Ok, this is my second NUS module review! (maybe I should have done it before this sem’s CORS bidding, so that people may actually USE it to make decisions, but oh well, there’s always other sems, and not like many people read my blog anyway…) One thing I feel like bitching about first, is that now MSN spaces won’t even let me add categories to my blog so here I am labelling this one as ‘Thoughts’ instead of something more helpful like maybe ‘NUS Module Reviews’ or maybe just ‘NUS stuff’ or something! Oh well, I guess everything I write technically counts as ‘Thoughts’, so kudos to me for thinking of such a catchall category in the first place! (I was just lazy ok!)
 
This is my first regular sem, and I must say, it’s quite different from summer sems. Now that I have taken a good mix of modules, I realise that some modules count as ‘high commitment’ modules, in the terms used by a friend, which means that they are time-intensive by very nature. Of course, all modules can be time-intensive if you really chiong for it, but some are naturally more time-intensive even if you don’t intend to put in more than the minimal effort (not saying you should slack). Some people go through their uni life thinking that uni life is for enjoying and they slack and pon lectures and stuff and feel sian about studying and all that. Well, sure, you should enjoy uni life (and any part of your life really, as much as possible) but I think you should also take your studies seriously. Even if I don’t like a module or maybe the lecturer, I will try to respect them. Which is a moot point really since I try to like all the modules I’m taking and see the beauty in whatever field it is about.
 
At first I thought about whether I should really be blogging about the modules I took this sem, since they are mostly major modules, so people who have to take them have to take them anyway, but then I realised, lots of people will be choosing them as fac reqs, unrestricted electives, or maybe intending to take a minor in them, so why not? (again, I am ASSUMING people actually DO read my blog, or at least this entry). I think blogging about these modules also helps me to maybe understand what I’ve been through and what I’ve experienced and learnt from them (not just the academic parts).
 
Well, without further ado, here goes the five modules I took last sem!!
 
ST1131 Introduction to Statistics
Lecturer: Wong Yean Ling
My Grade: A
 
ST1131, what a weird module. It is a stats major module that isn’t really a prerequisite for any stats module iirc (although it -could- be used as one in certain modules), and I think it’s essential for design students or something. Anyway, this is one module that will have like half a thousand students taking it (which is rare for the math/comp sci modules I take) Ahh, enough introductory chatter, let’s get to the main point. This module will be teaching you basic stats stuff like mean/median/mode stuff, confidence interval, hypothesis testing and basic linear regression. Which means to say, basically whatever you learnt about stats in JC if you took FM. Those who took FM in JC will find this more of a refresher course, and those who don’t won’t really find this a very time-consuming module either. In other words, if you’re looking to slack, take it! I spent like an hour or so every week reading the lecture notes (who am I kidding, I DIDN’T. It’s too simple that I spent the time on other modules) and I spent an hour doing the tutorial. So there, an hour a week, not bad eh? What I should advise you guys, however, is that you may want to pon lectures, I won’t stop you, but please never ever ever pon the tutorials. They are absolutely essential to learning the stuff and to get a feel of what will be tested for exams.
 
Anyway in my opinion if you’re looking for something challenging or maybe fulfilling this maybe isn’t the module for you. The amount of stuff you learn is really little compared to other modules, and, I’m sorry to say this, but the lecture notes are very very chaotic. The lecturer, Wong Yean Ling, is this small girl (ok, not really a -girl- per se, since she’s an adult) but she has a small voice, which may sound alluring if you’re having a cosy chat with her in a tutorial classroom, but is not really suited for speaking to 500 noisy students in a large LT. She’s nice, really nice, and she does an excellent excellent job during tutorials (which totally saves the day, since I can never understand her lectures) but her lectures are not too good and the lecture notes are sometimes chaotic to the point of being totally unreliable. I couldn’t even find one single worked example of how you should go about doing a hypothesis testing, for example.
 
So to summarise, this module is slack (which may be good if you want to buffer those killer core modules) but maybe for people who seek fulfilling modules like me, it is not there yet (though not totally a big screw-up waste-of-time I would say). I spent very little time on it, mostly relying on my jc knowledge (and sometimes notes) for backup, and in the end I didn’t manage to finish studying regression, which cost me half of the last qn during the exam. I am quite surprised I got an A, but to be fair I DID study (although last-minute) and I did do quite well for most of the questions excluding the last one.
 
PC1141 Physics I
Lecturer: Cheung Keng Yeow
My Grade: A+
 
PC1141 is one of the four basic major modules for physics major at level 1000 (no prizes for guessing what the other three are called ). What it covers is mainly mechanics, some gravitation, and waves. I took this because my JC mechanics/physics was very strong, and it paid off well (yesh I am totally happy about my A+!!) However, the bad thing is that this module has LAB. Yes, it may not sound like much, but it has really taught me to fear the word LAB and to always check any science module for lab hours!!! Why is lab bad? Cos you gotta do these (sometimes seemingly pointless) experiments, struggle with the equipment, get results you wouldn’t trust your life on, and at the end of the day produce this report you have to hand up the next next day (the next day for some). Given that in uni, we usually have one week to do tutorials at least, having a two/one day report deadline for labs is very tough. Not to mention that lab reports are totally boring to me.
 
