Below are the list of courses that I have taken for AY2023/2024 Sem 1 in NUS. I have provided my honest opinions on them and whether i recommend taking them or not. Please take my reviews with a pinch of salt and do fact checking as well as my experience is only based on what I went through and syllabus may have changed etc.
GEX1012 Effective Reasoning
Module Credits: 4
Professor Biography:
Dr Wang Lee Yen. Dr Lee is a well-versed teacher in philosophy that has been teaching in NUS for many years. Apart from GEX1012, he also teaches GEX1014 (Logic) which is offered in Semester 2
General Description (What to Expect):
GEX1012 Effective Reasoning is an Informal Logic Philosophy mod offered in Semester 1 only, typically students might take this module to clear their general elective GEX pillar. Final Exam is conducted on examplify and students are allowed to bring in online helpsheet.
Workload: Relatively Low (3/10)
General Tips:
1. Tutorials are conducted on a bi-weekly basis, u can opt for even or odd weeks. Aim to answer 1 question/tutorial for full class parts2. Test 1 and Test 2 are to be conducted in a 1 week deadline each, with unlimited attempts,
only latest attempt will be considered for grading
Course Breakdown:
Recommendation: 8/10 👍
I took GEX1012 as a Y1S1 student with no prior knowledge in philosophy to fulfill my GEX pillar. Despite the relatively confusing concepts that Dr Lee may introduce in class, it is understandable if one goes through the online recordings (lectures are fully recorded and can be done OTOT).
I highly recommend this module due to its relatively low workload as a GE module. The main off-putting point was probably the Logicola assignment as it tests if students truly understands the lecture concepts through the Logicola software (instructions will be provided). However, do note that Logicola has unlimited attempts as well and students can score full for it if they put in the effort. Whilst philosophy concepts are generally abstract to everyone, in my experience, putting in the effort paid off.
Expected Grade: B/B+
Expected Grade: B/B+
Actual Grade: A-
GESS1005 South Asia in Singapore
Module Credits: 4
Professor Biography:Dr Rajesh Rai was the main coordinator for this module with Ms Priyam Sinha being the assistant coordinator the module. Dr Rajesh Rai was an excellent teacher in terms of teaching this module, he often provided examples to backup the lecture notes. One thing I appreciated was the fact that he extended assignment deadlines as he understood that students had to deal with exams and other simultaneous modules (but this isnt guaranteed in anyway). Ms Priyam Sinha was my tutorial teacher who was also very engaging and tried her best to get the class to participate in activities.
General Description (What to Expect):GESS1005 touches on the history of South Asians in Singapore and how they formed their diaspora from the early days. The lectures for this module was conducted live via online zoom and were also recorded for future reference. There were mainly 2 assignments and 1 group presentation, with the group presentation being tied to 1 of the assignment report.
Module Credits: 4
Professor Biography:
Dr Rajesh Rai was the main coordinator for this module with Ms Priyam Sinha being the assistant coordinator the module. Dr Rajesh Rai was an excellent teacher in terms of teaching this module, he often provided examples to backup the lecture notes. One thing I appreciated was the fact that he extended assignment deadlines as he understood that students had to deal with exams and other simultaneous modules (but this isnt guaranteed in anyway). Ms Priyam Sinha was my tutorial teacher who was also very engaging and tried her best to get the class to participate in activities.
General Description (What to Expect):
GESS1005 touches on the history of South Asians in Singapore and how they formed their diaspora from the early days. The lectures for this module was conducted live via online zoom and were also recorded for future reference. There were mainly 2 assignments and 1 group presentation, with the group presentation being tied to 1 of the assignment report.
Workload: Medium to High (7/10).
Take this with a pinch of salt though. I was and still am clueless when it comes to essay writing with quoting in APA reference and it was tough as a Y1 S1 student.
General Tips:
1. Tutorials are conducted on a bi-weekly basis, u can opt for even or odd weeks. Likewise, aim to answer questions every tutorial for class participation.2. Do not procrastinate on your essay reports. For Group Report Essay each member had to do 1200 words and same for the book review. Not to mention that you have to do slides for the group presentation based on the report
Course Breakdown:
Recommendation: 5/10 😐
As someone who basically hates essay writing and history in general, I would say this module wasn't to my liking that much because it was very dry. But, that could be said the same for all other GESS modules 😅. The teaching staff was actually very helpful and engaging but I could not bring myself to enjoy the content, due to it being very dry and a lot of readings being involved in the grading scheme, especially for the book review where you had to read a relevant book and produce a 1000 word book review report. This module is heavily dependent on Group Work (40%) and groups are assigned by the tutor, which means there is a luck factor too. Personally, my group was quite ok but theres a risk in that sense.
