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 Year 4 Sem 1 Module Review
Year 4, finally, we've reached the final year in my undergrad life. Can't believe that I kinda successfully made it to year 4... Shall be skipping FYP in this review since it deserves a dedicated post (too much of a torture so yes it deserves an entire post for itself.)
Not going to drag this introduction so here goes the module review that I was supposed to do like ages ago...
Modules Taken:
BN5104 Quantitative Physiology Principles
Lecturer: Prof Leo Hwa Liang
2 PBL projects worth 20% each, 2 10% quizzes and a 30% closed-book finals...( don't forget that 10% peer review score) This was a very content heavy module since it's mainly bio stuff which requires quite a bit of memorizing. The main contents of this module includes cardiovascular, respiration, extreme & pressure physiology and the immune system. Most of the content for CV and respiration were covered back in BN2201 (actually he kinda reused his slides from the previous module so it's quite useful to have the old notes for reference if you plan not to listen in class). The back portion was rather new but easy to understand except the immune system. The contents covered under the immune system was rather heavy and we were expected to memorize quite a bit so it's important to pay attention in class and to clarify doubts as soon as possible. For PBL projects, we worked in groups to solve aortic dissection (AD) and also to present a journal club based on the assigned article for immune system. It was a rather heavy workload to come up with a design and working solution for AD. Furthermore, the content covered for AD were included in the finals, so it's important to actually take note of the information you searched up for the project (made this mistake thinking that he won't test the different problems with AD solutions and boom it was a 10 mark question in finals). The closed-book quizzes were done in class via LumiNUS so it's the usual stuff. Content tested were literally for regurgitation from the lecture notes so make sure you take the time to memorize the notes (although this is not the best way to learn). Grades: B+ (Was expecting something higher actually, but oh wells...)
LSM2233 Cell Biology
Lecturer: Prof Thilo Hagen & Prof Yeong Foong May
Took this module since it was a pre-req for another TE module (which got cancelled in the next semester so screw this module). Thank goodness this could be counted as a TE for us especially since there was a severe lack of modules for us in this semester (they had a little party with the profs and *poof* a group of them just disappeared...). Break down of scores were rather weird for this module since they like to work on CA and reduce Finals weightage so here goes nothing... There were 8 in-class quizzes that was practically open discussions (4 for each prof) and they counted the best 2 for each prof and the final 2 from the remaining quizzes. Most people scored full marks for this portion so it's important to pay attention during the lectures as they were mainly testing the content covered on that day. These made up 18% of our grades Next there was the open-book CA after recess week that was 2%... This was something like a trial for the finals and we just had to sit in the lecture hall for 2 hours, try to do the paper and self-mark it. After that we just had to submit our scores and boom, the 2% was secured. Next up, each prof had their little assignment. For Prof Thilo, he had a video assignment where we had to do a short video to explain a topic related to cell biology and he graded us on the content and how interesting the videos were. 16% for this video and not to forget that 1% intro quiz at the start where we just had to tell him what our aspirations were... For Prof Yeong, she had 2 Perusall articles where we had to leave some comments and annotations on as a group. As long as we met the required number of annotations, we will secure 2% for each article. There were also quizzes for each article and the final weightage for her portion was 18%. Finally, the finals exam was 45% open-book, but I have to say the open-book was not much of use. For Prof Thilo's portion, he provided us a brand new article about 3 weeks before the finals and announced that our finals will be purely on this article (aka whatever that was covered in class was not going to be tested and he was testing us on the skills we acquired). For Prof Yeong, it was not as bad since it was on the contents covered in her lectures and the 2 articles. Honestly, for me, I felt that the finals destroyed me. It was so bad since I totally didn't know how and where to find everything, but oh wells... Overall, I will say that if possible please do not attempt this module unless you are very ready to face the wrath of life sciences. Also, I will also say that the content covered was very interesting and nice to listen in for the class, but the it's really not worth killing your grades for this. Grades: B- (Annoying module, how does an old f like me fight with fresh year 1 biology majors...)
