Here is my modules review while most of the things are still fresh in my mind.
The modules I took this semester: PL3233, PL3237, GEK1527/LSM1302, GEM2027, LAK3202
PL3233 Cognitive Psychology
Lecturer: Travellia F. Tjokro
Tutor: Wilbur Koh
Assessment
Tutorial assignments 25%
- 2 Essay assignments
- Online-based assignments
Mid Term Exam 25%
Final Exam 50%
2 hours lecture weekly and 2 hours tutorial biweekly. I like Dr. T.'s lecture and enjoy her lectures a lot. She is clear in her delivery and she is very funny! She also shared with us fun facts related to the topic she will be going through for almost every lectures.
The readings for the module were not extremely heavy or difficult to understand (probably the textbook is quite clear). Every chapters is around 30 pages and some lectures she went through 2 chapters.
The mid term exam requires us to compare this and that theory which makes it slightly harder because they are usually from different chapters or very similar and hence caused confusions (testing on our understanding of concepts). The final exam requires less of comparison (almost none?) but need us to evaluate the essay. She also tested on the experiment from our online-based assignment, totally caught me off guard. (She said she might or might not come out with questions from the experiments. But she did.)
I think it is kind of tedious to do essay for every tutorial though. The module was not as bad as I thought cognitive psychology module would be after reading some of the past years' review on the module. The tutor told us that the readings were much lesser and easier to understand compared to a few years back when he took it. Wilbur is also clear in his explanations during the tutorials and he seemed to know a lot. For our tutorials, we basically have to present and share about the article we had chosen.
PL3237 Language & Cognitive Processes
Lecturer: Rickard Liow, Susan Jane
Tutor: Choo Rui Qi
Assessment
Discussion Groups Presentation 10%
Mid Term Quiz 30%
Final Exam 60%
2 hours lecture weekly and 2 hours tutorial biweekly. This is one of the modules that I disliked a lot for this semester. I did not really understood what the lecturer said and the content in the lecture notes were not organised, hence even though there were a lot of slides within one lecture (60-80++ slides) I did not really know how to link the contents and how to apply them. I had a really hard time studying for this module.
What is reasonable for this module is the readings. We were asked to buy the readings compiled by the lecturer and the readings consist of research papers. There is only 1 compulsory research paper reading for the tutorials and 1 reading for tutorial group presentation. But for my group, we took turns to present for every tutorial and each person presented twice (i.e. 2 readings). The marks allocation for tutorials presentation were really low. We are split into groups. We had to present about the research paper for 4 tutorials. We had to come out with presentation slides and some papers were not easy to understand, and all these efforts are only worth 10%. There isn't any textbook for this module, probably it is really hard to find one as well or there is none. But the readings did not help me in understand the lectures' content.
The tutor was nice as she went through additional information that aids in understanding the lecture. She clarified the things that were not that clear in the lecture with us.
GEK1527/LSM1302 Genes & Society
Lecturer: Lam Siew Hong
Assessment
CA 40%
- Online quizzes/survey participation (IVLE)
- Short structured questions assignment
- Essay assignment
- Mini project (brochure) assignment
Final Exam (60MCQs) 60%
2 hours lecture twice a week. This is the module that I disliked the most!!! I can see that the lecturer is very passionate in the subject he is teaching. However, I did not like his lecture style. He elaborated A LOT for each and every slides especially those at the beginning of the lecture and towards the end he had no time but rushed through and ended late each and every lectures. It will be alright he elaborated to help us understand the concepts. However, majority of what he elaborated was not that useful in my opinion. I managed to attend half of his lectures but during the second half of the semester, I stopped going.
He would randomly give questions during the lectures and we had to submit the answers on IVLE. He would not post the questions on IVLE, everything will just be letters. And only correct answers will be awarded the marks (I only know at the last lecture). Perhaps, he did not want anyone to skip the lectures, but majority of the people skipped it anyway.
I took this module because I heard that it is very similar to H2 biology. I would say 1/4 is not and I had a hard time remembering these contents. It would also be better if you study with your H2 biology notes. 60 MCQs for final exam may seem to be easy. But it is definitely not. The options are hard to choose. For example, A is point a, B is point b, C is point c, D is point a and b, E is point a, b and c. Almost all questions are like that! The knowledge and understanding of each and every topic is very important.
GEM2027 Public Speaking
Lecturer: Elizabeth Veronica Cardoza
Tutor: Jenny Lam
Assessment
Informative Speech 15%
Persuasive Speech 20%
Responder/Critique Speech 15%
Reflective assignment 15%
In-Class Quiz 20%
Participation 15%
1 hour lecture weekly and 2 hours tutorial weekly. This module is considered very heavy for a GEM module but a useful module that equip you with life skills. There are also ungraded speeches: Introductory speech, commemorative speech and impromptu speech. The tutor will allocate which week we will be presenting the speeches. (Time management is important - do not wait till last minute to write the speech)
The preparation for the speeches are tough and effortful because we have to write the entire speech on our preparation outline, have to practice to be familiarized with the speech (we are not allowed to make editing to our script during the speech), and have to meet the criteria of both speech content and presentation. This have to be done for commemorative, informative, persuasive and critique speech.
For the reflective assignment, it is a project that we have to make video about what we learn from the module. This is effortful as well.
Finally, the textbook reading is compulsory because the quiz will test on everything from textbook as well as lecture notes. You will realized the lecture notes are the summary of the textbook and you would not know the content just by reading the lecture notes. Furthermore, she tested a lot on the textbook examples and some of the questions are like "from the textbook ...". I did not like her lecture style as well. I don't really understand her lectures, and sometimes I don't go for it.
Nevertheless, this is a module that I had fun. It is a module I felt that I have learnt about myself and see much improvement in myself. I have also learnt a lot on speech writing and delivering a speech. The tutor gave my class many additional tips to improve our speech and they are very useful even out of classroom.
LAK3202 Korean 4
Lecturer: Park Hyunjeong
Tutor: Yoon Boo Young
Assessment
2 Assignments 15%
Project (Skit) 15%
Attendance/Participation 10%
Mid Term Test 20%
Final Term Test 30%
Oral Test 10%
2 hours lecture twice weekly and 2 hours tutorial weekly as usual. Korean 4 has much more grammars to learn as compared to Korean 3. There are more grammars that are similar to what is used in native speakers. I feel that the expectations and workload for Korean 4 is not as demanding as Korean 3. The amount of workload more reasonable as compared to Korean 3. The lecturer is clear in her explanation but lectures can be quite drilling because we have a lot of grammars to cover every lessons. The tutor made the lesson more interesting though she used more advanced Korean language such that I could not understand some things that she mentioned. Korean 5 will be more on speaking than writing, I shall consider whether to take it or not.