That aside, I did learn quite interesting stuff as to how the South Asian Community like Bangladeshis and the Chettiars settled in Singapore starting with the British Empire Evolution back in the days and how some of them from such a community have actually been key prominent figures in the shaping of CMIO culture in Singapore as well as cultural organisations like SINDA.
If you are someone who enjoys history and essay writing in general, then this may be the module for you.
Expected Grade: B/B+
Actual Grade: A-
ALS1010 Learning to Learn Better
Module Credits: 2
Professor Biography:
Dr Robert Khamei. Dr Robert Khamei is a great teacher who explains the concepts of how we as students can learn to learn better and sometimes why we may be demotivated, He provides many examples and intriguing ways as to how we can optimize our learning strategy and also gives activities to further intrigue us in each session.
Course Breakdown:
Workload: Very Low (1-2/10), given this is a CS/CU Module.
General Tips:
1. Basically do not skip the online zoom sessions, this is a very low workload module which only requires doing some activities online and some side assignments. Attendance for each session is marked
Course Breakdown:
Recommendation: 10/10 🤩🤩
Took this as a module to basically get free easy 2 credits, which will count under the Unrestricted Electives requirement. Basically very fun and low workload module. As long as you complete the necessary tasks, you can easily get a CS grade. CS/CU in NUS terms is basically pass/fail with CS being Completed Satisfactory.
Expected Grade: CS
Actual Grade: CS
Expected Grade: CS
Actual Grade: CS
CS2030 Programming Methodology II
Module Credits: 4
Professor Biography:Prof Henry Chia was the module coordinator for this module. In semester 2 it is usually taught by prof henry and another prof but I did it in sem 1. Prof Henry is a good teacher and often relays his concepts well in lectures. However, assignments and projects are another story 😩😩. Prof Henry often emphasises the use of clean code and not crap code, which is used to backup his reasons for introducing so many constraints when it comes to PAs and Assignments, but boy did this module humble me.
General Description (What to Expect):CS2030 basically teaches the know-hows of object-oriented programming in Java, in both an imperative way and declarative manner. You will learn basic OOP concepts like encapsulation, abstractiobn, inheritance and polymorphism (which u may have gotten some exposure in 1010J or in poly beforehand). The whole idea of this module is to build a project revolving a discrete event simulator where you simulate a program that is able to handle a somewhat real-life situation of servers in a restaurant attending to customers, with prof throwing various test cases at your program to see if it passes. You will also be exposed to "vim" and "jshell" as tools to be used in this module.
Workload: Extremely High (10/10). Others prior may beg to differ but as someone who went into it as a Y1 S1 who got exempted 1010J due to my poly background, I sincerely almost quit NUS.
General Tips:
Module Credits: 4
Professor Biography:
Prof Henry Chia was the module coordinator for this module. In semester 2 it is usually taught by prof henry and another prof but I did it in sem 1. Prof Henry is a good teacher and often relays his concepts well in lectures. However, assignments and projects are another story 😩😩. Prof Henry often emphasises the use of clean code and not crap code, which is used to backup his reasons for introducing so many constraints when it comes to PAs and Assignments, but boy did this module humble me.
General Description (What to Expect):
CS2030 basically teaches the know-hows of object-oriented programming in Java, in both an imperative way and declarative manner. You will learn basic OOP concepts like encapsulation, abstractiobn, inheritance and polymorphism (which u may have gotten some exposure in 1010J or in poly beforehand). The whole idea of this module is to build a project revolving a discrete event simulator where you simulate a program that is able to handle a somewhat real-life situation of servers in a restaurant attending to customers, with prof throwing various test cases at your program to see if it passes. You will also be exposed to "vim" and "jshell" as tools to be used in this module.
Workload: Extremely High (10/10). Others prior may beg to differ but as someone who went into it as a Y1 S1 who got exempted 1010J due to my poly background, I sincerely almost quit NUS.
