#module review

I love printed gaming materials. I adore published modules that have a distinct old-school look. If I see such modules being offered, I generally purchase them, for my own collection and to support small publishers. They usually don't cost too much.

Modules with witches, fae, conspiracies and/or cults are another selling point for me.

Case in point: I purchased each of the V series modules by BRW games before they were published in print, so I got each as a PDF with the printed book to be sent later when completed. The stories revolve around different covens of witches, existing in secret(naturally) and warring among themselves.

Take the incredibly small hamlet of Volage. At least one coven exists here, most of them living normal, public lives, while members of other covens either live within, or visit frequently, to keep tabs, act as spies and everything you'd expect of such a scenario.

As I'm running this module for a system that we're play testing for publication by Penny Thought Exchange, and this happens to be an anthro based system based loosely on our Steal This Game! public domain engine, I ran the module as "The Hamlet of Vole Lodge: The Haunting of Pell House." None of these kinds of changes affected the module's play too much. Since characters are animal based, they do have access to abilities that run of the mill PCs in other games might not, but we try to balance these abilities as a part of character creation. Also, the NPCs, including the baddies, get these also, so it levels out. Otherwise, it's largely cosmetic, as NPCs are assigned an animal type and fitting description.

Because the module has so many NPCs and information on the town, I printed these out and affixed them to standard paper sized cardboard for quick reference. It also made it easier to track my own additions, such as what animal types the various NPCs are.

All that said to prepare for the review proper, I have to give one last bit of insight. I was running for a very small group, and certain among them are known to get frustrated quickly if leads and clues aren't given to them easily or frequently enough. Thus, I'm not sure in certain places where the problem may lay with the module or with the sensibilities of certain individuals, though in at least one case the problem is certainly the module's, as I will describe as we continue.

Within a day or so in the hamlet, there was already grumbling that nothing was turning up of any real interest. Most of the supernatural occurences, as the PCs felt, were rather mundane, unprovable, or non sequitur to their investigations. Blankets getting bedbugs and such seemed normal enough. Sheep being attacked by wolves and then vanishing is a bit odd, but not enough to jump to suspicions of witchcraft, and seemingly not enough to investigate at any rate. The module itself didn't suggest or describe any methods of doing so or anything learned if PCs did, but it wasn't relevant since they were disinterested in doing so. Every cat being found dead was more mystifying but another case of "what are we supposed to do about it?" People getting sick, people falling off ladders, all seemed like a typical string of unfortunate but not distinctly magical occurances.

They decided to spend the night in the cemetery, where only one random event took place, a weird fog or mist which I tried to play up as much as I could. When all was said and done, however, it was more of the same: "Weird, but nothing we can learn anything from and seemingly unrelated."

The group decided that after another day or so if they didn't come across something of more interest they were going to bail. I still had two more modules and they were ready to quit before getting more than a day into the first. I ended up throwing in a clue not in the module to keep them in, though I regretted throwing bones like that simply because the PCs became disinterested. Still, I really wanted to continue the module, so I did so. To some degree, two of them, but the details of those aren't very important.

They decided to keep an eye on some of the young ones of the hamlet who had been rumored to run off into the woods some nights, and follow them.

Around this time, I decided to look into the next module. It shouldn't be necessary. Each were published at different times, and are supposed to be playable independently. Yet the second module gives details of great importance: the way the Pell family is butchered. V1 simply says they were killed violently. The second reveals that the attack has the hallmarks of an animal attack, yet they got into the house at night, somehow, and left without being seen. Now that gives some serious indication of some supernatural going's on. Too bad V1 decided we didn't need to know!

After telling the players about this new info, they became much more convinced of supernatural tomfoolery, but still felt about the same as they did - follow the young ones next time they run off, if that doesn't lead to anything, we leave.

I don't believe the module tells you what night the young witches go to their esbat, but an NPC suggested the night of the new moon, so the PCs kept special notice that night. One of the bones I threw in to keep the adventure going.

In the end, they got noticed while trailing the girls, but the witches pretended not to notice. They completed their esbat, getting new familiars and other boons before revealing their awareness of the PCs.

The battle didn't last long. The PCs got destroyed. However, it was a small group, and my suggestions of getting retainers and mercenaries to boost their numbers fell on deaf ears. I do not fault the module for their loss whatsoever.

At the moment, I'm running my own revision of an old adventure I wrote(I shared a little taster of it a bit ago), but afterwards, I hope to jump to V2 and see how that one goes. If it works out well, on to V3, or perhaps my sequel idea to the module I'm rewriting now, and then V3. If V2 goes poorly, I suspect I will abandon the series and leave them to look pretty on my shelf.

If you like OSR adventure modules, despite my less than stellar success, you can't go too wrong for a $4 PDF. https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/373537/Adventure-Module-V1--The-Hamlet-of-Volage

Note: I took these modules in AY22/23, there is a chance that things have since changed.

