Year 2, Semester 1

PL3232 Biological Psychology

Lecturers: Dr. Camilo David Libedinsky

I wouldnt say that Dr Camilo is the best bio psych lecturer there is... although his slides are pretty clear, but they are very confusing initially! becasue he overlaps his pictures (for animation purposes), my friends and i spend a huge amount of time separating them and consolidating the notes! although i must say that the notes pretty much sums up what the textbook is saying. there can be easily 8 animations per slide, what a headache and dread it was so separate each section into a new slide! most of the time he says "but we are still not very sure about this topic" and then he gives us an iffy explanation for it and we will be just like urgh then why do you include it in... but he is rather patient and a nice lecturer :) his teaching style is interesting, where he engages us on an online poll during lecture! he would ask questions and we can (voluntarily) log on and 'live' answer them. he will then explain the answer to us. the questions were pretty helpful in allowing us to check whether we really understand the topic :) he also uses many videos to illustrate the concept, which is very useful! it brings the concept to life and it is quite engaging. the best thing was that there was webcast yay!

Weightage: 

60% CA: short quizzes, group tasks, assessments of lecture and tutorial presentations and participation
40% Final exam

Module participation was taken seriously. we could see our tutor marking down something (im assuming our names) every time 1 person finishes talking during tutorial discussion time. i learnt that they don't mark you for whether your answers are correct or not, they just want you to talk in class. i remember during my first tutorial i was really quiet because i had nothing to contribute to the answer but my classmate told me that i should just say something random to earn the point! so i just said that i agreed with the previous speaker's contribution hahaha. 

since there were 2 components to our content: an online portion and the actual lecture itself, there were also quizzes for the online portion. but thankfully we were given unlimited attempts for the questions! the online portion were just (many) videos to watch and a few MCQs to answer. it was not too bad.

Exam format: 

2 hours, closed-book

SAQ & 1 Essay

No mid-terms!

i was so annoyed at finals! i guess all content was tested BUT THE QNS WERE TUTORIAL QNS, which are essentially only the first 6 chapters... 1 of my friend said that the lecturer/tutor mentioned that only tutorial qns will be tested but none of my friends that i attend the lecture with heard that memo and we stupidly studied everything, which was extremely stressful! how could we miss the memo when we were present at every. single. lecture.

Workload: 4/5 (5 being most heavy)

workload was pretty heavy because we had to watch the online content before the lecture and prepare for it subsequently otherwise we would be so lost during the question time.. it was time consuming and the consolidation of slides took up even more time! needing to study every fortnightly for the quiz was also time consuming because multiple chapters were tested. 

Tutorial Format:

tutorials were held fortnightly but there were class quizzes during every tutorial. it was very stressful for me because i had to quickly digest the new concepts.. after doing the quiz for 30 minutes, we are then given another 30 minutes to do the quiz again as a class and we are given 2 grades: 1 for our individual attempt and 1 for the group attempt. the remaining amount of time was spent explaining the answers by the tutor. on the second last tutorial, we were told to come up with a short essay with 3 errors in it, for the other groups to do and spot the error, as a form of assessment. and on the last tutorial, we had to play a graded spot the error from another group's essay. what an interesting tutorial format!

overall, this module was a huge struggle for me because i have not studied bio since sec 4. but since it is a core mod, i had to take it. given a choice, i wouldn't want to take it again! but the content was rather interesting, learning why we sleep and why we feel, a brief introduction to psychological disorders was pretty cool too! i guess they attempted to inject consistency into the module by having those fortnightly quizzes and i think it helped slightlyy. i'm glad i got to attend this module with my friends, it made learning so much better! :) 

PL3235 Social Psychology

Lecturers: Dr Jia Lile

dr jia is a really nice, funny and engaging lecturer! he'd tell us about his personal life and his adorable daughter haha and he also engages his students by opening an online 'live' poll! he also includes videos in his lectures that not only entertains us but also allow us to see the concept come alive :) his slides were very nice, there were different themes every week! only downside is that his slides are very messy, it doesn't follow the flow of the textbook which frustrated me when i was doing my notes oops. but the content of his slides were good and straight to the point. it was not flooded with words :) 

Weightage: 

15% Tutorial (Pop quizzes + Short Presentation)

20% Mid-Term

20% Mock Opinion Piece

45% Finals 

There were pop quizzes almost during every tutorial, but they were not too scary. it was just 5 mcq questions from the previous week's lecture content and it was not stressful at all. it was a good time to refresh our memory and make sure that we understand our content! the class presentation was rather interesting too, my group presented on reasons behind singapore's kiasuism and it was fun researching on it! other topics included pokemon go, joseph schooling etc. tutorials were 1 hour weekly and time passed really quickly then. 

