Year 4, Semester 1

PL4219 Advanced Abnormal Psychology
Lecturer: Dr Gwee Kenji
Best! Lecturer! Ever! Seriously, if you see Dr Gwee taking any modules, JUST DO IT! He is very engaging and his classes are so interactive! Dr Gwee is a clinical psychologist at IMH so he normally shares very interesting stories from work. That’s great because it brings our content to life. He is funny and always happy and laughing, he is not afraid to curse in class looool. He’s very honest and he’s open to our endless questions.

Seminar
3 hours of this module is too short. Dr Gwee’s style is very unique because he teaches minimally from the slides that are already very clean with few words, and he encourages us to ask questions instead. So the class is actually ran by the students who keep asking and asking and asking questions. It was stressful but it was good because it made me think about the content and think of questions to ask Dr Gwee. He’d use videos to illustrate the concepts or therapies, which is very useful for understanding.

Workload: 4/5
We learnt a mixture of disorders and therapies and psychological tools, it was a good breath with some dept. There were at least 2 readings each week, there was a week with 6 crazy readings! But they weren’t so bad. It was just time consuming but some readings are interesting so it was not that much of a pain. But just don’t delay your readings till the final MCQ because there’ll be too many to catch up with by then. So just take it easy and do your weekly readings diligently and you’ll be fine.

Grading:
25% Attendance & Participation
30% Essay
15% Group Presentation
30% Quiz
Participation was so stressful! Because everyone is SO vocal, so it’ll stress you out and also push you to think of something to ask. i have never been in such a vocal and enthusiastic class. Attendance wasn’t a problem at all because the module is SO engaging and interesting, you’d be a fool to miss it!
The essay was due in the middle of the sem, so we were given a lot of time to do it. Being the kiasu student, i started the essay really early so it was okay for me. Thank God for blessing me with a really good grade too! It was educational to write about my topic because it was a disorder that i’ve never heard of before and I learnt so much from it. Start early and you’ll be okay :)
Group presentation was held in week 3/4 which was great! It was good to just get it over and done with. The topic was free for all and we could choose what disorder or therapy to present about. Our groups were huge like 8 people, so not everyone needed to present. The groups were all really creative with their presentation style like a talk show or a game show. Note to self to make presentations more engaging haha.
There were no finals for this module, so the final MCQ quiz was held in week 12. We had MCQ questions about the content and 2 case studies MCQ. The bell curve for the paper was mad steep and i didn’t do well.. study very hard and carefully because his MCQ options are SUPER tricky like a. I, ii, iii. B. I, ii, iii, iv. LOL.

Overall, i really enjoyed this module! It's so interesting to learn about the different therapies and think about how you can actually use it in real life with friends lol. Not sure as to how i will fare for this module because my final quiz grade was terrible.. but it’s okay, it’s the knowledge that counts haha. Take this module if you’re interested in venturing into the clinical field or you are interested in different therapies! It’s a good module not to be missed.



PL4221 Early Language Development
Lecturer: Prof Leher Singh
Prof Singh is very nice and gentle. Her slides are basically the summary of the textbook chapter of the week haha so it was really good revision after reading the textbook. She talks pretty fast tho so typing is easier than writing haha. she opened up office hours for post midterm consultation and i appreciated that she was willing to help me with my feedback :)

Seminar
This seminar was the least stressful one because it was just 3 hours of Prof Singh reading off the slides haha! She has many slides every week, an average of 60+. She did ask questions and encouraged the class to engage in a discussion but i guess our class was really shy and quiet so there were many Long awkward moments of silence between silences haha. Sometimes Prof Singh would tell us stories a bout her 2 sons and how language development milestones were seen in her sons. That was pretty interesting as it also helped us understand the content better.

Workload: 3.5/5
The workload was manageable to me in my opinion because it just needed us to prep for mid terms and finals, as per usual. And just read 1 chapter from the textbook weekly. The textbook was relatively easy to read. We used Erika Hoff’s Language Development textbook. I'm selling the e-book so if you would like a copy, leave a comment below :) Yes, the essay definitely took up time but if started early, it is not as stressful and there is more time to do research and check through. The workload for this module is really manageable actually, since there is no group presentation and the essay could be started way in advance.  