(Ctrl+F to skip to the mods you’re looking for :-D)

HS1001 Person and Society

Course Type: Major Core, 3AU Course Coordinator/ lecturer: Associate Professor Shirly Sun When I took it: Y1S1, AY2022-2023 Assessment structure:

Class participation - 10%

Group in-tutorial presentation - 20%

Term paper - 30% (Due: Week 13)

Finals (essay-based) - 40%

TL;DR:

Not hard, not easy. Attending lectures is important. Readings can be overwhelming, don't waste too much time on the longer, traditional texts; skim those readings for key concepts and useful case studies which will come in handy for finals. For the presentations, be concise. For the term paper, do A LOT of research and planning.

What is this mod about?

This module is an introduction to Sociology. Accordingly, it goes through Sociology’s basic concepts, the major schools of thought/ theories in the field, and some of the major social phenomena that shape our lives today.

Overall,

This module is relatively manageable and really quite interesting. The main concepts across the mod are not hard to grasp. This is mainly because the module's textbook, The Practical Skeptic (McIntyre, Lisa. 2020) is very accessible for people with no background knowledge.

Attending lectures is important:

They go through useful concepts that are not really covered elsewhere in the course and the lecture slides alone are not sufficient to fully understand what was taught in lecture.

There were a number of documentary screenings during lectures over the sem. Info from the documentaries will be useful for finals, attending lectures will let you know which parts of the documentaries you need to pay attention to.

Prof Shirly is very kind.

Tutorials and tutorial presentations:

Courtesy of the wonderful graduate TA that helmed tutorials when I took this mod (Ms. Raksha Kirpal Mahtani), tutorials were, at once, productive and low-pressure.

Tutorial presentations: Most sociology mods seem to have a tutorial presentation component. At the beginning of the semester, students will be assigned to a particular week and they would then have to prepare a presentation (and usually facilitate discussion for) the week’s readings. Here, being concise is key, do not be afraid to cut out large parts of the readings for your presentation.

Though, the readings outside the textbook can be overwhelming:

There are a few readings from the ~19th Century that can be tricky to navigate (vis-à-vis old fashioned academic language). These are classic works in sociology by the field's founding fathers (Marx, Weber, Durkheim). But, fret not, the concepts covered in these readings are also covered in the textbook in a more digestible form. So, do not make the mistake of spending too much time deciphering these classic readings.

And there are a few other quite lengthy, info-overload papers. Be selective in identifying which parts to pay attention to and which parts to skim over.

Term paper:

Involved writing about a social issue of your choice that fell into one of 3 broad categories (racial profiling, gender discrimination or class inequality).

This will probably be one of sociology students' first experiences with academic writing. Don't be too intimidated, the syllabus lays out a clear structure to follow in writing this paper.

I intend on writing a more comprehensive guide to academic writing but for now, to do well for this essay, I suggest you do a lot of research on your chosen issue and the sociological concepts you intend on using in the paper (and make a plan before you start writing!).

Finals (essay-based):

Even though the content was relatively easy to understand, there was a lot of it.

Understanding the broad concepts and processes in the mod is, of course, the most important thing to do.

Secondary to that is cherry picking case studies/examples from the readings to supplement your answers.

HS1002 Singapore Society in Transition

Course Type: Major Prescribed Elective (compulsory), 3AU Course Coordinator, Lecturer: Assistant Prof Ye Junjia When I took it: Y1S1, AY2022-2023 Assessment structure:

Class participation - 15%

Group in-tutorial presentation - 15%

Term paper - 30% (Due: Week 7)

Finals (essay-based) - 40%

TL;DR: Again,  not hard, not easy and attending lectures is important. For tutorial presentations, focus on facilitating discussion rather than summarising content. Don’t be intimidated by the term paper, as long as you nail the basic elements of a paper, you can do well. For finals, keep in mind the main theme of the course ‘transition’

What is this mod about?

This mod is a sociological overview of Singapore: its history, how it is today, and how it might be in the future. Specifically, the mod explores how SG has been governed and how that has shaped its society. Some topics include: gender & family; race & ethnicity; public space; civil society; migration.

Once again, attending lectures is important:

I found that lectures went through the core, most important ideas which were supplemented by the readings. Lecture content gives you the necessary framework to understand the readings and clues you in as to which parts of the readings are most important

Also, the lecture slides are pretty bare bones. They won’t be too useful to you if you don’t attend the lecture.

Readings:

Compared to HS1001, I found that HS1002 had a heavier reading load. Though, most of them are easy enough to grasp.

Again, readings will provide you with a lot of supplemental information; do not attempt to memorise everything, pick out several key examples when studying for finals.