Exam format: 

2 hours, closed-book

MCQ + Open ended questions for both mid terms and finals

Midterms were rather tricky. he tested more on application than 'what' questions. the open ended questions were rather different. instead of a formal tone that we normally receive during exams, it was light hearted and relatable to real life situations. it was also quite tricky as we had to really think about which social theory to use, considering the massive amount of theories we have learnt! 

finals were surprisingly alright! there were a few familiar mcq looking questions and turns out they were from the textbook haha! the questions were very direct, straightforward and lotsa hints for the open ended. however, mcq was rather tricky because it was not as straightforward, much inference and interpretation were needed. 

Workload: 3/5 (5 being most heavy)

i'd say that among all the 3 psych modules i have taken, this module has the lightest workload and the most interesting content because it was very applicable to life and i can see it happening in my daily activities! the only assignment given was the opinion piece which was just having to report about a newspaper article based on social psychology concepts. as the requirements were not too strict and it was given to us pretty early during the semester, there was no hurry nor much stress in doing the assignment :)

Tutorial Format:

As mentioned above, we had 5 minute mcq quizzes almost every tutorial. before that, our tutor would revise with us the previous week's content, or share with us more information about what we have learnt in the singapore context. we had class presentations during the last 4 tutorials which took up much time too. i enjoyed tutorials because i had really nice group mates!

Overall, this is my favourite psych module i have taken because it is so applicable to life and i can SEE it happening (unlike bio psych lol)! the content is a lot but it is not as heavy as the other 2 modules i am taking. i'd recommend you to take social psych together with either developmental or bio psych to balance out the content load :-) although lectures were at 8am and it was so painful to wake up extremely early to head to school, taking this module with my friends made 8am lectures so much more bearable! plus, i have to say that dr jia puts in the effort to engage his students so that we don't fall asleep. every lecture, he would bring with him either red bull or hot coffee to drink, haha! 

PL3239 Industrial Organisational Psychology

Lecturers: Prof Al Kin-Chung Au

Prof Al Au is a humorous lecturer haha. there were moments when we couldnt catch his accent and pronunciation but other than that he is not bad :) he also uses videos to illustrate the concepts and brought them to life, which was really entertaining!! his slides are extremely clean, clear and precise. although they don't really follow the flow of the textbook, but reading the slides is sufficient preparation for tests. 

Weightage: 

10% Module Participation

12% Group Presentation

13% Individual Commentary

20% Mid Term

45% Finals

Similar to PL3232's module participation, i think they just want us to talk during discussion time haha. but it was much easier for this module because our tutorial group was already smaller to begin with, and we were further split into 2 more groups for discussion. so it was a comfortable number of 8 people per group approximately :) the individual commentary were just our opinions and suggestions about the presentation topic that we have to present on, while presentation was about our weekly reading :)  

Exam format: 

2 hours, closed-book

MCQ for mid terms, MCQ + 2 essays for finals

I didn't do too well for mid terms because it did not cross my mind that i should read my tutorial readings and so much was tested on it! furthermore the content for mid terms was crazy heavy haha. it was a good lesson learnt in preparation for finals, i spent more time studying my readings and i guess the effort paid off because much was tested on the readings! :) the content for finals was much better as it was more fun and relatable to study too. 

Workload: 3/5 (5 being most heavy)

there wasn't much workload except for the week that my group was presenting, and the week after that because our individual commentary was due. other than that, we just needed to read the textbook! most of the work came in before our tests because we had to memorize everything haha.

Tutorial Format:

Tutorials were held fortnightly too and each tutorial was just about a group presenting the readings of the week. attendance was taken and tutorials were pretty chill! i enjoyed going for tutorial because the groups presenting helped to bring the readings to life and it felt good being able to understand what's going on because we read the readings hahaha. it was very self-directed, our tutor barely lifted a finger. we spent a good 30 minutes presenting and another 40 minutes having discussion! the discussion questions were directed and thought out by the presenting group and it helped us to apply what we have learnt to real life jobs and industries. after the discussion, the tutor will give a summary of the readings :) i had a really sweet tutor and nice classmates, so it was enjoyable going for tutorial!

