NUS Module Review Semester 1 AY 11/12

Once again, I'm going to review the modules that I took this semester. 
If you have any questions, please send it to my email  atqhteo@gmail.com instead of posting in the comments, it's easier for me to reply.

The modules covered in this post:

GEK1519 (Science of Music)

SE1101E (South East Asia: A Changing Region)
PL3236 (Abnormal Psychology)
PL3233 (Cognitive Psychology)
PL3240 (Group Dynamics)

I'll answer 5+1 questions for each: What is it about? How's the workload? How difficult is it? Any miscellaneous tips? Should you take it? and a new question : "How did I do for it?"

If you want to see previous reviews for PL1101E, NM1101E, PH1102E, LAF1201, PL2131, click this link. For PL2132, PL3232, SSB2216 , PL3235, PH2110, click this link.

Do note that modules do vary across semesters, depending on which professor is taking it, so I will include the name of the professor for your benefit.

GEK1519 - Science of Music
Prof: Dr Bernard Tan

What is it about?

First half you learn more or less basic aspects of music theory, such as the notes on a musical score (EGBDF, etc), time signatures, sharps/flats , semitones, etc.
Second half you learn about the technological part of music such as MIDI systems and stuff.

How's the workload?

There's no textbook. No readings.
One concert review (attend any concert of your choice, write a 800 word review), one MIDI composition (compose 1 minute MIDI piece), and one mid term test, one finals test. Both tests are 25 MCQs, open book (lecture notes)
If it sounds like a joke, you are right. It's a freaking joke. It's probably the lightest module in NUS.

Two 2h lecture per week, one 1h tutorial every fortnight

How difficult is it?

This is by far the easiest module I've ever taken or heard of.
You can more or less skip the entire first half of the lectures if you have some music theory background.
In fact, you can more or less skip all the lectures, and just read his lecture slides, they aren't that hard to understand. But if you are afraid of comprehension problems, go for lectures then.
The problem is that he is VERY long winded, and always starts lectures at like.. 40 minutes past the hour. What does he do for the first 40 minutes? Just nag and nag about things he's said before already or recap previous lecture and just random pointless things.

I would say it's quite possible to skip all lectures and still know how to do the tests.
Some basic Math knowledge would be good, such as knowing how to apply simple formulas and doing simple calculations with a calculator.

Miscalleneous Tips

The best tip I can give you is - understand the tutorials, DO PAST YEAR PAPERS.
He basically does not change the format of the tests, so if you do the past year papers and know how to do all of them, you basically will breeze through the tests.
Tutorial questions are more or less gearing you up to do the tests, if you can't find past year papers then do the tutorial questions and understand how to find the answers. Should be pretty easy.

Should you take it?

If you want the slackest module in NUS, yes.

Do note that being 'an easy module' does not make it an 'easy to score module'. These are very different concepts.

How did I do for it?

I got 23/25 for both quizzes, for the first quiz the median was actually 23.something with a mode of 25 -_-
The 2nd quiz the median was 22.something with a mode of 24.
So you can see the bell curve is pretty steep.
What sets you apart will be your MIDI projects and essay, I believe. Do not make careless mistakes for your quiz.

Predicted score: B+

SE1101E: South East Asia - A Changing Region

Prof: Irving Johnson & Oona Parades

What is it about?

You will learn more about SEA in the areas of Gender, Religion, Environment, how globalization and colonialism affects it, etc etc.
The focus for this sem was about it as a CHANGING REGION and how it's evolving and changing and is a dynamic region.

How's the workload?
1-2 assigned readings every week. Some are long, some are really short. Read the required ones, recommended ones are optional, it would seem. But you do need to bolster yourself with many many examples so probably have to go beyond readings. (Pay attention in lectures! and tutorials!)

1 group project, 1 individual reflection paper, 1 final exam (3 essays) (closed book).
One 2 hour lecture per week, fortnightly 2h tutorials.