Some readings will introduce other concepts that weren’t really covered in lectures. In my experience, I don’t think that these are too important, I think that you can do well in finals without them. Instead, use the readings to build on the core ideas from lectures.

Tutorials and tutorial presentations:

Tutorials revolved around student presentations. In my tutorial group, we didn’t do anything other than listen to student presentations and engage with their discussion questions

Prof Jia emphasised that the presentations should mainly be about on facilitating discussion (as opposed to being a regurgitation of the readings by students). However, it played out very differently in my tutorial group. The presentations essentially became ~30 min lectures with some breaks for discussion questions. I think what happened was: early presenters focused on regurgitating content and everybody else was subsequently pressured into doing the same. As a result, the presentation became a rather demanding. 

That said, I think that essentialising your presentation’s content and focusing on facilitating discussion (via discussion questions, debates, Kahoot, etc) is for the best, even if everyone else seems to be doing presentations deep diving into the readings. Your presentation will be far more engaging and a lot less onerous to prepare for.

Term paper:

HS1002′s term paper was due mid-semester, which is a bit out of the ordinary but not a bad thing, you’ll likely be juggling several other deadlines towards the end of the semester. So, this paper was the very first experience with academic writing for many soci Year 1s.

Accordingly, there was an (ungraded) abstract that you had to submit before the paper. This was probably just for the TAs to make sure you were on the right track. This is a good opportunity to get some feedback on your paper so take this seriously, even though it is ungraded.

The topic for the paper is very broad -- any issue related to Singapore, essentially. This meant that I had difficulty deciding on a topic/research question. My advice: don’t waste too much time trying to think of a unique or impressive area of study, it’s fine to write about a generic topic.

Also, given that almost everyone will be new to academic writing, it won’t be hard to do well in this paper. Getting the baiscs of writing a paper correct will be enough for a good grade (i.e. Organised structure; a research question/argument; coherent writing; proper citating and formatting).

Finals:

Take direction from the core concepts from lectures in your revision. Do not blindly memorise content from the readings.

Do not study the weekly topics in isolation, think about how they interact. This will be crucial for finals. And relatedly,  think about the main theme of the course ‘Singapore society in TRANSITION’ -- how has society transitioned/changed?

I found it helpful to put together a short timeline of major developments in SG’s history with info from lectures and various readings.

Dust off your exam taking skills and try to craft some essay questions and attempt to answer them.

Some thoughts from myself:

I really enjoyed this mod. Not only is Prof Jia a wonderfully engaging speaker, the content content of the mod was very eye opening; it called into question a lot of the taken-for-granted beliefs that we might have about SG. I feel like I have a more holistic understanding of SG society now.

HS1003 Social problems in a global context

Course Type: Major Prescribed Elective, 3AU Course Coordinator, Lecturer:  Assoc. Professor Sulfikar Amir When I took it: Y1S2, AY2022-2023 Assessment structure:

Class participation - 10%

Group in-tutorial presentation - 20%

Term paper - 30% (Due: Week 13)

Finals (essay-based) - 40%

TL;DR: The presentation/essay assignments were pretty demanding (if you wanted to do well, anyway). The mod’s content is not difficult to comprehend, finals were relatively manageable. The topics from the first few weeks are especially important. If you’re aiming for an A+, thorough knowledge of the readings is necessary, with regards to finals. Otherwise, understanding lecture content, its broad concepts, is all you need to do decently for finals.

What is this mod about?

Contemporary globalisation is the central theme in this mod. Each week typically looks at a set of social problems and how they relate to/are created by globalisation. Some topics include: crime; poverty and inequality; technology; war.

Lectures

And once again, attending lectures is important. But probably more important for this mod than others. Prof Amir has a few ‘whiteboard style’ lectures. That is to say, a lecture comprised of mostly verbal communication and some mind-mapping-type drawing on the whiteboards with very minimal slides. You will be completely lost without attending lectures.

The first few topics covered in the mod are particularly important.

They are broad, foundational concepts that are the mainstays of the rest of the mod’s content (e.g. social structures, global division of labor, neoliberalism). So, make sure to establish a strong understanding of these topics early on. These should be the first topics you revise in your preparation for finals.

Readings and finals

With the exception of the first few weeks of content, the readings didn’t seem to be too important in the rest of the mod. However, I was rather blindsided during finals for this mod. without revealing too many details, the exam questions made explicit reference to several readings. This was surprising because we never really went through any of that in lecture or tutorial. Had I known that, I would’ve studied the readings in greater depth.

Tutorials 

I just want to say that the TA for my batch was so incredible in all respects. (Thanks for everything, Ming Wei!)

Tutorial presentations and the social problems essay

These are individual and connected assignments. In the presentation, we had to go through the outline of our essays, answer questions from the audience and receive feedback. Like the other mods, we were assigned a topic at the beginning of the semester and had to present and write our essays about the assigned topic.