I'd rate this module a 3/5 in terms of enjoyement because it is pretty technical. the contents are split into 2 categories: industrial and organizational. the former was really dry and boring, memorizing it was so painful! but the latter was much more fun to remember and learn because it was very people-related, of which i like! i'd say that the content is pretty heavy too, the entire module is just about memory work, little application because everything is out there already :) i took this module because i was thinking of venturing into the HR industry / be an IO psychologist! but after this module i'm starting to think twice about my future hahaha. it's a good module to take if you're interested to know how psychology can be related to jobs in general. we learnt about job attitudes, job motivation, stress, job analysis, training and development, etc :)

LAG1201 German 1

Teacher: Diane Schürmeier

Frau Schurmeier is really nice! my first western teacher hahaha. she's patient and i love it when she shares stories from germany during class! makes all of us want to go there right now :) she's also gentle and approachable. 

Weightage:

30% Class Participation & Assignments

70% Tests and Video Projects

i wasn't even aware of class participation haha because normally in class frau schurmeier will call on names to give answers and stuff! 

Exam format: 

CA - 

4 Vocabulary Quizzes

2 Semester Tests

3 Video Assignments

3 Individual Assignments

assignments included 3 individual write ups in german and 2 audio recording of your write up. i felt that it was more stressful than group video projects because you have to get your intonation really on point haha as there is no other people covering up your mistake. we also had 3 video assignments! it was quite fun actually, my last video assignment was done over a skype recording, it was pretty cool! i think these assignments were in place of orals for the module as other language modules have an oral component. so relieved and glad that there is no oral for german, i'd rather do all these video and voice assignments! :) 

the tests were held almost every fortnightly, which was quite stressful for me. we had 4 vocabulary tests biweekly and 2 semester tests. the vocab tests were 100% memory work so we had to literally memorize the glossary book aka our german dictionary. it was rather painful for me because memory work is hard for me and i had to try all sorts of ways to memorize the words and translations. what's worse is that we had to memorize the gender for the nouns too, and the verb conjugations! vocab tests were not fun at all but the product of everyone's hard work paid off :) the semester test included listening comprehension, grammer, vocab and reading comprehension. the LC was tough because the speakers spoke in really fluent and fast german, unlike the exercise book's CD haha so we were all caught off guard during our first semester test. other than that the other components of the semester tests were alright! not too intimidating and i quite enjoyed it more than the vocab tests :-)

Workload: 4/5 (5 being most heavy)

this module was really time consuming for me because we had so many worksheets to complete for the weeks' lessons that occured twice a week. on top of that there were homework from the assessment book itself. also, the biweekly vocab test took up so much of my time because time is needed to spend memorizing the glossary book. i remembered that i was rather frustrated in the middle of the semester because of how much time german was taking up and i had no much time left for my other major mods.. the audio recording for individual assignments were also so time consuming for  me. but i think it will vary for different people because for me i'd make sure that all my intonations are correct and stuff so i'd keep repeating until i get it, while others could have just recorded once and for all, i dont know! but this is really a personal preference on how much effort you want to put into the audio assignment :-) but the time spent for video assignments were not wasted and they were fun! no regrets :) 

Tutorial Format:

there were no lectures and it was very classroom style based just like college! i enjoyed the small class size and the personal interaction with my teacher. it was a cozy environment and not stressful! even when we had to speak up in german we can see our friends helping and supporting each other which was really heartwarming to see :) i liked my class, and the different group project groups that were assigned to us helped us to mingle with our other classmates which was good too! 

overall, i quite enjoyed german actually. and i managed to put it into use when i became friends with a german exchange student from my cca! although it was tough remembering the different gendered nouns, the odd grammar structures and the different verb conjugations, the pain was worth it i guess :) i would strongly recommend you to take up any language module for the experience! learning a third language although takes much effort, but it is really fun and enjoyable :) i'd like to take another language in my future semesters! 

CFG1020: Roots and Wings 2.0

Facilitators: Gregor & Crystal

apparently different classes have different facilitators haha. gregor and crystal were really funny, gentle, nice and approachable. i love going for their classes! 

Weightage: 

20% attendance

15% reflective journal

10% surveys

25% group project

10% individual essay

20% individual project

i decided to upgrade to 2.0 because i wanted to clear my UEs haha plus i was told that there was barely any workload! the latter is false. there was quite a bit of work to do, considering it is a pass/fail module. i think they changed the structure after previous sem's feedback to increase the workload and i understand that they are still experimenting with the different approaches for this module as this sem was only their second time holding it!

attendance was easy because class was really interactive and enjoyable! it was like a mini getaway for all of us because we barely had to use our brains during class :) it was quite seminar style where we sat behind a projector in a semicircle.