One other thing is that you have to do these online tutorial thingies (in addition to your written tutorials) called Mastering Physics. I wouldn’t say it’s bad, in fact I encourage everyone to do ALL the optional questions (practice makes perfect, or at least gives you the A+). The point to note is that PC1141 is VERY time consuming. It can be not if you choose to not do tutorials and optional questions, but to get a decent grade, hard work is required. At least for me, I have very good background, so less work is required of me, but still, this wasn’t exactly a walk in the park, I DID put in LOTS of effort to get the A+ OK!
 
What about the lecturer? I would say he is decent, not like spectacularly good, but I am glad decent enough. We used to have these fun lecture quizzes (don’t worry, no score counted into CA) where the qn is mcq and you have this remote control thingy to key in your answer. Unfortunately it was deemed too time-consuming (grrrr) and thus we had no more of that halfway into the lecture series. Which is bad cos I thought that was the highlight of the lecture. The prof will also often perform these live demonstrations which is also kinda fun to watch. All in all, a decent lecture experience. (Kudos to the prof!) Oh ya, I should mention that of all my modules, I found the highest concentration of chiobus here. Very high. Can qie arts. Maybe an anomaly of my batch, maybe not. Lucky me.
 
The tutorial is also worth a mention. 5 tutorials for the whole module (which is once in two weeks) and I know most people come unprepared, but once again I should state you REALLY have to practise at least abit. The tutor I got was Ng Siow Yee, which is a really good tutor. And the tutorials are very cosy. What about the exams? I think this was the crucial thing that got me an A+ instead of an A. It was held at 5pm late in the evening. Everyone was tired. I was too, but, somehow I didn’t feel THAT tired (dunno why). The exam paper was a killer, very very difficult questions yet somehow luckily for me not too difficult that I couldn’t solve. But I heard alot of people complaining and I even heard someone cried. I would guess this would contribute to why I got A+.
 
All in all, I would advise that this module, if not already compulsory for you, should be taken only if you are strong in mechanics and/or prepared to put in alot of effort.
 
MA1101R Linear Algebra I
Lecturer: Ng Kah Loon
My Grade: A
 
Ahh, one of the basic math modules. I was strong in linear algebra in jc, and I thought I would breeze through this one. I was so wrong. To be fair, the content isn’t really -that- hard, though there are a few spots difficult enough that I feel like pulling my hair out (but that’s to be expected of math right?) What I felt was really bad was that the lecturer maybe wasn’t exactly lecturing in a style conducive to me. In my previous entry I was quite critical of him, but as time went by, he actually seemed to get better and better and I actually felt somewhat comfortable with his lectures. But still, the speed was quite off from mine, some parts are either too slow or too fast, which I suppose would really be my fault instead of his, since he has to cater to the general population. I’m not saying he’s a bad lecturer, just that he wasn’t that suitable for me maybe. And the lecture timeslot plays quite big a part too I guess. 4-6pm is a killer, especially when my first lecture is at 8am in the morning.
 
The tutorials, are also, maybe, somewhat decent. I mean, I’m thankful it wasn’t worse, but it wasn’t that good. It was like watching a live webcast of the tutor speaking. Meaning there wasn’t really much interaction between tutor and class. The solutions presented and all was quite good though, can see the tutor knows his stuff (of cos you would expect tutors to KNOW their stuff right?! But I have seen REALLY BAD teachers, so I am thankful for decent ones) Oh forgot to mention that said tutor is Tang U Liang (maybe spelled wrongly?) and he reminds me greatly greatly GREATLY of my jc classmate Ningxiang.
 
One thing I should have known about the exam, but I didn’t until long after the exams were over, was that this module concentrates mostly on computation. You don’t really need to prove some complicated theorem in the exam. (Well, except for one or two killer part-questions, but hey, I still got an A didn’t I?) Which was bad cos I focused alot on proving during my revision, and I really freaked out cos I couldn’t prove alot of the theorems and stuff in there. But in the end, somehow I managed to do the exam up to my expectations, and thankfully my linear algebra was still quite solid enough for me to get the A. As for A+, I was nowhere close. So is this module nice to take? You decide if you like matrix computations. I would estimate this as a normal-commitment module.
 
MA1102R Calculus
Lecturer: Wang Fei (Chan Heng Huat was the ‘main’ lecturer though)
My Grade: A
 
The other one of the basic math major modules. Linear algebra and calculus is like the main duality in (NUS) math, at least from my impression. My lecturer was Wang Fei, but the ‘main’ one was Chan Heng Huat. Anyway, I only attended Wang Fei’s lectures, but from hearsay, both of them are very different. Both are excellent, very excellent, which is very very good, but Wang Fei was more ’standard’ with organised lecture slides and all, whereas prof Chan gave my friends the impression of the brilliant and humorous but disorganised genius. I have seen his lecture slides, and they are REALLY chaotic. Anyway, prof Chan was my tutor, so I can attest to the ‘brilliant and humorous’ part too. All in all a fun lecture and tutorial experience.
 