There is a fairly set structure to the essay: describe your chosen problem, explain the problem with sociological concepts/theories, and link it all back to globalisation. The tricky part of this essay is weaving these 3 parts into a seamless, coherent argument (and you do, in fact, need to have an argument; your essay cannot simply be a description of a social problem)

My advice: read widely in search of the sociological concept(s) you choose to use in your essay; a very common mistake people made was to invoke ‘cOnFliCT thEoRY’ which is probably better described as an overarching paradigm in sociology rather than a theory.

Regarding the presentation, I can’t speak for future batches, this might depend on your TA, but in my experience, presentation skills did not seem to matter as much as the content of your presentation. It was alright to read off a script, to have not-so-pretty slides. 

More importantly, the presentation is a fantastic opportunity to get feedback on your essay. So, even if you were unlucky enough to be assigned a week 3 presentation slot, take this very seriously.

It is the time of the year again: frantically searching for that one particular module suitable for all your needs – be it academic requirements, to boost your skills, your CAP or just a non-8am lecture slot you can never wake up for?

Whatever it is, I hope these reviews will help you find the module(s) for you 😊 Do just take note these are my personal thoughts and experiences which may differ accordingly to individuals.

Tip: I encourage all CNM majors, especially if you’re in year 1/2, to just look into the various 3k/4k modules you might want to take in the future because some of them might require pre-requisites of other modules. E.g. a particular 2K mod is required for a 3K mod which is a requirement for a 4K mod. Yes, so they accumulate, and if you don’t want to get the short end of the stick – do your research properly~ So enough nagging: here it comes~

NM2207 Module Review

NM2207 Computational Media Literacy aka the ‘coding’ mod of CNM. This mod teaches Javascript, CSS and HTML and is meant for web design. Even if you’re not planning on the game design track or have no coding knowledge at all, you can still consider this purely because of how useful this module is. The mod assumes zero coding background from everyone which really showed in the lecture/tutorial/homework materials that did a really good job in explaining concepts while challenging us to search up more info to enrich our learning.

There are no physical lectures but weekly online videos to watch (around 2.5 hours). I highly suggest you be on the ball and watch the videos before tutorials because we will to apply whatever the videos went through.

Here’s the grading breakdown:

15% Tutorial/participation: 3 hours tutorial sessions (usually 6-9pm for CNM students on internship to join as part of their MOOC courses), one coding challenge for each tutorial session that students (in pairs) can work together to complete. TAs will be around to help. The faster you finish the assigned work, the faster you can leave. :)

15% Midterm exam (either week 6 or 7): 1 hour, closed book pen and paper style.

20% Final exam (week 13): Closed book pen and paper style.

35% Final project: A solo project where you have to design and code an online application e.g. a game/ interactive story/ an animation/ etc from scratch. Don’t freak out yet! We are not expected to churn out a super highly-skilled app to attain decent grades – just something original and creative would do that trick. :)

15% Assignments: These were known as weekly homework and a major pain. We had to follow the assigned instructions to code the final products which are to be uploaded on our webpage by Saturday This was really difficult because some of them were really challenging and I had to email my TA constantly for help. :(

Personally, this was a very intellectually challenging module for me. Especially since I understand things related to coding rather slowly. It was also rather time-consuming; I think I spent around 10 hours weekly on this mod. In fact, I wouldn’t recommend taking this module if you think you’ll have a really packed semester (or just be prepared to use an S/U, in case?) Otherwise, I have to admit, it was really intriguing and super rewarding to finish all these seemingly-impossible tasks and to complete the module with a great end :)

Taken in: AY2019/20 Sem 2

Final Grade: B+

NM2220 Module Review

NM2220 Introduction to Media Writing is basically as the module name suggests – introduction to media writing. This module is super highly recommended for anyone who has an interest in doing writing as a career as it covers a range of writing: news media, both print and broadcast journalism, copywriting for advertisement, public relations, feature writing and writing for the web. It even covers topics like media law and ethics. Basically, whatever fundamentals of writing you think you might need for your career and perhaps even more.

Sounds a lot? Yes, actually this module is considered to be one of the more hardcore CNM 2K modules. Both lectures and tutorial require us to be on the ball constantly and I assure you there’ll definitely be a writing practice in every single session. Depending on your luck, you might even be called on in lecture to share your ideas. So, no random scrolling through Facebook for cat videos and whatnot. Lectures are, as per normal, 2 hours weekly while tutorials are pretty demanding at 2 hours weekly and require you to write on the spot.

I apologise as I cannot remember the exact breakdown but from what I can remember:

10% News angle: Find a local news article and develop 3 other news angle that have not been published before.

20% Feature writing: Write a feature story based on NUS student life with 3 original photographs and optional video.