the reflective journal was actually a bit annoying because we had to constantly update it with how we have been using the exercises we learnt during class in our lives. my friend didnt update his for awhile and he received a comment on his google doc "hello? are you there?" hahaha it was pretty funny. although it was a nice time of reflecting on my life, it was also a bitttt time consuming as i had to set aside time to sit down and write several journal entries..

the group project was really fun! we got to choose the topic that we want to do and it was very freestyle. my group did about confidence! we were instructed to come up with a pseudo seminar guide, a video and a presentation. i really enjoyed myself through the entire group project process. we would meet up at rc4's game room and spend an hour playing table soccer before starting on our meeting hahaha! and it was a lighthearted and applicable topic for us so it was nice researching and preparing for it :-)

the individual essay was our commitment essay. we just had to write about what we want to commit ourselves to do and how we are going to achieve it or how we have practiced it or how we have achieved it. it was also very freestyle and no pressure if you start early haha because they gave us the assignment early during the sem when it's due at the end of it.

the individual project was the most annoying component because we had to come up with a 3-5 minutes video about our project. i managed to carry out a bit of my project but it was insufficient to film 3-5 minutes of it. you may think that 3 minutes is little but nope hahhaa it's longer than you think it is! although i must say that it was very heartwarming and fun to carry out your own project that you designed. 

Exam format: 

CA-

Group project

individual essay

individual project

individual journal submissions

-as mentioned above-

Workload: 2/5 (5 being most heavy)

i'd say that this module is the best mod i had in the semester. it was most fun, most enjoyable, least workload of all! if you can, i'd strongly recommend you to upgrade to 2.0 :) 

Tutorial Format:

seminars were once a week for 2 hours. it was really engaging and hands on as we were given activity sheets to do and bring home! also we always started with a breathing exercise so it helped us to focus on the present and calm down. after the exercise, gregor will ask us how we are feeling at the moment and we would go 1 round sharing 1 word of how we are feeling. it was a pleasant exercise, the more we did it the more we enjoyed it over the week! 

however, we had to watch weekly ivle videos, read the seminar guide and do their (graded) quiz before going for class. the seminar guide was quite interesting to read tho! it was the extra readings, the videos and the quiz that was more time consuming.. we also had to post twice on the ivle forum weekly because it was graded! but it was free and easy (we could talk about anything or reply to other people's posts) and i quite enjoyed replying to others' posts, sharing our opinions and experiences :-)

we also got to complete experiential exercises and practices in module guide which was interesting also! (ok i use the word interesting too many times already haha but it's true!!) it was very applicable in life and that's what i like about the module. 

overall, this was the best module and i enjoyed it so much! we were assigned into trios at the first seminar and we spent most of our discussions with our trios which was very comfortable as we got to know each other better over the semester :) i like this module because it was a no-brainer during class haha and it was a change of environment and it was hands on! i remember we would move around the classroom to sort ourselves into the relevant categories, make new friends, write on post its and stuff. the most memorable one was the lesson on empathy where we were instructed to put our shoes in the middle of the classroom and we had to wear someone else's shoes! i went for the comfortable flats and it was so comfy! i also liked my project group because we could all click really well! best module ever :') our last seminar together was so bittersweet it was a mixture of relief, happiness and sadness haha. will miss it so much! 

--

y2s1 was a challenge for me. with high commitments to my cca, external commitments and also my first time taking 3 level 3000 modules together, it was quite an experience! the stress was real but i really thank God for miraculously extending my time weekly and i manage to finish my work for the week. the difficult journey taught me to rely more than ever on God, trusting in Him that He will see me through and sustain me. i've learnt a lot through the content, but also about myself and about life. it was a fun semester for me too because of the different new experiences in my cca! i think this semester really taught me how to juggle my time, sort out my priorities and not to give in to peer pressure. the struggle is real to give into peer pressure in uni and with everything that uni is trying to grab your attention, it is important to surround yourself with friends who understand you and of good influence, friends who will realign your focus back to God or your #1 priority. i'm also thankful for my cell group who kept me grounded through the semester and my friend in cca whom we share our spiritual journeys together. all glory to the Almighty Lord! :-) 

i hope you had a wonderful semester too! i wish you all the best for your results, i believe that you have done your best :) don't let your grades define who you are because they are just alphabets and numbers. life is more than just grades and caps, results are only a passing stone in your journey! what's more important is that you treasure the people around you, appreciate the little things you have in life; how people change people and what we can do for others to bless them :-)  

God Bless!

Year 2 Sem 1 Week 1.

Hello!