Grading:

30% Mid-term Exam

15% Short report

15% Attendance and class engagement

40% Final Exam
Mid terms and finals were just 40 MCQ! Best testing format ever haha. And they were non-cumulative, which is great because there is just SO much content. she mainly tested on our conceptual understanding. so memorize your definitions! The short report was a critique of a research paper. Prof released a set of research papers on different topics and we could choose which article we wanted to review on. It was quite manageable as well because the limit was 5 pages? If you start early, you’ll be okay :) kinda worried about class engagement grading because none of us asked questions Nor answered them,i t was the quietest class ever lol.  

although this wasnt my first choice module, i dont regret taking it. it was very insightful and when i watched baby videos of my cousins, it made senseeee haha! it is good general knowledge to have a proper term to a child's development. take this module if you're interested in young children's development and if you want a relatively chill mod haha. the content was heavy as a whole but because exams were non-cumulative, it was manageable. 

PL4223 Introduction to Clinical Neuropsychology
Lecturer: Prof Simon Lowes Collinson
Sadly, this sem was his last class in NUS bcos he is leaving :( but he was not bad, knowledgable and pretty chill. He’d share with us his clinical cases some times too.

Seminar:
The seminar is pretty chill! The first hour is normally the prof going through the slides. His slides were pretty clean and informative too. Then the remaining 2 hours were spent on rotating group presentations. It can be q boring and sleepy sometimes especially when things get too technical and you dont know what’s going on. honestly i'm not too sure if i took away anything because most of the info gained from the seminar are from student presentations so it wasn't as concrete as the prof's explanations? wished he taught more and simplified whatever we were presenting.

Workload: 3.5/5
The workload was light for me because i didn't have to prepare weekly slides and only needed to prepare the speech. we hardly had readings and there was no textbook! so it was pretty chill. there wasn't any written essay assignment either so it was mainly the presentation portion and the end of sem quiz.

Grading:
40% Core Knowledge MCQ
20% Class Presentation
10% Attendance
30% Final Exam
The core knowledge MCQ was on week 4 or smth, testing only the first 3 weeks’ content such as brain areas and clinical neuroscience info. The MCQ was online so we just did it in class, it was pretty chill. But the weightage is so high.
We were assigned into 5 groups by Prof and all of us had to present on an aspect of a clinically ‘famous’ disorder or debates. There is a routine, where different group will present on the epidemiology, introduction, neuropsychology, neuropathology and treatment of a chosen topic by the prof weekly. We did topics like dementia, stroke, schizo etc. Our groups were so big, so we came up a system where each of us will prepare weekly slides and there are 2 permanent Presenters haha so i was the permanent presenter. Pros and cons because i didn’t have to do slides but i just had to prepare my speech. It was good presentation practice and confidence practice haha.
This module doesnt have finals so we had an online OTOT test on week 13. Prof gave us an article to prepare for on w12 and on w13 he said we could do this test at home, we only needed to upload our answers on IVLE. The best thing is that we can do this with our friends! Hehe so my friends and i gathered in class and did the test together, it was the least stressful test ever haha every test should be like this!

overall, it was an okay module. i remember telling myself that i will never study neuropsych again after last sem's neuropsych mod but here i was haha. not sure what i took away from it to be very honest.. but if anything, i think the weekly presentations have trained my confidence and pushed me to present without a script. also, after learning how vulnerable and important our brain is, i've started to wear my seat belt in every car i sit in because we learnt of the effects of a car accident and how even the mildest damage to the brain leads to a life long inconvenience. kudos to caregivers who dedicate their lives to take care of their loved one who suffers from a brain injury. it really takes so much patience and love :'(



PL4880K Parenting and Child Development
Lecturer: Dr Qin Lili
Dr Qin has a very soft and high pitched voice haha. it is so gentle and feminine it's hard to be mad at her. her grading is pretty strict tho and she is quite particular wrt feedback style. but she gives the most constructive feedback ever. she shared w me how to improve my essay, how to make my presentation better, how to carry myself, how to be engaging, how to think critically. i have never received such useful feedback from any other lecturers in my past 4 years. they always say "think critically" and then i get sucky grades for my essays because i dont know how to think critically. but prof qin brings us through the process of thinking critically and gives us pointers on how to do so. i wish someone told me this in year 1, i could have done better in my modules!

Seminar:
Seminars had different routines. some weeks we had 2 groups presenting and that takes up the entire 3 hours. some weeks we have 1 group presenting followed by the prof's teaching.

Workload: 5/5
i'd say that the workload for this module is the heaviest for the semester. there were 2 weekly readings and that was time consuming enough. we also had to do our weekly forum posts to get our participation grade haha. and it isn't just a random forum post, we are graded according to the quality of our contributions too. that was stressful. we had 1 essay as well and we had to watch a 1.5 hour movie plus evaluate it so i guess that's time consuming too haha.