15% Public release + planning of 4 social media posts: Write a press released based on a provided scenario and organisation (details to be developed by yourself) + 4 pseudo social media posts of 1 pre-event and 1 post-event post (including captions/ visual description) on Facebook and Instagram. And you don’t have to actually post it, just describe the posts.

15% Tutorial participation/ attendance

40% Final exam:  Closed book pen and paper style. Three segments based on a single given scenario (mine was an accident by a hired car company outside school): 1. Broadcast journalism report (with details to be developed by yourself) 2. Two social media posts based on the accident 3. Two (?) feature story angles based on the accident.

Overall, I really enjoyed this module. Since I had zero experience in such media writing prior to this, it really provided me with the fundamentals that are pretty important in any career related to writing. Especially for people who consider doing media writing related work in the future, I really recommend you take up this mod to know whether you’re suitable/ whether this would be something you enjoy. :)

Tip: You have to either take this mod or NM2219 to take up certain 3K mods such as NM3219 (find out more on NUSmods).

Taken in: AY2019/20 Sem 1

Final Grade: A

NM2219 Module Review

NM2219 Principles of Communication Management is really good module for everyone to consider if they’re planning to head into PR-related field or to discover whether this field is something for you. The module is very comprehensive and covers various fields related to PR e.g. crisis management, issues management, forms and types of PR approaches. To be honest, this module was really rather dry for me with a lot of PR concepts and content. But I guess a redeeming factor is that the content is quite easy to understand and the workload for this module is rather little compared to NM2207 and NM2220. If you’re considering a 2K module that is good/ useful career-wise (the skills you learn in this module can be easily transferrable to a PR-related career) and also not too much on the workload, this is a pretty decent choice😊

30% Midterm exam (week 7): Closed book, 30 MCQs (not sure if this changes according to the lecturer). I would recommend to read the textbook readings as some of the questions made references to the definition and related stuff.

30% Final exam: Closed book, around 15 MCQs with 2 SAQs and 1 longer question split into various parts (based on a provided PR issue, answer the sub-questions to resolve the issue based on the PR steps).

25% Group project [Presentation (10%); Paper (15%)]: Research on a company with local influence that might have a potential PR issue/ is currently facing a PR crisis and come up with solutions for the issue.

5% Peer review

10% Class participation: Weekly tutorials that are 45-minutes each; mostly used for explaining certain concepts that are to be covered in your group report and for the tutor to check up on your group’s progress.

If you don’t mind a slightly dry module with quite a bit of content (that is rather simple to grasp) and are considering a PR-related field, you should really take up this module. Actually, even if you’re not going into PR, knowing some PR knowledge can be applicable in almost every job that requires human interaction/ brand reputation. So yes, don’t count this one out!

Tip: You have to either take this mod or NM2220 to take up certain 3K mods such as NM3219 (find out more on NUSmods).

Taken in: AY2019/20 Sem 2

Hi! So here’s my first module review on the various General Education Modules (GEM) that I’ve taken so far :) currently I’m only a year two undergraduate at FASS in NUS, and I’ve only taken the ones allocated to me – GER1000, GEQ1000 and GET1050. (I have also taken GET1029 as a UE but since it is also philosophy introductory module, I’ll cover that in another review!)

As you may already know, all NUS students are required to clear the five pillars of GEM which are meant to enrich the student with different forms of thinking, knowledge and abilities beyond one’s own specialisation. The five pillars being Human Cultures (GEH), Asking Questions (GEQ), Quantitative Reasoning (GER), Singapore studies (GES) and Thinking and Expression (GET). *note that for Residential Colleges there might be replacement modules instead

Generally, all NUS undergraduates are allocated GER and GEQ and can choose from various modules from different faculties/majors to make up for the other pillars. For FASS students, however, we are allocated with GET1050 (previously GET1031A) which is computational reasoning. 

For this review I’ll talk about what the module is about, the components that made up the grading and any relevant tips if I have any :) I wish to say that these are all my personal opinions and if you have any further questions, don’t hesitate to contact me!

 GER1000 Quantitative Reasoning

GER1000 is a compulsory stats module for all NUS undergraduates. The module has a flipped classroom style which means that all lectures are based online. Students are required to watch and learn from the videos (which are pretty lengthy) before attempting the tutorial questions and online quizzes. The lecturers for the videos change accordingly to the topic and I had some difficulty understanding some of the videos due to their accents. Thankfully, there are slides and speakers’ notes provided so that helped for reference.

Tutorials are once every two weeks and I would suggest for one to attempt and complete the assigned tutorial work as tutorial participation and attendance make the final grade. In addition to online quizzes and tutorials participation/attendance, there is also a group project and final examination. For the group project, students are to choose from the various case studies provided and provide data analysis and present it in a ~10 mins presentation with Q&A. And, for those wondering, your groupmates are allocated so it all depends on your luck :/ For the final paper, it is a closed-book examination but there will be ample time for you to complete it as (if I remember correctly), it is 2 hours long with only 30+ MCQ.

