If you have any questions, please send it to my email atqhteo@gmail.com, or leave a comment below.
The modules covered in this post:
PC1323/GEK1510 (Great Ideas in Contemporary Physics)
GEM2901 (Reporting Statistics in the Media)
PL4207 (Social Psychology: Theories and Methods)
PL4207 (Social Psychology: Theories and Methods)
LSM1303 (Animal Behavior)
PL3231 (Independent Research Project)
PL3231 (Independent Research Project)
I’ll answer 5 questions for each: What is it about? How’s the workload? How difficult is it? Any miscellaneous tips? Should you take it?
If you want to see previous reviews for
Do note that modules do vary across semesters, depending on which professor is taking it, so I will include the name of the professor for your benefit.
PC1323/GEK1510 (Great Ideas in Contemporary Physics)
Prof: Belal E Baaquie
What is it about?
You learn about Special Relativity, Particle Physics, Quantum Mechanics, and Cosmology and Superstring theory. Those are the broad topics.
How's the workload?
Two lectures a week, but they may be webcasted. He only started the webcasts halfway through the sem. One fortnightly 1hr tutorial, which comes along with a compulsory assignment which you have to complete before tutorial. Your CA consists of tutorial attendance, assignment submission (and I guess accuracy), and 3 tests (20, 20, 40%) which are all open book.
Just study from lecture notes and tutorials. Pretty light in terms of absolute content, but some topics may be quite difficult to understand.
How difficult is it?
The topics are quite foreign to most people, and the prof is pretty darn terrible at explaining anything and his lecture notes seem quite random. I only did well in the first test because much of the content was also covered in a previous mod I have taken, Einstein's Universe and Quantum Weirdness (PC1323).
I found tutorials a lot more helpful than lectures, as the tutor is actually better at making things clear than the boring lecturer. The lecturer drones and drones and has some issues with any whispering or chattering in class and will annoyingly stop to ask people to keep quiet. Content is not easy to understand, so you either need to have a physics brain or hope you understand his lectures.
Miscellaneous Tips
Go for tutorials for sure - you learn much more. Make a cheat sheet so it's easier to refer during your tests or know where things are. Some answers can be directly lifted from the notes.
Should you take it?
No. If you are interested in the topics I mentioned above, go take Einstein's Universe, the lecturer is 10219083 times better (both in explaining concepts and in humor). This one is just boring. Plain boring. And the questions are much harder, more calculations involved. I see I warded off half of you with the word 'calculations'. Good.
Predicted Grade : C / B-
I scored above median for Test1, below median for Test2, and smoked my way through Test3. I don't have a good feeling about Test3 so I'm not sure how I'll do.
GEM2901 (Reporting Statistics in the Media)
Prof: Wong Yean Ling
What is it about?
You learn about several basic areas of statistics/research methods like experimental vs observational studies, confounding variables... hypothesis testing, normal distribution.. et and how the media can misrepresent information. Not much calculation involved (actually for the exams she said no calculations involved.. not sure how true that is).
How's the workload?
Two lectures a week, with no tutorials. Two group essays (which are due on the same date) (which is basically apply some concepts to any newspaper article), one closed book final exam. There is a textbook but it's unnecessary because everything is in the notes. The notes are just the slightly summarized form of the textbook.
How difficult is it?
If you have any basic research methods knowledge (e.g. from PL2131, 2132, or other stats/research methods knowledge), most of the stuff should be familiar. There are some new things here and there, and a lot of it is quite logical so it's not THAT difficult to understand.
Miscellaneous Tips
Ermmmm. I didn't go for lectures because I knew a lot of the concepts and felt it was a waste of time. The lecturer isn't that bad but isn't that good either. If you have no experience with research methods then do go for lectures I suppose.
Should you take it?
Fairly light in workload, everything you need is in the lecture notes. The essay assignment isn't that difficult either. Then again, I haven't got any grades so I have no idea.
Predicted Grade: B
I'm being quite pessimistic but it's mainly because I have no idea. I don't know how I did for my assignments, don't know what the exams will be like. So. Maybe I'll update this after my exams.