How difficult is it?

I found it tough because I'm not too good with History stuff and anthropological stuff like this just bores me to tears. However, it is still possible to write a decent essay and do a good project, as long as your basic essay writing skills are there.

My group's project is here:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paD3ClqsMYI]

Do note that there was an accompanying writeup, and I felt that the writeup was done pretty well which contributed to the grade we got as well : an A-.

Miscalleneous Tips

You really need to understand what the lecturer's emphasis - from what I know it changes every sem. For this sem it was about SEA being a changing region so keep trying to draw links to that and how different things reflect the main, overarching theme. It also helps to know what your tutor likes for a report/project, clarifying with her/him about his requirements would be good.
You hear alot of examples during lecture which are good for use in your finals essay exam, so do take them down.

Should you take it?

Dr Irving is a very interesting and charismatic lecturer and is humorous and full of stories to tell. Oona on the other hand... let's just say she's a cure for insomnia.
I can't really say this very objectively because I am biased against these kinda things, so boring to me ><
Also, extremely expensive mod if you're not taking in your freshie sem - every sem it averages about 1400 bid points. I paid 1500 for it.How did I do for it?
My individual essay got an A, group project A-, I reckon my class participation shouldn't be too bad I think.  I don't think finals was THAT difficult though it certainly makes you think. I wrote a risky essay though, if it screws me up I'll get a B or B- overall I guess.Predicted Grade - B+

PL3236 - Abnormal Psychology
Lecturer - Gregor Lange

What is it about?

One of the 5 core modules for Psychology majors. It is about.. psychological disorders. That's pretty much it. Every chapter involves the Symptoms/Main Characteristics, Causes, Statistics, Treatment for each disorder.

How's the workload?

1 standard psych textbook, about 1 chapter every week. Manageable load. For this sem he even removed one entire chapter because of public holiday that week. woohoo!
1 casebook which I didn't even touch apart from the chapter that I had to present on. Not necessary to read it.
1 mid terms (60 MCQ), 1 class presentation, 1 finals (60 MCQ + 4 short answer). All closed book.
One 2 hour lecture every week and fortnightly 2hour tutorials.
(Tutorials are mega waste of time because you basically just listen to the other groups presenting)Lectures are pretty much pointless since everything is from the textbook, but the Dr Gregor is fairly interesting and humorous so it makes it worth going for.

How difficult is it?

Quite memory-based subject, just need to memorize the textbook.
Exams do test your application of the knowledge though, such as identifying what disorder it is from a description of a patient.

Miscallenous Tips

Memorize the textbook. Organize your notes according to the same structure - Characteristics, Causes, Stats, Treatment. Helps you to remember better (Some chapters swap it up so it's quite stupid)

Should you take it?

If you are a Psych major, you dont' have a choice. If you're not... you can't take it unless you take the pre-reqs which will mean you're minoring or something. It's not that hard a module, just quite memory heavy.

How did I do for it?
Didn't do very well for mid terms.. not sure why. I did study , guess I didn't get those ambiguous questions right. No idea how the presentation went, the tutor didn't give feedback at all.
Finals felt alright, but after talking to a few friends they thought it was easy so I guess bell curve will be steep.
Predicted Grade : B-

PL3233 - Cognitive Psychology
Prof: Dr Chua Foo Kee

What is it about?

Another core mod for Psych majors. You'll learn about the mind and how it operates with regards to perception, memory, object recognition, etc.

What is the workload?
1 textbook. But this textbook REALLY sucked. Quinlan and Dyson. Terrible. Alot of random useless material and it's not very well structured. I get a headache everytime I do my Cog Psych readings, dunno if it's because the subject is difficult or the TB sucks.
Oh, some weeks have multiple chapters readings.
1 2 hour lecture per week, with fortnightly 2 hour tutorials.
2 class tests (both short answer, 1 open 1 closed book), 1 finals (2 questions, essay)

How difficult is it?