Tip: Do take note that on NUSmods (which is a website NUS students generally use to view available modules/ lectures and tutorial slots/ plan their timetable in general) the module code for students taking it in hall is GER1000H. This “H” refers to hall, and NUSmods will show you the tutorial slots available within hall. Generally, I would advise students to go for tutorial slots within hall compound as it is definitely more convenient.

Also, ask around from your seniors if they have any past year papers for you to practise with for the final examination, except from some that are out of syllabus, the questions styles are usually repeated.

Generally, the bellcurve is pretty steep and many FASS students around me s/u this. However, don’t give up so easily! The group project and final exam can really help one do well as well :)

Taken in: AY2018/19 Sem 1

Final Grade: B

 GEQ1000 Asking Questions

GEQ1000 is also a compulsory module for most NUS undergraduates. I’m not too sure on this but I think some of my friends from RC took some replacement modules instead of this. This module is a CS/U module which means it’s pass-fail by nature so it’ll contribute to one’s completed module credits but not one’s Cumulative Average Point (CAP). This is also quite a low-effort module so I would suggest for one to maximise this. Personally, I overloaded with another module so I could take advantage of this.

Similar to GER, GEQ1000 is also a flipped classroom style with online lectures. The module consists of lectures that spanned across the various majors. There was philosophy, user-design, computational thinking, economics, physics and engineering. The module introduces various methods of questioning, thinking and solving problems based on the differing approaches of the various disciplines. Students are encouraged to watch the lecture videos before going for the tutorials, which are once every two weeks. Tutorial participation and attendance contribute to your final grade. However, because there are SO many components and subcomponents, I didn’t really bother with active tutorial participation that much (on top of that, I had an 8am tutorial so I wasn’t really in the mood…)

Other than tutorial participation and attendance, there is online forum posting, online quizzes, wallet-designing assignment, origami folding exercise to be handed in during one of the tutorials and a final reflection paper. As this is a CS/U module, most people do not put in a lot of effort. And, there is really no need to if you’re tactical about sharing your precious time studying for your other modules. I’ve heard that some people would forgo e.g. the wallet designing assignment because they calculated and decided they can pass even without it.

Personally, I did not really think the tutorials were that interesting or critical in my understanding of the module. However, I genuinely enjoyed myself learning about the various topics that I wouldn’t usually be exposed to due to my faculty and major. So I guess, I’m thankful for knowing more about game theory/ pancake flipping and many more other theories which I haven’t come across before this.

Tip: Add “H” behind the module code to search for tutorial slots within your hall in NUSmods for your own convenience :)

Taken in: AY2018/19 Sem 2

Final Grade: S

 GET1050 Computational Reasoning

The “GET” pillar is usually not allocated and students are free to choose a module of their choice to clear this pillar EXCEPT FASS students. As the name suggests, this module is about using computational methods of thinking to solve issues. And the million dollar question comes up – does it involve coding? – yes, yes it does and teaches us VBA (s a v e  m e  T.T). In case you’re panicking and shaking in your pants, don’t worry. Even though this sounds pretty much a nightmare for most arts students, this module (which is revised from the earlier GET1031A Computational Thinking) is catered for FASS students and designed by a philosophy lecturer. Even though I practically struggled through it, I can really tell the effort made to simplify what might be very daunting to arts students.

This module is very new – in fact, my batch is the first to take it. This also means that a lot of calibrating and adjustments were made to the grading components, assignments and even the lecture videos. One really remarkable point I have to make is that I really, genuinely appreciate the effort that the lecturer puts into this module and understanding the concerns of students. Jonathan, the lecturer, encourages all the 800 students enrolled in the module to send an introductory email to him for him to get to know us better. On top of that, students are required to do a pre-module survey for him to understand our level of ability regarding coding and whatnot. (He shared that most students replied that we had ZERO knowledge of it, which is sadly the truth) Moreover, he also had weekly clinic sessions to address queries face-to-face and a telegram group for the ease of communication among the students, TA, and himself. This is a true testament of a lecturer who tries his best at understanding the needs and issues of the students venturing on the unchartered terrain of computing/coding :’) very admirable

Not going to lie, this module was very helpful and really considered the general beginner status of many FASS students. This module also has online lecture videos and tutorials once every two weeks. The lecture videos were very helpful and the learning curve is pretty gradual. However, many students feedbacked that there was just too much work to be put into this supposedly level 1 module. The components included online quizzes, tutorial attendance and participation, forum posts, survey participation bonus, a group project with four checkpoints (aka submissions) and a final paper. PHEW…even writing it all down was serious business.