Updated: Will keep the predicted grade. Bell curve is steep as everyone got A for group project. So B or B+ perhaps.
LSM1303 (Animal Behavior)
Prof: Sivasothi + Hwang Wei Song (each takes roughly half, siva does more)
What is it about?
Many aspects of animal behavior, such as foraging, mating, territory, living in groups, human-animal conflict. Very interesting stuff even for people who aren't super passionate animal lovers (e.g. me)
How's the workload?
One lecture a week, and a fortnightly 'lab'. The schedule for lab is something like every alternate week for first 3 weeks, then 2 more times according to the symposium schedule.
One group project where you have to go observe any animal and present for 10 minutes. Write an animal blog (Full list of blogs here. My blog post here.). One final exam (closed book), everything from lecture notes.
How difficult is it?
Nothing is difficult to understand, since it's just animal behavior! It's kind of like primary school biology. The lecturers are pretty good too, especially the main man Siva.. he's funny and talks in a casual, relaxed tone that makes you just want to listen. He has funny anecdotes to share during class and he makes lectures interesting. Wei Song is pretty clear in his lectures too, just not as funny.
Miscellaneous Tips
Go for lectures. This was the only lecture this semester which I faithfully went for, both because it was important and because they were interesting.
For your group project, try to be as detailed as possible and consult your TAs/prof as much as you can to clarify things early.
Should you take it?
One of the most interesting modules I've taken in NUS, I highly recommend it because it is so interesting and funny thanks to Siva. You learn something interesting every week, such as... do you know that a certain male spider mates with a female, then offers his belly to her so she eats him up, while he ejaculates into her a second time?
Predicted Grade: B-
Once again have no idea how I did, assessment grades were never revealed. Thought we bombed our group presentation though, hence the poor grade.
Thought I wrote fairly well for the open ended portions, but I already got a few mistakes for the MCQ. I think my predicted grade still stands.
PL4207 - Social Psychology: Theories and Methods
Prof: Dr Michelle See
What is it about?
Many aspects of social psychology - social cognition, persuasion, aggression, etc.
How's the workload?
One lecture a week ( 3hours). Two thought papers (800 word essays), one group presentation, one open book final exam (two questions, first question compulsory, second question 2C1). Oh, there are class participation points.
How difficult is it?
Social psychology is probably the easiest branch of psychology in terms of understanding the concepts. Thus you shouldn't have too much difficulty in this. Also, Prof See picks pretty short and simple papers most of the time, so that's good :)
Miscellaneous Tips
Speak up in class. She is quite blatant about her marking of class part, literally puts a tick next to your name when you speak up
Should you take it?
The lessons feel really slack - I'm not sure how much Prof See actually prepares for class, because it feels like she's winging it most of the time. She isn't that bad at explaining things, but sometimes she can be very confusing.
Most lessons are mostly occupied by group presentations, so she does very little 'teaching'. You get to watch one movie (12 angry man) and documentary (bowling in columbine) during class. Pretty good shows.
If you are looking for maximum learning experience, you should probably take it in Sem 1 when Dr Tong takes it. If you want a slack Level 4000, this could be it.
Predicted Grade: B+/A-
We seemed to do well for our group presentation, and my thought papers have to be one of the better ones unless she has some retarded marking scheme (All thought papers are uploaded so you can have a look at others' work) (sorry if this sounds damn arrogant or what, but imho, it's true. I acknowledge when I'm bad, and I also acknowledge when I'm better)
Final exam was unexpected. Based on past papers (not by See, by Tong), the questions were very broad and requires good organization and integration of information from the entire semester. However, her questions were extremely specific. For example, the compulsory question focused on one particular week's readings and just asked you for strengths/limitations of both studies.
Not sure how well I did, I didn't felt like I spent enough time on my second question, so abit concerned about that. Oh well.
---
Results are out on 3rd June, I will post them and you can see how my predictions compare with my actual grades. :S
UPDATE: My results are out. Here.
- PC1325/GEK1508, MKT1003X, PL3252, PL3234, PH2211, click this link.