I hope you've had a wonderful summer! how am i year 2 already???

for this semester, i'll be taking:
cfg1020 Roots and Wings
lag1201 German 1
pl3233 Biological Psychology
pl3235 Social Psychology
pl3239 Industrial Organisational Psychology

i'm pretty nervous for this semester because i'm taking 3 level 3000s. it's kinda intimidating!

also quite excited but also doubtful of german because it's a new language and i heard it's time consuming. but hey, you only live once! when will you get to learn a new language again with all the resources, especially after graduation haha.

i have minimal biology background, the last time i touched biology was in secondary 4 and i wasn't even a pure bio student! i attended my first bio lecture yesterday and i have to say i was secretly intimidated and afraid because everyone seems to know their stuff already haha. but i'll make it through! somehow!

i also upgraded my cfg to 2.0, so that it can be counted as an UE and not be wasted away with 0MCs haha.

i hope you got the modules you wanted to take! i know the sem ahead may seem daunting and scary but fret not! God will never put us through things He knows we cannot handle; He will make a way out.

have a spectacular sem ahead! don't be afraid, try new things! because it's really the time of your life where you get to step out of your comfort zone, no harm done :-)

cheers!

"No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it." 1 Corinthians 10:13

Year 1, Semester 2.

PL2132 Research and Statistical Methods II

Lecturers: Prof Melvin J. Yap

Prof Melvin was a nice lecturer. i guess he was pretty clear in his teaching and he ensures that his students understand what's going on during lecture. he also tries to engage us during lectures by asking us questions and giving us real life situations like the regression equation for our CAP and module marks haha. but his slides were pretty windy and long and it took forever to revise the slides for exams. there was no webcast.

Weightage: 

5% Module Participation
25% Midterms
30% Empirical project
40% Finals 
Module participation was just attendance i think! we had to go up to present our answers but sarah (my tutor) was really nice and she helped us through. having midterms and finals to be opened book really made it less stressful! the project took up much of my time because we had to come up with a topic from scratch, create our own experimental media, settle the timeline for the project and the data collection, cleaning up the data because there were errors by participants, deciding whether to accept the errors, etc. it was quite tiring but it was a good experience. at least we got to choose our groups and i grouped with my friends! finals was also open book and being able to refer helped so muc. the format was the same as midterms. 

Exam format: 

2 hours, opened-book

MCQ

Short-answer for both mid-terms and finals
MCQ was a mixture of both theory and practical calculations. there were some mcq worth 4 marks during mid terms! the short answers were questions about calculations but they are pretty manageable because calculations were not from scratch and most of it were provided. we just had to do 1 or 2 more formulas to get the answers. we had 1 SAQ for midterms and 2 for finals - 1 about ANOVA and another about Regression. however, do note that this is one of the first mcq stats paper after consecutive years; the past year papers were all open ended. so i guess it really depends on the lecturer.

Workload: 4/5 (5 being most heavy)
the content was not too much. there was just ANOVA, regression and correlation. the workload came from the project that was time-consuming. if you have good groupmates that do their portions on time, you should be able to handle the workload :) i just put a 4 because it was time-consuming. the open book exams saved a lot of time studying because we just needed to tag our books and refer when necessary. the lab worksheets to be completed before every tutorial did not take up too much time, at most 1 hour. we did not have any readings for this module, we just had to read up the relevant chapters before going for class. this shouldn't take up more than an hour as well.

Tutorial Format:

tutorials were held weekly. my tutor was Sarah and she was a very nice tutor! she's really friendly and kind. she was so understanding; she allowed me to leave tutorial earlier for my GER presentation that was at utown. really appreciated it otherwise i would have been late for my presentation! tutorials were all in as7 com labs and we just had simple lab worksheets to do before each tutorial. during the tutorial, sarah will go through the questions and also go teach us how to navigate around SPSS with examples. it was really a time of application of what we have learnt.

overall, i actually kinda enjoyed this mod! i guess it's because it was math and i enjoy doing math plus math exams are less stressful because it's just application of formulas haha. i just didn't really enjoy the project because it was so time-consuming. we had 2 textbooks - 1 for stats and another for reserach methods. the research methods textbook was well used but the stats textbook was a total waste of money because everything is in the slides.. it'd be good if you can get your textbooks second hand instead.

PL3233 Cognitive Psychology

Lecturers: Prof Chua Fok Kee

Prof Chua is a really different prof, he was rather eccentric and funny haha. his personality made the lecture more interesting and bearable. he didn't really use slides. he did upload the chapter slides but he did not use it. rather, he had his own set of slides that he did not upload so we had to be alert to take down notes! most of the notes were actually from the chapter slides already actually. there was no webcast for this module too but missing it actually does not make much of a difference haha.