Generally, I was alright with most of the components. Online quizzes were once every two weeks, deadlines were also adjusted if Jonathan needed more time to produce and upload the lecture videos. Tutorials were very interesting and helpful in applying whatever we learnt in lectures to real-life situations that revealed moral/ethical issues regarding the mere use of computational thinking. Forum posts were kinda irritating as there PRE as well as POST forum posts that were graded very critically. But what really ticked me off was that the percentages for the various checkpoints were just too little for the amount of effort my groupmates and I had put in. Students are to choose from two datasets and provided with a dilemma to come up with various criteria/components to find the balance between maximising utility and fairness. In particular, for the final checkpoint, it was only 10% of the final grade, with 5% for the analysis and the other 5% for the presentation. However, the lecturer encouraged students to include skit, song, meme, VBA etc to score well. This was honestly – too much effort. My groupmates included certain elements to make our presentation more interesting but on hindsight, I don’t think I could be bothered with that 5%... Also, groupmates are allocated so it really depends on your luck again :’)

Despite it all, I really believe that I learn quite a lot from this module that is so unlike any other. Honestly, we are so used to believing that machines do not make any mistakes or that it is superior to mankind. But this module really brought about interesting ways of thinking about stereotypes, our prejudices, moral and ethical concerns regarding the dilemma of balancing fairness and maximising utility that machinery might not take into consideration. It also brings to light the importance of ARTS in a STEM-oriented world and the value of our disciplines in understanding and solving problems of the real world. I can still remember profoundly what Jonathan mentioned in the last tutorial – that he had a friend who missed out on a great career opportunity because he was not trained in coding :( and that he hopes that none of us would have to face this issue in the future.

Taken in: AY2019/20 Sem 1

It’s been a long time since I wrote anything here, and can I say that I’m glad to know that there are people actually reading what I write, and that these information are beneficial to their module planning? It is my pleasure and motivation to know that such information are beneficial to you. I apologize for not responding to my inbox because I don’t sign in often (as you can observe from the frequency of my posts) and I don’t get any notifications either. If you really wish to get in touch with me, drop an email to [email protected]. Yep, that’s my name =P

As I started on this post, I thought it might be good to write a post on my experience being a year 4 student; I’m writing this module review first, so you can check back later for my thoughts on being a year 4.

In this review, I will be sharing 4 main things: the who (the lecturer), what (the workload), how (to study for exams), and why you should take this module and why should you not.

Modules: PL4235, PL4880P, PL4224

I was contemplating whether to post this, but I thought it might help so here it is. :)

(Hopefully the following will help anyone who’s like me, to feel a little less stress about what you are about to take in NTU.)

Yr 1 Sem 1

Let’s start off with the classics that most engin students take.

PH1011 Physics 3AUs

Pretty much building on what you have learnt in Junior College H2 Physics (minus the hard stuff like nuclear/quantum physics). Make sure to do well for the term tests/quizzes and you should be fine. Good tutors/lecturers! 

MH1810 Mathematics I 3AUs

Also building on what you have learnt in H2 Mathematics. The content is not too tough but there’s a really steep bell curve. Even with an A for H2 Math, and full marks for the quizzes, I only got a B+. I guess the finals really do make a difference. Also, be prepared, for this could be the first time you encounter phD students as your tutors to do quite a bit of self learning. Just saying. 

FE1008 Computing 3AUs

Programming in C language. The tutorials were pleasant, and the TA in my class was really good! :) Depending on your prior knowledge in programming, you will find this module okay/struggle with grasping the concepts. 

GC0001 ... Sustainability Module ... Online 1AU

Didn’t even bother with the full mod name, because yes, most of you won’t even care about this module tbh. Most of the course content was really dry and there’s no fast forward button on the videos either. (but I did manage to sit through all the videos...) 

Now for the more iem related stuff.

IM1004 Digital Electronics 4AUs

You will be taking this together with the EEEs direct year 2 (though in different LTs). Don’t be intimidated. I think we aren’t graded on the same bell curve (because different course code). Interesting module, there’s programming elements and then also the practical stuff where you get to play with breadboards to light up LEDs. Might be tough to grasp at first, but a do-able module. Might want to look up some YouTube videos when studying for this mod. Some seniors think that DE is one of the easiest EEE mod you will ever take, but that’s up to you to decide. Consistency is key.

DA1000 Thinking and Communicating Visually I 3AUs

One of the most interesting module you will take in year 1. I learnt a lot and survived despite having little Art background. >90% of the time drawing in B&W. Depending on your tutor, you may or may not get to sketch nude models. ;) Time consuming mod for sure. Do try to keep your weekends free, so that you can work on your art pieces or risk staying up the night before your class trying to complete your work. (or if that’s your thing, it’s your call) Supposedly, one of the profs is more lenient in giving better grades, (you can try asking your seniors) but that’s up for debate too. 