Workload: Extremely High (10/10). Others prior may beg to differ but as someone who went into it as a Y1 S1 who got exempted 1010J due to my poly background, I sincerely almost quit NUS.
General Tips:
1. Before you even start the module, go watch some online videos on vim to get familiar with the text editor. This will greatly help u in your PA1 and PA2 in terms of time savings which only allows you to code in vim in the lab before taking it home. PA1 and PA2 are marked based on how much changes you need to make to your code to fully pass all test cases. In both PAs, you are given a problem set on the spot and required to plan design and code how you would tackle those problems. PA1 is considered generally easier because it involves coding imperatively whilst PA2 dives into generics which is a declarative way of programming.
2. Discuss with friends and like beg your TAs haha but do not plagiarize. I didn't personally do it but some who have plagiarized got caught by prof and had to deal with the consequences. This applies more to the project because it consists of 4 different incremental labs which all leads to the final product, and if you have a wrong implementation in Lab 2 for instance, Lab 3 may require you to literally recode everything to fit the added use case. This is where you really need to seek your TAs for help and friends for inspiration.
1. Before you even start the module, go watch some online videos on vim to get familiar with the text editor. This will greatly help u in your PA1 and PA2 in terms of time savings which only allows you to code in vim in the lab before taking it home. PA1 and PA2 are marked based on how much changes you need to make to your code to fully pass all test cases. In both PAs, you are given a problem set on the spot and required to plan design and code how you would tackle those problems. PA1 is considered generally easier because it involves coding imperatively whilst PA2 dives into generics which is a declarative way of programming.
2. Discuss with friends and like beg your TAs haha but do not plagiarize. I didn't personally do it but some who have plagiarized got caught by prof and had to deal with the consequences. This applies more to the project because it consists of 4 different incremental labs which all leads to the final product, and if you have a wrong implementation in Lab 2 for instance, Lab 3 may require you to literally recode everything to fit the added use case. This is where you really need to seek your TAs for help and friends for inspiration.
Course Breakdown:
I no longer have access to the grading percentage but it was roughly as follows:
1. PA1 (15%)
2. PA2 (20%)
3. Project (15%)
4. Class Part (10%)
1. PA1 (15%)
2. PA2 (20%)
3. Project (15%)
4. Class Part (10%)
5. Finals (40%)
Recommendation: 2/10 👎👎
Do not take this module unless you are that confident in your programming skills or you have to take it as a core module like me. The project sincerely haunted me throughout recess week, I spent 1 week coding on Lab 3 in recess week and had no progress because I couldn't think of an implementation, thank god I had some inspiration later after soughting TAs and friends. PA1 was reasonable but its been a long time since I had a timed-lab and made many mistakes. PA2 was literally almost impossible almost half the class just decided to give it up and wait for the walkthrough video to be released instead.
I can't comment on finals in terms of grades as we don't get the results for that but I believe they made it somewhat easier. During my finals, it involved 9 examplify questions where we had to think of code implementations to solve those questions without a compiler (did not even know if my syntax was correct or not). Heard that they introduced mcqs for semester 2 but upgraded the difficulty too.
All in all, I really do not recommend this module as a UE if you plan to take it up unless you have the required foundations for it. As much as this module was painful, I would still have to agree and argue that learning OOP is an important aspect in programming as many languages involve OOP, so that would probably be the only reason you would want to learn this. In terms of generics, whilst I see the value in that it shortens code needed and allows us to code declaratively and in a clean manner, it almost made me lose my sanity so do this module at your own risk.
All in all, I really do not recommend this module as a UE if you plan to take it up unless you have the required foundations for it. As much as this module was painful, I would still have to agree and argue that learning OOP is an important aspect in programming as many languages involve OOP, so that would probably be the only reason you would want to learn this. In terms of generics, whilst I see the value in that it shortens code needed and allows us to code declaratively and in a clean manner, it almost made me lose my sanity so do this module at your own risk.