PC2267 Biophysics I
Lecturer: Prof Slaven Garaj
Another module that I did due to the lack of modules available. This was an 8am class so yes, it was a no-choice situation. I still remember I was almost always ded in class since it's very tiring to get to class at 8am and also to listen in to the prof which wasn't very clear in class. Being a very very early morning class, despite my multiple pleas for webcast, the prof said it was not possible to prepare so oh wells... So there is about 30 students in the class so we have no idea if there is a bell curve for this module since the prof have a choice. Weightage for grades: 35% for a few lab sessions, 35% for a presentation and 30% for finals. (I have so much to comment on each part of this module.) First for the lab sessions. They were very basic biology lab sessions, UV spectrometer, gel electrophoresis, and ecoli. These were so simple and at the end of the sessions, we had to produce a lab report which was just a basic lab report that is similar to those that we submitted in PC1221 and PC1222. There was also a viva session with the prof towards the end of the semester where he will produce all of your lab reports and discuss with you on all the things that we you wrote in your report (including things such as how you decided on the error bars and limitations of each experiment). This session was also a chance to give all your feedback to the prof regarding the module and group mates for the project. Next, let's talk about the project. Randomly allocated into a group of 3, we had to pick a paper from the list provided and prepare it for a short journal club presentation. A very simple concept, but it was highly dependent on the group mates. Based on the prof's verbal explanation, the grading was purely based on what was presented and most of the time, every member will be expecting the same grade. I was 'lucky' enough to work with "very responsible and good" group mates that made this project as heavy of a workload for me as possible (I could write an entire post just ranting on how my members screwed me over all the way from the report to the presentation). I gave my feedback to the prof to consider an anonymous peer review which we did in the end, but not too sure if this affected our grades. Finally, for the finals, it was conducted on the last lesson of the semester so yes 8am class. Was a pretty bad morning for me since I had stayed over in school to prepare for this. Most of the questions were similar to those covered during the tutorial sessions (by the PHD student). These tutorial sessions were super useful and clear so it's very important to turn up for these sessions. In order to prepare for the finals, it's also important to look at the textbook examples and figure out how to solve the necessary problems to make sure you are clear about how to solve them. It was a 2-hour paper, but I almost didn't have enough time to complete the paper, so do keep track of time as well. Grades: A- (haha higher than expected but yes, put in quite a bit of effort, and not too sure if there was a bell curve...)
LAJ2201 Japanese 2
Lecturer: Nagami先生
Tutor: Nagami先生 and Saeko先生
Can't believe that I actually decided to take this module after Jap 1. The usual grading style for LAJ classes is their intense CA grading with a midterms and finals conducted within the semester. Tutorials were good for practicing and also there was the usual vocab quiz. The final part of this module involved a show & tell where we had to prepare our script and prepare something for the class. Unlike Jap 1, most people in Jap 2 were very very very fluent in their basic Japanese already ( I have to say that there were a few who were even more fluent than the average student so do make sure you are ready with a strong basic before you decide to take this module). The last time I took Jap was at least 6 months ago, so the memory weren't as clear so it was bad for me to restart my Japanese brain. Didn't really do well for most vocab quizzes so do work hard to get full marks since most people were getting full marks in class. For the usual interviews and oral practices, it's important to always prepare beforehand so that you can do it fluently in class. The 先生s didn't really give us a lot of time to prepare during classes so make sure to prepare beforehand. Overall, the rigor is much higher as compared to Jap 1 and most of the stuff such as grading is similar. So, do come prepared so that you won't be stuck in the same position as me. Grades: B (WOW! I actually did it but SU sua!) Finally done with this review after so long. Hope it helps and look forward to the final review once results come out in June 2020. Cheers, Sam Comment Box is loading comments...
Labels: 2019, Biomedical Engineering, BME, Module Review, NUS, Reflections, School Life, Uni Life |