- GEK1519, SE1101E, PL3236, PL3233, PL3240, click this link.
- PL1101E, NM1101E, PH1102E, LAF1201, PL2131, click this link.
- For PL2132, PL3232, SSB2216 , PL3235, PH2110, click this link.
Do note that modules do vary across semesters, depending on which professor is taking it, so I will include the name of the professor for your benefit.
PC1323/GEK1510 (Great Ideas in Contemporary Physics)
Prof: Belal E Baaquie
What is it about?
You learn about Special Relativity, Particle Physics, Quantum Mechanics, and Cosmology and Superstring theory. Those are the broad topics.
How's the workload?
Two lectures a week, but they may be webcasted. He only started the webcasts halfway through the sem. One fortnightly 1hr tutorial, which comes along with a compulsory assignment which you have to complete before tutorial. Your CA consists of tutorial attendance, assignment submission (and I guess accuracy), and 3 tests (20, 20, 40%) which are all open book.
Just study from lecture notes and tutorials. Pretty light in terms of absolute content, but some topics may be quite difficult to understand.
How difficult is it?
The topics are quite foreign to most people, and the prof is pretty darn terrible at explaining anything and his lecture notes seem quite random. I only did well in the first test because much of the content was also covered in a previous mod I have taken, Einstein's Universe and Quantum Weirdness (PC1323).
I found tutorials a lot more helpful than lectures, as the tutor is actually better at making things clear than the boring lecturer. The lecturer drones and drones and has some issues with any whispering or chattering in class and will annoyingly stop to ask people to keep quiet. Content is not easy to understand, so you either need to have a physics brain or hope you understand his lectures.
Miscellaneous Tips
Go for tutorials for sure - you learn much more. Make a cheat sheet so it's easier to refer during your tests or know where things are. Some answers can be directly lifted from the notes.
Should you take it?
No. If you are interested in the topics I mentioned above, go take Einstein's Universe, the lecturer is 10219083 times better (both in explaining concepts and in humor). This one is just boring. Plain boring. And the questions are much harder, more calculations involved. I see I warded off half of you with the word 'calculations'. Good.
Predicted Grade : C / B-
I scored above median for Test1, below median for Test2, and smoked my way through Test3. I don't have a good feeling about Test3 so I'm not sure how I'll do.
GEM2901 (Reporting Statistics in the Media)
Prof: Wong Yean Ling
What is it about?
You learn about several basic areas of statistics/research methods like experimental vs observational studies, confounding variables... hypothesis testing, normal distribution.. et and how the media can misrepresent information. Not much calculation involved (actually for the exams she said no calculations involved.. not sure how true that is).
How's the workload?
Two lectures a week, with no tutorials. Two group essays (which are due on the same date) (which is basically apply some concepts to any newspaper article), one closed book final exam. There is a textbook but it's unnecessary because everything is in the notes. The notes are just the slightly summarized form of the textbook.
How difficult is it?
If you have any basic research methods knowledge (e.g. from PL2131, 2132, or other stats/research methods knowledge), most of the stuff should be familiar. There are some new things here and there, and a lot of it is quite logical so it's not THAT difficult to understand.
Miscellaneous Tips
Ermmmm. I didn't go for lectures because I knew a lot of the concepts and felt it was a waste of time. The lecturer isn't that bad but isn't that good either. If you have no experience with research methods then do go for lectures I suppose.
Should you take it?
Fairly light in workload, everything you need is in the lecture notes. The essay assignment isn't that difficult either. Then again, I haven't got any grades so I have no idea.
Predicted Grade: B
I'm being quite pessimistic but it's mainly because I have no idea. I don't know how I did for my assignments, don't know what the exams will be like. So. Maybe I'll update this after my exams.
Updated: Will keep the predicted grade. Bell curve is steep as everyone got A for group project. So B or B+ perhaps.
LSM1303 (Animal Behavior)
Prof: Sivasothi + Hwang Wei Song (each takes roughly half, siva does more)
What is it about?
Many aspects of animal behavior, such as foraging, mating, territory, living in groups, human-animal conflict. Very interesting stuff even for people who aren't super passionate animal lovers (e.g. me)
How's the workload?
