AY2014/2015 Semester 1 EC1101E, LAK3201, GEK1520, PL3234, PL3235

The modules I took: EC1101E, LAK3201, GEK1520, PL3234, PL3235

EC1101E (Introduction to Economics)

Lecturer: Ong Ee Cheng, Chan Kok Hoe

Tutor: Chmel Oon

Assessment

Pre-lecture IVLE Quiz (graded on effort): 12%

Tutorial (attendance and participation): 10%

Midterm Exam: 26%

Final Exam: 52%

3 hours lecture and 1 hour tutorial every week. There were quite a lot of questions to prepare the tutorials (MCQs + Short-answer questions) and it is better to do to understand the concepts better. We have to present our answers to earn points for the tutorial participations. My tutor is really good, she put herself in our perspective and understand our difficulties and gave us tips accordingly. She helped me a lot in understanding the concepts better during lessons. If you have taken economics in JC, the micro part will not be that difficult to understand in this module. Dr Ong was very clear in her lectures, I understand much better as compared to during JC. We had to do quiz before/after the lectures first half of the semesters. Midterm exam was tested on micro, so it was ok. After the recess week, Dr Chan took over and went through macro. I honestly do not like macro, it is so confusing... We did on money, banking and financing, a little here and there. Doing the tutorial practices definitely helps. This module is really competitive with a large cohort (600+ students). The mean for the midterm was 40+/60.

LAK3201 (Korean 3)

Lecturer: Chi Seo Won

Tutor: Lee Misun

Assessment

Class participation: 10%

Project (15%)

- Skit on Week 5 and Week 10

Tests (Midterm and Final): 40%

Oral test on Week 6 and Week 11: 20%

Assignment on Week 4 and Week 8: 15%

2 hours lecture twice a week, 2 hours tutorial every week. One interesting activity was kimbab making session during the second half of the semester. The session of quite short though, 25 mins or less, but kimbab is easy to make. We had class quiz (5 fill in the blanks questions) every tutorial but it is not counted into CA. I had quite a hard time coping with level 3 because there were so many vocabs (my lecturer also added her own vocabs for our own knowledge) and I did not spend a lot of time on studying korean. There were slightly more to study as compared to level 2. But much more were tested. There were actually 3 skits, but the lecturers decided to cut down to 2 after we did the first one. We have to write the script from scratch and record our skit instead of performing in front of the class. It is definitely less stressful without presenting the skit out but when you want perfection for both you and your skit partner, many tries have to be done. Sometimes, it is good to just aim for near perfection but not entirely perfect. Oral tests were hell for me. 2 questions each test. It may seemed easy, but no. We only have 2 minutes to say our answer and then the tutor will cut us off. My tutor (also examiner) also had an alarm which rings after 2 mins, which was rather distractive. The second oral test was paired with another student from the class. 1 min to plan 2 mins to say for 2 person. I would advise that practicing speaking korean and using the grammar regularly will help in preparation for the oral test because the questions for 2nd oral test were not practiced in class before. Tests and assignments' formats were rather similar to Korean 1 and Korean 2.

GEK1520 (Understanding of the Universe)

Lecturer: Ng Shao Chin

Tutor: Ching Chee Leong

Assessment

Term tests on Week 7 and Week 13: 45%

Project: 30%

Tutorials: 10%

Participation in e-learning: 5%

Participation in star gazing session: 5%

Participation in discussion forum: 5%

2 hours lectures twice a week and 1 hour tutorial every biweekly. The module is really interesting and I love it. The lecturer usually ended 30 mins earlier. The contents went through during the tutorials were mathematical. The tests were mostly MCQs with few short answered questions. Since the module content is factual, memorising the handouts helped a lot. Calculation questions tested were also very similar to the tutorial questions. This module is really competitive. The mean score for the midterms was 27/34.

PL3234 (Developmental Psychology)

Lecturer: Qin Lili

Tutor: Lin Wenzheng

Assessment

Term paper: 20%

Midterm Exam: 30%

Final Exam: 50%

2 hours lecture every week and 2 hours tutorial every biweekly. The lecturer has a baby voice, some may find it rather irritating. Nevertheless, the lecturer is very clear during the lecture and she explains a lot, hence I guess the reason why we have lesser readings. The readings were only around 10 pages each week. The lectures were easy to follow and understand as well. Tutorials have readings as well and many contents were gone through and tested. There were a mixture of MCQs and short answer questions for both tests.

PL3235 (Social Psychology)

Lecturer: Jia Lile

Tutor: Ranjith

Assessment

Group presentation: 15%

Midterm Exam: 40%

Final Exam: 45%

2 hours lecture every week and 2 hours tutorial every biweekly. The lecturer is very engaging and very clear. I really enjoyed the module a lot, partly because of the content and also the way the lecturer held the lectures. There was also a guest speaker during the second half of the semester. The lecturer mostly tested us on application hence grasping the concept well is important. We did 1 chapter every week, hence 1 chapter of readings each week (around 30+ pages), which is quite a lot. Mostly are already covered during the lectures, but still there are some not covered during lectures, hence it is safer to read them and for better understanding.



Hopefully all these helps! I am super lazy to do module reviews but I think it is good if there are reviews. I always look for reviews too, but found out that many modules do not have reviews. Do post some reviews if you can too, that will help a lot of people :)