Weightage: 

15% Class Test 1
15% Class Test 2
20% Online Labwork & Tutorial Participation
50% Finals
Class tests were all during lecture timings. the online labwork was easy to fufil, we just had to do some experiments online every week. it was kinda a waste of time because there were some experiments that had as much as 160 trials lol. but i guess it was an eye opener because you were really doing the experiments that researchers did in the past. tutorial participation was taken seriously, they gave grades based on how much you talked during tutorial! so don't skip it and just keep talking haha. 

Exam format: 

2 hours

Essays
Opened book for test 1, closed book for test 2 and finals

Each class test covered 4 chapters from the textbook. the first test was opened book and it really made it less stressful because we could refer to it! but the second class test and finals were closed book. for the class tests, there were 10 questions worth 5 marks each. he liked to test applications and 'why' questions for experiments so remember them. he also asked quite a number of graph-drawing & explain questions so it is important to note the reasons behind the results. finals were "write short notes" from 6 questions out of 8. the questions were literally just "implicit learning" or "memory errors in eye-witness testimonies". it was so vague, i didn't know what to write! there was no format nor instructions so i just wrote causes and solutions haha.. the other section was 1 essay worth 40 marks on 1 chapter of our choice. it was the best time to verbal diarrhea the entire chapter. time was rather tight too so write fast!

Workload: 3.5/5 (5 being most heavy)

i would say that the content was heaviest among all my modules i've taken this sem. the exam was most nerve-wreaking because there was so much to remember, so many concepts and experiments to remember. my friends and i were pretty much freaking out outside the exam hall beforehand haha. however, the learning was alright; the concepts are easy to grasp so don't have to be intimidated by 'cognition'! we covered memory, perception, attention, problem solving, judgement and a few other cognitive-related topics. some of the content were covered in PL1101e so not everything is brand new info. the content was slightly interesting, like how we sort our memories, how we perceive problems etc, but at the same time it was also a bit commonsensical haha. like, why are experts experts - because they spend a lot of time in their field of specializaation (duh). it's just that there is a lot to remember (and i was told that dev psych is even heavier lol). but there was no individual assignment nor project at all so this module really focused on teaching and testing. i guess that's good because i have 1 less assignment/project to do. the textbook was v

Tutorial Format:

My tutor wasn't local and to be honest i had a tough time understanding his accent. he kinda mumbles and i can't catch what he is saying at times.. we had to do the online experiments and answer easily 10 short questions as a prep for tutorial. these questions are gone through during tutorial. we were split into groups and assigned 2-3 questions to discuss at a time and then share our answers after that. it was quite an open discussion, anyone could just voice their opinions and questions. tutorials were held fortnightly and attendance was taken! as mentioned above, grades are actually given for how much you talk during the discussion times so talk more!

i would not take this module again nor am i considering to take anymore cognitive electives because i really didn't enjoy this mod.. but what made it better was that i took it with my friends so it was comforting to know that everyone is struggling too haha. the content was kinda easy to understand so it was not so pressurising. but i am really glad that all the weightage were based on tests and participation, the absence of projects and assignments made such a great difference because i was already having projects for every other mod that i took! 

EL1101e The Nature of Language

Lecturers: Dr Leslie Lee
Dr Lee was alright, i guess. he just kept coughing into the mic every few words he says and it gets a bit annoying after awhile oops.. but he is pretty funny, he laughs at his own jokes and mistakes and that makes the whole lecture hall laugh haha. he gives examples for every concept in each topic and his slides are pretty simple and it summarize a lot! there were no webcasts.

Weightage: 

10% Reading Quizzes

20% Participation

10% Presentation

30% Midterm

30% Final
reading quizzes are 5 mcq questions at the start of every lecture about the readings for the week! they are closed book but everyone pretty much refers to it HAHA. we were all given 'clickers' at the start of the sem so we were able to participate in the practice questions mcq during the lecture itself. it's a pretty cool system bcos we get to see everyone's answer within seconds. that's where the 20% participation came from! it's not graded according to how much you got correct, rather, how often you participated in it. Dr Lee said he manually keyed in our grades for our participation marks on ivle wowow dedication. the presentation was just a quick and relaxed one. each group took 1 tutorial slot. we just had to present our answers to our tutorial questions to the class and the tutor would let us know if we were correct. prepping for the presentation was not very time-consuming, discussion can be done online. the presentation also took at most 15 minutes.

Exam format: 

2 hours, closed-book

MCQ for both midterm and finals
midterms and finals were non-accumulative (thank God!) and both were mcq. it was pretty manageable if you study and remember just the few definitions. most people left before the 2 hour mark haha. 