The recommended 17AUs in semester one; I do think it is possible to apply for overload and do one more UE/GER-PE, especially if you did well in JC/Poly. As long as you don’t get too overwhelmed with uni, you should be able to handle one more module. 

Yr 1 Sem 2

MH1811 Mathematics II 3AUs

Same as with Math 1, it’s building on a lot differentiation/integration techniques. Mindmaps will help you, especially with the first half of the topics, as they do get confusing. We got to bring in cheat sheets for our exams, that was great (to a certain extent).

IM1001 Data Structures & Algorithms 4AUs

Taking this with the direct year 2 EEEs students, in the same LT! However, I hear that this module is now going to be conducted online... But you have a longer tutorial session? This is quite a useful mod for those interested in computer science related stuff. However, the different concepts learnt do become a blur(at least to me) so try to keep them straight. (After all 4AUs worth of stuff!) Programming required during the lab sessions. (And you might just want to do a little homework before those sessions, don’t say I didn’t warn you!)

IM1002 Analog Electronics 3AUs

Totally different from Analogue Electronics that the EEE students take, don’t buy the wrong set of practice past year papers! This is like the Circuit Analysis that EEE students take and a little of their AE mod. So, while EEE students can say that they are taking a killer mod, we on the other hand, are taking a lower level version of AE haha. I’d say the first Prof in this mod is really good at teaching and how so many students flock to him for consultations. There’s a few important concepts that you absolutely have to know and then you should be able to do well in the exams. Basically, just understand the concepts, remember the formulas, and apply. 

IM1003 Object-Oriented Programming 3AUs

Good module to take, good Prof. Nice that we go to make an actual game, really learnt a lot trying to program it. There’s a site about OOP by him that’s actually high up in the search engine results, go look for it! Oh! and this Prof started IEM so yeah him! :D

CS0204 Basic Media Writing 3AUs

Taken in semester 2, be aware that you will be taking with a pretty different group of students in the different sems. There was a slight change in tutors/exam format in my year but I guess that it is for the better. In this mod you will learn about news writing, reporting, sales writing, PR etc. Quite an interesting module, and I had an awesome group for the sales website part which definitely pulled my grades up. While this was a writing kind of mod, in which we expected to be writing news articles and press releases.... the final exam in my year gave us the options to do analytical kind of essays instead! Totally unexpected but I was glad it turned out well haha.

ML0001 Absolute Basics for Career (Online) 1AU

Learn the basics about career planning. Wish it was less cliche, but oh well. Don’t worry too much, I think that it is really hard to fail this mod haha. 

Took the following modules for my first ever semester in University.

CM1401 - Chemistry for Life Science

Lecturers: Dr Linda Sellou and A/P Lai Yee Hing

It was a terrible experience. OMG. Considering this module as sort of a "bridging" one for those in life science, this module actually crams what we need to know for Chemistry in it. Urgh. For the first 6 weeks, we covered physical chemistry, followed by organic chemistry in the remaining weeks. It's not really similar to H2 Chemistry because you will have to learn terms like MO theory, analytical chemistry and many new organic chemistry reactions... The content was super heavy and the pace was too fast for me. I had a hard time catching up especially the organic chemistry part. To put it simple, we were completing two chapters every week. And there's a lot to memorise.

Lets move on to talk about the lecturers.

Okay, Linda. It's her first year teaching this module, i guess. But, TBH, she is not a good lecturer. And i guess this is normal in university because you don't get to have a good lecturer to teach you every single time right? To me, her french accent made it hard for me to understand what she was talking about. Add to the fact that she was relatively new to teaching this module, she wasn't very sure of what she was teaching. Well, that was the impression she was giving me. It wasn’t until I read the textbook myself could I understand what she was even teaching. Harsh, yes. She is a good teacher but what is the use if most of us can’t even understand what you are teaching? So imagine the horror when I got her as my tutorial teacher. I was hoping I could get other TAs who would be able to explain better but… My luck… I had considered crashing other tutorial slots but most timing crashed with my other classes. So I’m stuck with Linda for the first half of my semester.

Next, Prof Lai. Imagine how I felt when I first saw him. “Thank god!” In just one lecture, you could tell the diff between the two lecturers. Prof Lai is very experienced and explains well. But his notes aren’t very organised.

Overall, the module is very content-heavy. The pace was very fast when it comes to organic section. I had a hard time. Though considering I studied a day before all the exams( really, I swear!), I can’t really say much. I’m just glad I got a B for this.

If ya make the effort, this module may not be as miserable to you.

LSM1103 – Biodiversity

LSM1104 - General Physiology

CM1131 - Physical Chemistry 1

SSA1201 - Singapore Society