Grading:
15% Group Presentation
10% Class Participation
20% Term Paper
20% Midterm
35% Final Exam
We had 1 group presentation each. groups were assigned to us and so was the paper that we had to present. i guess it was a relatively easier presentation as it was just presenting about the paper. but Prof Qin was very particular with our presentation content, design, talking, posture, everything!! she also said that our presentation grade is a mixture of peer sms grading and her grade. but i must say that her feedback is very constructive and the most useful feedback i've ever received in my 4 years in uni.
Prof Qin knew that most of us are shy to speak up in class, so she made class participation into 2 portions - in class and weekly forum post. we are given the opportunity to post a question about the 2  weekly readings. not many of us spoke up in class but SO many of us contributed to the forum post.
The term paper is a report about any parenting related issue from I Not Stupid Too! it was interesting to watch a familiar movie with an academic mindset haha.
Finals were in a similar format to our mid term. she mainly tested on results and discussion portions of our readings. it was quite manageable actually!

overall, i really enjoyed this module! the content was very applicable and relatable to life and it reminded me of my childhood and how my parents parent haha. the content is very interesting so the journal articles that we read are quite engaging :) i looked forward to every lesson simply because of the content hahaha. take this module if you're interested in children and family!

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this sem passed WAY to quickly. i know i say this every sem but this sem is by far the fastest. although i only spend 3 days in school, i feel that i'm studying everyday because there is just so many readings to complete and understand o.o i kinda enjoy the seminar style of classes because it's more engaging and intimate haha. helps to pay attention too. it feels really long some times tho but they do give breaks in between. this sem has been enjoyable because i got to take part in church activities and school activities too. i joined kickboxing this sem haha it was a good work out for the week. as much as i'm a lazy bum, kickboxing actually makes me look forward to exercising heh. i did dance a bit this sem, i got to join some workshops and parties for my dance so wew. best of all worlds i guess? the sem started off pretty relaxing initially and i had time to meet people. but as the sem passed, i felt that i was kinda overwhelmed with readings and thus had lesser time to meet people sigh. but it was an enjoyable journey throughout. gotta tell myself that it's my second last sem and i'll just enjoy every moment of it, stressful or not :)

God has been my Rock this semester. He has blessed me with time this sem and i am so thankful for that. because of the timing of my lessons, i have more time in the morning to do my bible reading and pray. it really is a luxury of time to spend an hour basking in God's presence and just receiving from Him. i look forward to each morning because it was a chance to get away from studies and focus on something that makes me happy :') i was also able to meet more people because less time is spent in class during the week. and because there are no morning classes, there is no stress of waking up early to go to school and i actually got enough sleep this sem! amazing, thank God :)

i think the most memorable moment with Jesus this sem was when i got last in class for my quiz. i was d e v a s t a t e d and so angry because i studied so much. i kept asking God why. why did i get so low, why me when i put in a crapload of effort into my revision and i've been consistent w my work and i sacrificed social life to study etc. but the Holy Spirit checked my heart and asked me why am i focusing on myself? focus on God, who He is, what He has done for me. and what God has done for me over the years is that He sustains me, no matter how sucky my grades got. God never changes, He is far too powerful to let circumstances change Him. and this truth brought me so much peace and hope because it meant that even tho i got the lowest in class for my quiz with the potential of getting a poorer grade for my CAP, it doesn't change the fact that He has a good plan for me. it doesn't change the fact that He already has in mind my first job. it doesn't change my first job, it doesn't change my identity. i am just so amazed at how comforting it is to know that even tho i may not do well in school, i can place my hope in God who has a plan for me, who takes care of me, who loves me regardless of my grade. how beautiful it is to know the Lord, someone who loves me unconditionally and only wants the best for me :')

so to those who felt that they did not do well this semester, fear not. have hope! because there is a God out there who cares for you, who wants to meet your every need. He loves you regardless of what you have done in the past or will do in the future. He only wants the best for His precious child. even though if you feel worthless to people, you are never worthless in the eyes of God. even though you may feel that you are not good enough, you are whole in God. you are not defined by your grades. in God you will find wisdom, hope, joy, confidence, peace, love, and so much more, if only will you open up your heart to Him <3

i hope your semester has been good! treasure every day in school and join activities outside your comfort zone. it's a season of growth and of adventures! have a wonderful winter break, you deserve it! :)

God bless!