One lecture a week, and a fortnightly 'lab'. The schedule for lab is something like every alternate week for first 3 weeks, then 2 more times according to the symposium schedule.
One group project where you have to go observe any animal and present for 10 minutes. Write an animal blog (Full list of blogs here. My blog post here.). One final exam (closed book), everything from lecture notes.
How difficult is it?
Nothing is difficult to understand, since it's just animal behavior! It's kind of like primary school biology. The lecturers are pretty good too, especially the main man Siva.. he's funny and talks in a casual, relaxed tone that makes you just want to listen. He has funny anecdotes to share during class and he makes lectures interesting. Wei Song is pretty clear in his lectures too, just not as funny.
Miscellaneous Tips
Go for lectures. This was the only lecture this semester which I faithfully went for, both because it was important and because they were interesting.
For your group project, try to be as detailed as possible and consult your TAs/prof as much as you can to clarify things early.
Should you take it?
One of the most interesting modules I've taken in NUS, I highly recommend it because it is so interesting and funny thanks to Siva. You learn something interesting every week, such as... do you know that a certain male spider mates with a female, then offers his belly to her so she eats him up, while he ejaculates into her a second time?
Predicted Grade: B-
Once again have no idea how I did, assessment grades were never revealed. Thought we bombed our group presentation though, hence the poor grade.
Thought I wrote fairly well for the open ended portions, but I already got a few mistakes for the MCQ. I think my predicted grade still stands.
PL4207 - Social Psychology: Theories and Methods
Prof: Dr Michelle See
What is it about?
Many aspects of social psychology - social cognition, persuasion, aggression, etc.
How's the workload?
One lecture a week ( 3hours). Two thought papers (800 word essays), one group presentation, one open book final exam (two questions, first question compulsory, second question 2C1). Oh, there are class participation points.
How difficult is it?
Social psychology is probably the easiest branch of psychology in terms of understanding the concepts. Thus you shouldn't have too much difficulty in this. Also, Prof See picks pretty short and simple papers most of the time, so that's good :)
Miscellaneous Tips
Speak up in class. She is quite blatant about her marking of class part, literally puts a tick next to your name when you speak up
Should you take it?
The lessons feel really slack - I'm not sure how much Prof See actually prepares for class, because it feels like she's winging it most of the time. She isn't that bad at explaining things, but sometimes she can be very confusing.
Most lessons are mostly occupied by group presentations, so she does very little 'teaching'. You get to watch one movie (12 angry man) and documentary (bowling in columbine) during class. Pretty good shows.
If you are looking for maximum learning experience, you should probably take it in Sem 1 when Dr Tong takes it. If you want a slack Level 4000, this could be it.
Predicted Grade: B+/A-
We seemed to do well for our group presentation, and my thought papers have to be one of the better ones unless she has some retarded marking scheme (All thought papers are uploaded so you can have a look at others' work) (sorry if this sounds damn arrogant or what, but imho, it's true. I acknowledge when I'm bad, and I also acknowledge when I'm better)
Final exam was unexpected. Based on past papers (not by See, by Tong), the questions were very broad and requires good organization and integration of information from the entire semester. However, her questions were extremely specific. For example, the compulsory question focused on one particular week's readings and just asked you for strengths/limitations of both studies.
Not sure how well I did, I didn't felt like I spent enough time on my second question, so abit concerned about that. Oh well.
---
Results are out on 3rd June, I will post them and you can see how my predictions compare with my actual grades. :S
UPDATE: My results are out. Here.
[…] did a grade prediction/module review here. If you want to know my thoughts about the module and tips, etc, check out that post. If you have […]
ReplyDelete[…] PC1323/GEK1510, GEM2901, PL4207, LSM1303, PL3231, click this link […]
ReplyDeleteHey alan, I cant seem to find your review for IRP/PL3231 (Independent Research Project) what is your review on this? Also, curious question who is your thesis prof?
ReplyDelete- psych student choosing between lab with Dr Chua Fook Kee or IRP