Workload: 2.5/5 (5 being most heavy)

The workload was pretty manageable! there were weekly readings but the readings should take less than an hour to finish. the tutorial questions were very short, there were about 2-3 questions per worksheet. it should also take less than an hour! preparation for exams were not very time-consuming either, the content was just right.

Tutorial Format:

jia wen was my tutor and she was absolutely lovely. she is understanding and tutorials were more fun with her :) she makes summary slides for us (although she doesn't upload them so we have to take a picture of it) and it was really helpful! tutorials were 1 hour each and during each tutorial, we would go through 1 problem set. it would initially be presented by a group and then jia wen would go through it with us and ask if we have any questions.

i had a good time throughout this mod. we learnt about phonology, morphology, semantics, syntax, language acquisition and a few more. it was interesting to see how our language is actually being constructed, i felt like i was back in primary school learning phonics all over again haha. it was confusing initially but after a few rounds of reading the notes, the concepts were quite easy to understand. after all, it's an intro mod haha. i made some new friends in my group too and it was so cool how 2 of them are in econs and another 2 of us are in psych! they made classes and lectures much more bearable and we knew we could turn to each other when in doubt (which is most of the time haha) :') 

GER1000 Quantitative Reasoning

Lecturers: Many!

Weightage: 

5% IVLE Quizzes
10% Tutorial Participation
25% Group Project
20% Midterm
40% Finals
The answers were not given right away for the IVLE quizzes, they were given at the end of the week when everyone is done. there were about 4-5 questions per quiz weekly about the chapter we learnt online. tutorial participation was based on a random generator from the tutor and he would call random names! he didn't call my name throughout the entire semester i don't know how i'm going to get that 10% haha oh dear. the group project was slightly time consuming because we had to come up with our own topic and research for data and statistics. we also had to meet up to confirm the proposal, executive summary and poster. depending on how efficient your group mates are, i guess your experience will be different! 

Exam format: 

2 hours, closed-book

MCQ
Midterms were only on 2 chapters so it was pretty managable! there were about 14 questions only and the bellcurve is very very steep. Finals were accumulative but it was not too bad! i guess it's because we have learnt some of the content in college and it also overlapped with my stats mod. minor calculations were required but the formulas to remember were pretty easy to remember! many people left after the 1st hour mark.

Workload: 3.5/5 (5 being most heavy)
because every chapter is taught online, we had to set aside our own time to listen to the online lecture. scripts and slides were given so that we could follow along when we watched the pre-uploaded online lectures. some of the lecturers talked really slowly and you can't adjust the speed of the video so i just skipped certain parts and read from the uploaded script haha. it takes at most 2 hours to complete a week's worth of lesson (online lecture + tutorial + quiz). the project is most time consuming among the online lessons, quizzes and tutorial prep. but as long as you start early, you should be okay! 

Tutorial Format:

Samuel was my tutor and by far, he is the best tutor i've had for my modules! he's kind, funny, and he makes lesson v enjoyable by making things lighthearted. he puts in effort for his slides too and makes it relatable by putting cartoons to illustrate the content. thoroughly enjoyed every tutorial i had with him haha, he made GER much more bearable. we discussed the questions in our groups before Sam randomly choses people to answer the question. it was not stressful and the atmosphere was pretty light, which is good :) attendance is taken so don't skip your tutorials!

i kinda dreaded this compulsory module because it was another stats module but it was surprisingly manageable. it was not too much content nor formulas to remember. my group wasn't the best i've had but they were cooperative. the poster presentation was alright too, although we had to wait 2 hours for our turn lol. we just had to present our poster and our tutor would ask us questions regarding the poster. we got to keep the poster after that. it's an S/U-able mod but i guess i put in more effort into it because i hoped it'd pull my cap up since the mod was pretty manageable haha. i hope it was all worth it.

GET1002 Bridging East and West: Exploring Chinese Communication

Lecturers: Prof Lee Cher Leng
Prof Lee is a dedicated prof, passionate about chinese language and the importance of learning and appreciating the language. actually, there were guest speakers every week as the topic changes every week. we covered chinese social media, chinese newspapers, chinese movies, chinese architecture, and many more! the module revolved a lot around china and chinese language. the guest speakers were from external companies such as mediacorp, which makes it extra interesting! there were also webcasts for some of the lectures.

