YEAR 1 SEM 2 (AY14/15) MODULE REVIEW

Modules taken this semester:

Semester in summary:
2nd semester and I finally decided to start some serious studying since there's no more free SUs.
I've also decided to pursue a minor in Business Management because I was really interested in marketing.

1. CS1010S Programming Methodology A-

Lecturer: Prof Leong Wai Kay

Grade expected: B- or C
Grade Obtained: A-
Module difficulty: 8.5/10

This is a compulsory module for all stats majors, the 'S' at the back is coded for science students. 'E' is for engineering students. Normal CS majors take CS1010 (yay!!).The programming language that was being taught in this module was Python, which is actually an essential language for stats students who are interested in analytics or data science in the future.

Lectures were conducted by Prof Leong who speaks really fast but he's also funny, most of the time in a sarcastic tone but he's still really quite funny and teaches well (as compared to most of the chinese stats lecturers who cannot teach at all.

Got to say that I was really quite excited initially to learn about coding and programming because it looks cool and whatever but... ugh seriously? This module was bloody difficult.The entire module was just so damn stressful considering that I have ZERO prior knowledge in coding. Furthermore, my brain doesn't seem to code very well...

The Coursemology quizzes and assignments made me so stress but at the same time I know that this whole game style quiz/assignment did help to spice things up and motivated me to be more eager in clearing my quizzes, tutorials and assignments. But I really died towards the end because it's just never ending. After a lecture, you get quiz/tutorial. Before you even finish the current assignment, the next assignment is already up on Coursemology and every time there's just those few chiong sua people who are competing to be at the top of the honour roll??? So it's really damn stressful to see those people submitting the next assignment when you've barely figured out how to do the current assignment.

The lab practical was a nightmare.
Debugging code is a pain in the ass.

I really put in a lot of time and effort for this module and felt very discouraged many times throughout the semester. And no, I did not reach the maximum level in Coursemology... I think the max was lvl 25 during my sem and I stopped at lvl 22 or 23. My midterms score was just mehhhh so I didn't really have high hopes for this module..

On a very fateful night, friends texted me to tell me that the final marks are out on IVLE. So I went to IVLE and I saw 86/100 (!!?!??!?!) Average was 68/100..?  I think I wasn't supposed to see it because it was removed the next day. Okay, now i finally know how I got that A-. My finals saved me.

How to get A- as a hopeless JC girl who have zero coding knowledge:
1. Be consistent - try to attend lectures as much as possible. Tutorials are extremely helpful (because I got a good tutor hehe).
2. Ask more questions, go for consultations!
3. Practice all the past year papers! This helped me the most
4. Do all your coursemology stuffs. No don't bother doing the extra practices if you don't have time for it. Do the minimum tutorials, quizzes and assignments will do :-)

Is it an easy module?? I have a friend scoring A but I've also got friend scoring C. So yeah.
Update: Ok I realise that many people scored C. But I do have a friend who scored A- :)

Definitely a very time consuming module so be prepared!!!!

2. ST2131 Probability 

Lecturer: Dr. Lim Ching Hway & 2 other profs

Grade expected: B
Grade Obtained: B-
Module difficulty: 8.5/10

I personally hated 2131 a lot.
I couldn't get the first part right - pdf, pdf, cdf... bloody confusing to me at that point of time.
I basically flunked this module and felt super disgusted with the content hahahahaha

Kept switching profs because there were 3 profs teaching this module at that time (what on earth) and ended up wasting a lot of time trying to digest all 3 different sets of notes hahaha

How to do well for 2131: Be consistent. If you don't get any balls about pdf, pmf, cdf, QUICKLY SEEK HELP. It's the freaking foundation for this module. I still couldn't understand this before finals, which explains why it's a B-.

You need to learn this module because it's going to set the foundation for another compulsory module ST2132 Mathematical Statistics (killer module).

3. BSP1004FC Legal Environment Of Business A-

Grade expected: B+
Grade Obtained: A-
Module difficulty: 4/10

Flipped Classroom module, which explains the code FC.
What is Flipped Classroom? It basically means that you watch the pre-recorded lectures webcast at home :-) I love FC because I'm not the kind of person who goes for webcasts unless the prof is especially nice/interesting.

For this module, we learn new content through the webcasts. The professor (a very nice gentle lady) then goes through case studies on how to apply the acts/laws that were taught through the webcast. Definitely found the lectures and in-depth case studies very helpful. Go for tutorials too, they're useful too.

I definitely recommend you to get the textbook for this module because everything is from there and it's cheap, probably $10-$15 on carousell? The textbook also has many useful examples + further elaboration of all the laws mentioned in class.

Finals was just 2 essays :-)

A pretty light and enjoyable module for me! Really enjoyed the module content too. A- was quite an unexpected pleasant surprise (thanks prof heh)

4. LSM1302 Genes and Society B

Lecturer:

Grade expected: A-
Grade Obtained: B?
Module difficulty: 4/10

5. MKT1003X Principles of Marketing B-

Lecturer:

Grade expected: B
Grade Obtained: B- /S
Module difficulty: 4.5/10