/ Major Requirement
Workload: Class participation(10%), Case summary(20%), Debate(30%), Finals (40%)
Course material: Harvard Case studies (you will be required to purchase this online) and lecture notes (uploaded on IVLE)
What I like about this module: The application of economic knowledge on China’s economy, the evolution of the Chinese economy from 1978 onwards.
What I dislike about this module: Case summary and weekly debates. Very difficult finals.
Advice/Recommendation: For me, this module was supposed to fulfil requirements for my second major, which is economics. I will recommend this module if you already have good knowledge about China economy and how economical policies work. Apparently, due to the nature of this module, the group projects that you will be undertaking will help you in resume writing!! (This is especially true if you have no CCAs in NUS) However, if you feel that you are going to be bombarded by deadlines during the semester, then I feel that its is better for you not to take this module.
Grade: B
2. PC1326/GEK1521/ GET1013 <Physics in the life sciences>
Professor: Dr Wang Haifeng, Tutor: Mr Tan Meng Ho
Faculty requirement
Workload: Tutorial attendance (5%), 2 term tests (30% each), Term paper (35%)
What I like about this module: Get to learn about the application of physics in our daily lives as well as the anatomy of living organisms. Gives us an opportunity to learn physics, biology and chemistry in one module. The prof and the tutor are very approachable.
What I dislike about this module: Very steep bell curve. Too much content for one semester.
Advice/Recommendation: Honestly speaking, this module can pull up your CAP if your H2 physics was good. Content wise, there are too many topics covered over a span of 13 weeks!! To be exact, there are a total of 22 topics and for each topic, there are 2 subtopics. The 1st subtopic covers the physics theory and the 2nd subtopic cover the application of the physics theory in biology. Each lecture, the lecturer will cover one topic and these topics are likely to have no relation with each other. The upside of this module is that the topics tested for term test 1 and term test 2 are different. I.e. Term test 1 will cover topics taught before the midterms and term test 2 will cover topics taught after the midterms. However, the downside is that you only have a few weeks to master 11 topics before the term tests!! This is especially true for term test 2, when you have to study quantum physics. The worst thing is that the topics covered in this module seem to be more in depth than that of the H2 topics.
The term tests consist of 30 MCQ questions and you have 1.5 hours to complete. Seem like an overly easy tasks, eh? But let me warn you… for each wrong answer, 0.25 points will be deducted. So make full use of your time and make sure that no marks are penalized due to careless mistake.
If you have a strong foundation in physics, there is no need to worry about catching up with the syllabus. For those with no physics background (i.e. no H2 physics), please don’t even try. For those with H2 physics, you must consider whether you were struggling with physics back in JC.
Grade: B
3. MA2101 <Linear Algebra II>
Professor: Zhang DQ
Major Requirement
Workload: Midterm (25%), Tutorial Participation (5%), Homework Assignments (10%), Finals (60%)
What I like about this module: –
What I dislike about this module: Almost everything. From the difficult assignment questions to the difficult finals.
Advice/ Recommendation: Unless this is a requirement for you major/minor/whatsoever, please don’t take this module especially under certain profs… Not saying that prof ZDQ is bad, he actually goes through certain exercises in his lecture notes. The things he goes through are useful. However, when the tests comes, you will find yourself in the dark abyss. Actually, that feeling will come when you are studying for the module… Go search for MA2101 on google, you will find this module is manageable if it is taught by certain profs. But prof ZDQ is not one of them. His questions are very abstract and only the smarter ones can survive. His accent and handwriting poses another problem as well… So I shall stop here and not comment too much.
(HINT: Check the prof teaching this module.)
Grade: B- (Damn it!!)
4. MA2108 <Mathematical Analysis I>
Professor: Han Fei
Major Requirement
Workload: Assignments (10%), Attendance (5%), Midterm, Finals (I can’t really remember the weightage…)
What I like about this module: Clear explanation from the prof, Example of how the theorems are shown in the lecture notes and tutorials.
What I dislike about this module: No webcast.
Advice/ recommendation: I would highly recommend you to take this module under Han Fei. If you have a strong interest in Math after taking MA1102R, or any other mathematical modules that teaches proving techniques, this is a really good module. Make sure you master the tutorial questions and past year paper questions before going for midterms/finals. Be warned that this module, like MA2101, requires vigorous proving and have minimal computational questions.
Grade: A- 🙂 🙂 🙂
5. MA2202 <Algebra I>
Professor: Loke Hung Yean
Major requirement
Workload: Assignments (10%), Class participation (5%), Blog participation (5%), Midterms (25%), Finals (55%)
What I like about this module: Clear explanations from prof.
What I dislike about this module: –
Advice/ Recommendation: Before I comment on this module, I must say that pure math majors should try doing a module under prof Loke. He is really very clear in his explanations and explains fundamental concepts very well. This really made up for the crappy things that we have went through during MA1100. He had taught us how to proof, which is important for future modules that we will be taking. The content of this module is really tough but he had always made it simpler for us to understand. Make sure you understand all the theorems and propositions well in order to do well for this module.
Grade: B+
This semester is the worst so far… with many deadlines and assignment due dates, I am glad that I have survived this ordeal alive!!
Merry Christmas and a happy new year!!
19tots 