The module curriculum is, what can I say, what you really expect of a rigorous math module. It goes down to the very basics of calculus, and even though my jc calculus was somewhat decent, I was in no way prepared for what was to come. This is very very different from what was taught in jc (though a good foundation is still very impt) because they teach such things as the precise definition of a limit and fundamental theorem of integration and all those basic yet difficult theorems and the nightmare of it all: convergence of series. Series seemed so easy in jc right? This is a different thing altogether (ok not really different, but just difficult. To me.)
 
I would think this module is very high-commitment due to its sheer difficulty, but somehow I always pushed this module aside and concentrated on the others first, thinking I would make time to come back to it later. Whaddya know, I never had the time to go back to it until the revision week before exam. I was really scared I was gonna get a B for this, but I dug deep, went into supercomputer mode for 4 days and gobbled (not literally!) the lecture notes up in a period of spectacularly intensive studying. I ended up feeling that zen enlightenment but nothing can substitute for practice (which is what you DON’T get when you last minute cram) so I didn’t do too well during the exam due to lack of practice (and the worst thing is I knew all the answers 5 mins after I handed up the paper) I thought I would get an A- or maybe B+ but I ended up getting A, which was a pleasant surprise. Oh well, learn from my mistakes, I will NOT push anything aside to the last minute (even though it results in a limit break and zen enlightenment).
 
CS1101S Programming Methodology (Scheme)
Lecturer: Ben Leong
My Grade: A+
 
Well, well, well, the final module, CS1101S. What can I say, it’s like the perfect module. If you’re thinking of whether to choose X, Y, Z or S, I would personally say, choose S. No matter what. Maybe it’s not fair of me to comment on XYZ, or even CZ1102, since I didn’t take those, but from what I hear from friends, the difference is worlds apart. To be fair, not everyone will say S is great, but for me, this is what I have to say:
 
The lecturer is (dare I say) perfect. He has the humour, the knowledge, the care for students, everything, really everything. The lectures are fun and lively, cosy and interesting. I am really really glad that it has been so soon after SSA1201 that I got a lecturer at least as good or perhaps even better than Alexius Anthony Pereira. I actually look forward to the lecture as my once-a-week entertainment and destressing time. The tutorials are great too, I was fortunate to get Chu Duc Hiep which was a really really great tutor (dunno about the other tutors tho) and the recitation was, once again, perfect, conducted by the brilliant Li Mengran. Also, the small class size makes it very cosy and easy to know all (ok not ALL) my classmates, even though I must regretfully admit I wasn’t too social so I am not exactly like life-and-death buddies with most of them, though I have made quite a few friends.
 
So… is it a surprise I got A+? With such great lecturers, tutors, and friends, I put in lots and lots and lots of effort into this module and really made sure I knew everything. I scored nearly perfect marks for my midterm and practical exam, but regretfully screwed up my finals big time. To be fair I only allocated one day of revision to this module (and the bulk of it to *ahem* MA1102R Calculus *ahem*) cos I felt that even if I did screw up I would at least get an A. Would I be sad I didn’t get A+? Of course!!! But I rather get all As than an A+ and Bs. In the end, I really screwed up, but somehow was super lucky enough to still get the A+.
 
So what is covered in this module? Your basic programming stuff and much much more!! Seriously, recursion is covered in like only the second lecture and by the end of the sem we were doing stuff like memoization and dynamic programming!!! If you want to become a kickass hardcore programmer in just one module, this is the way to go. But the module is extremely high commitment, and only partly because of the fact that you get six compulsory need-to-submit programming assignments that you really need to put effort into. So you gotta weigh the pros and cons (what cons?) but in the end, I say, just take this.
 
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Ok so this is the end of my five module review, and next sem I will be doing CS1102S, CS1231, CS2100, MA1104 and MA2101. I know alot of people have been criticising NUS for having a bad undergrad experience and unmotivated lecturers. I dunno about that, since I just finished sem1, but from what I can tell based on this sem, (maybe I’m extremely lucky but) most of the lecturers and tutors were superb! I also want to say that I know alot of people thinks CORS is this screwed up system (and I would agree it is kinda in some ways) but after 2 sems of bidding I have realised that the CORS personnel are actually very helpful (in trying to correct those screwups, that is). What I do not like about NUS though is the very bad admin lapse. Sometimes I email the admin about stuff and I never get a reply. And since this ddp I am taking is a new one, there are alot alot of contradictions and vagueries that I need to enquire and right now, I’m just waiting for cors bidding and CNY to be over so I don’t have to send an email and see a ‘on long leave, will (never) reply when I get back’ message again. Oh well, there’s the good stuff and the bad, I knew I had to be prepared for this.