Weightage: 

45% Lecture Reflections
30% Tutorials
25% Quiz
there were lecture reflections at the end of almost every lecture. we would spend the last 15 minutes answering just 1 reflection question. it was kind of a dread for everyone but i think it was a good chance to really think about what we just learnt and apply it to singapore context. the questions were mainly about how the topic is related to singapore and what else can we do to improve it etc. you just need 1 piece of foolscap so it's not that bad. the tutorials were based on our presentations (mentioned more below). the quiz was still important despite having the lowest weightage (also mentioned more below).

Exam format: Quiz

4 choose 3 SAQ
there were no notes for this module, we had to take down our own notes from the lectures. we had to answer 3 out of 4 questions regarding selected topics from what we had learnt and the question format was very alike to our reflection questions. it was not too intimidating either because even if you did not study, you could still use some common sense into your answers! answers were only 1 page long as the given space was only 1 page worth of lines. 

Workload: 2/5 (5 being most heavy)
in my opinion, this module has the lowest workload among all my modules! yes, we had readings weekly but the readings were actually interesting and not too long, hence not too time consuming. the preparation for group presentations can be done either fully online or offline, depending on your group. my group decided to meet offline but we only took about 2 hours each time we met! my friend's group did all of their presentation prep on google slides so they did not meet up at all. preparing for the quiz was not too bad either because it's about general knowledge and you don't necessarily have to memorize examples (although it would be good if you did!). 

Tutorial Format:

Tutorials were fortnightly and there were 4 tutorials altogether. we were preassigned groups and had 1 presentation every tutorial. but fret not! the group presentations are actually really fun. i enjoyed preparing for it because it was about interesting topics like chinese family names, chinese companies, things said during cny, and traditional chinese stuff like coffeeshops! we had to do some prep such as collecting our info but it was real fun listening out for cny convos, looking for traditional coffeeshops and asking my family about the different chinese names of my relatives. the groups were big too so the amount of talking per person is at most 2 minutes! my group had 7 people so there were some moments where one of us just had to do an intro and content and that's it haha. the entire tutorial duration was spent listening to other group's presentation and presenting our's too.

i really enjoyed this module (and also because there are no exams hehe) and paying expensively for it was really worth it! the lectures were eye opening and interesting, and i actually enjoyed the tutorials with my groupmates. i would recommend you to take this GEM too if you can afford it! go with an opened mind about the chinese language and also china and you will learn a lot :) from this module i realized the importance of 1) china's involvement in basically everything and, 2) us having to know the language and being able to speak it. it gave me some inspiration to buck up on my chinese haha. no regrets taking this module and i would take it again if i can :)

--

this semester has been great, in fact even better than sem 1! i had another 4 day work week free friday timetable and a spaced-out exam schedule. my exams were not as bad because 3/4 of my papers were mcq. so i really thank God for a good timetable and exam schedule that is manageable, giving me enough time for school, church and family. i was involved in CAC+US too for the first 6 weeks of school and i was honestly worried that i'd struggle with my studies. but it was not as bad as i thought. thankfully, my mid terms were mostly after the concert. i was definitely more involved in my cca and i learnt how to juggle my time between dance, church and studies. i still cannot believe that i'm done with year 1, this entire experience has been so surreal. it still has not sunk in that i am a university student. for those incoming freshman, my advice would be take modules that you enjoy, they make so much of a difference! and take it with your friends if you can. join a cca, something that you enjoy doing. try new things; don't be afraid. and be open to new experiences. i had a wonderful year 1 and i hope you had a great year too! :) here's to completing another year in uni and making it through the different storms in life (cheers!). i thank God for seeing me through this rough, busy yet enjoyable semester; all Glory to Him :-)

God bless!

Year 1 Sem 2 Week 1.

Hello!

time flies too quickly, it has been a week since school has resumed. to be honest i am a tad excited for this sem because i am taking modules that i enjoy.

for this semester, i am taking- 

pl2132 Research and Statistical Methods II

pl3233 Cognitive Psychology

el1101e The Nature of Language

ger1000 Quantitative Reasoning

get1002 Bridging East and West: Exploring Chinese Communication

i kinda regret taking too many level 1000 this sem but i really wanted to clear my gem and take el! i better plan ahead next time. 

bidding for el1101 has made me semi-broke. it cost so much more than the previous semesters but i hope it is all worth it! MPE really helped me save lots of bidding points so i'm thankful i have sufficient points to bid for el1101. get1002 was a bit expensive too but i feel that it is worth pouring my g-account on it since it's an interesting module and i just want to clear my ge(T).

i hope that you have managed to bid successfully for your modules and tutorials! have a wonderful semester ahead. remember to balance out your timetable so that you will have enough time for studying, having fun and spending time with your family and friends! you are never alone in this journey, we are all in this together!

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life ... Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?" Matthew 6:25-26.