I don't know if Cognitive Psychology is just difficult or it was the textbook's problem. I think it was a bit of both. It doesn't help that the prof sets pretty tough papers too.
His finals paper was considerably easier than previous sems' though, but I think previous sems' one just looked hard because we weren't taught in the same way they were.

Miscallenous Tips

These tips are probably relevant for CFK (the prof) only - remember the experiments+results that support the different concepts and theories (even if they're not the best/correct one), he may ask you to describe one.
Try to recognize what's the useless information and which is important. I was quite selective in my memorizing because alot of stuff was waaay over my head and felt useless to learn. He didn't test those things.
(one example is there was this 2 page+ section detailing Bayes Theorem, a mathematical formula. WTF? )

Should you take it?

Textbook was horrible, Dr Chua is really eccentric so... if you like that kinda thing go for it.
My tutor was HORRIBLE though, just some random Masters student (who was specializing in Clinical Psych) who couldn't answer a single question we had.
You really don't have a choice with this mod (core), so try to take it under a good prof.How did I do for it?
I'm not sure if my cohort was slack or something, because I somehow scored pretty well for my tests in relative terms. For instance, 70/100 doesn't seem very good but the mean was 52 ><
I got way above mean for both my tests, but I didn't think the questions were super hard or anything was quite straightforward? I mean, I know if it's a hard test or not, and while it's hard because Cognitive psych is hard, I don't think the tests were really hard.
Not sure how I'll do for finals, but I'm hoping for an APredicted Grade: A-

PL3240 - Group Dynamics
Prof: Dr Cha Yeow Siah
What is it about?

The study of intergroup issues and processes, such as cohesion, conflict and structure.

What is the workload?

1 mid terms, 1 finals, in classic Cha Yeow Siah style - mid terms was MCQ + fill in the blanks, finals was MCQ+fillintheblanks+casestudy+short answer questions.
1 standard textbook.. quite readable and good textbook IMO.One 2 hour lecture a week, one 2 hour tutorial every fortnight.One group project - This is really fun, you basically can choose to do ANY group activity. (E.g. go play frisbee, jam, cook, skate, play LAN, etc) and after that you write a report on the group activity, applying your group dynamics concepts. You also have to present your activity, and try to do it in a creative way, because alot of other groups will do so and it makes a difference I think. My group did this:

(Our activity was cooking)

How difficult is it?

The theory is pretty much logical and very easy to understand as it's things you already observe in everyday life, just attaching a term to it.
The difficult part could be that most people are accustomed to recalling the definitions of terms (e.g. Define Photosynthesis) instead of the actual terms itself. The Fill-in-the-blanks recalls you to recall the TERM as they provide a description/definition so if you didn't encode your information well.. good bye marks.
Weightage of the FOTB questions are quite high too, like MCQ is one question 0.5 marks, but FOTB can be 1-1.5 marks each.The group project is probably one of the most fun projects in NUS, as long as your group decides to make it fun :)

Miscallenous Tips

If you want to be in the same group as your friends, for the first tutorial when he does this 'network analysis' thing, say you don't know your friend. Because he will deliberately split you guys up ;)Have fun with your group project, and do a good presentation. I really think this matters. And of course do your report properly.Remember to memorize the terms and be able to link a term to a concept, because you have to do this for the case study question in the finals too.

Should you take it?

Yes, a very fun mod overall, I enjoyed it. Relatively simple compared to chim things like cognitive psych, so you should take it.

How did I do for it?
I didn't do well for mid terms because I didn't encode the terms properly as I said - just couldn't recall the terms with the description. Scored slightly below median.
My group's project got an A-, which was (supposedly) because both our report and presentation (i.e. the video above) was good.
I'm hoping my finals pull my mid terms up!Predicted Grade: B+

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Ok that's all I have, my results are here so you can check them out to determine whether to trust me or not ^^