Expected Grade: B-/B
Actual Grade: B (Thank god for bell curve)
Expected Grade: B-/B
Actual Grade: B (Thank god for bell curve)
BT1101 Introduction to Business Analytics
Module Credits: 4
Module Credits: 4
Professor Biography:
Prof Sharon Tan taught us from Week 1 to Week 6. Prof Samantha Sow taught us from Week 7 to Week 13. If I was to mention who was a better prof in person, it would be Prof Samantha Sow as she teaches better in person at a much more appropriate pace for students to absorb the content better.
General Description (What to Expect):
BT1101 attempts to gives an overview to the various statistical analysis and models to analyse and deal with various forms of data using the programming language R. This module is very fast-paced and involves a combination of both in-person and online-learning. Students are typically expected to go through the online-learning videos first before attending the lecture to gain some insight into what the lecturer would teach that week. For the first half of the module under Prof Sharon Tan, the online videos were decent in the sense that I could somewhat understand what was going on despite the long content however, I believe the follow-up delivery in lecture could be better. For the second half of the module under Prof Samantha Sow, the in-person lectures by here were very well-delivered in my opinion but the online-videos were basically dubbed by an AI robot and I could not comprehend what was going on until the actual lecture itself.
Workload: High (8/10). For a 1k module, it certainly was crazy balancing this with CS2030. There were weekly lab submissions we had to submit using the R language, and not much time for students to actually pick up R itself. At the same time, we had to spend around minimally 2 to 3 hours/week to watch the online videos before lectures.
2. Discuss your answers to lab assignments with your friends, it will help you in your learning rather than trying to struggle through it alone. Whilst some of the lab notes provided by prof is useful for the assignment, some stuff are out of context and you had to google them on your own, which is why this module is way too broad for what it tries to accomplish in 13 weeks.
3. I wouldn't suggest to S/U but if you have higher priority mods it might be good considering to the do the bare minimum in this module due to its poor module structure.
Workload: High (8/10). For a 1k module, it certainly was crazy balancing this with CS2030. There were weekly lab submissions we had to submit using the R language, and not much time for students to actually pick up R itself. At the same time, we had to spend around minimally 2 to 3 hours/week to watch the online videos before lectures.
General Tips:
1. In my opinion, the module content is not difficult if students would have been given an appropriate amount of time to actually absorb the content and not that many chapters were introduced. Hence, it is very important to seek help from TAs whenever or attend zoom sessions if u have the time to see where you are lacking on to clear some concepts as lectures and the online-based learning can still lead to you being confused.
2. Discuss your answers to lab assignments with your friends, it will help you in your learning rather than trying to struggle through it alone. Whilst some of the lab notes provided by prof is useful for the assignment, some stuff are out of context and you had to google them on your own, which is why this module is way too broad for what it tries to accomplish in 13 weeks.
3. I wouldn't suggest to S/U but if you have higher priority mods it might be good considering to the do the bare minimum in this module due to its poor module structure.
Course Breakdown:
Picture below is from AY23/24 Sem 2. I no longer have access to Sem 1 breakdown
Recommendation: 3-4/10 👎👎
In my opinion, this module tries to be overzealous by attempting to cover way too much content in the span of 13 weeks. If you are juggling with other modules, it might be hard to keep up with the content or you would have to find yourself. Also, the online-based video learning with the AI robot should be covered by Prof itself, half the time the AI couldn't explain itself well and students basically "catch no ball" depsite watching the videos. I would spend time on it and find myself only understanding at most 20% for that lecture. Apparently this has also been an issue for batches before mine.
The main reason why I gave this module a higher recommendation then CS2030 is due to two things. First, for computing students, it is preallocated to us and we can use it to fulfill the Data Literacy pillar. Secondly, in the current market, data analysis is widely demanded and used to explore and exploit data for business to optimize processes or come up with business decisions. This module involves a lot of statistics and learning how to create models for linear, logistic regression and some data mining tactics. If this is something up your alley, you might want to then take it, but keep in mind that is in no way an easy module, unless they have changed the grading scheme. I would recommend people who wish to take this as an UE as an easy S/Uable module but scoring well is not guaranteed.
Expected Grade: B/B+
Actual Grade: A- (Again Thank god for bell curve, I left one of my finals structured coding question blank so I was pleasantly surprised with this grade)
The main reason why I gave this module a higher recommendation then CS2030 is due to two things. First, for computing students, it is preallocated to us and we can use it to fulfill the Data Literacy pillar. Secondly, in the current market, data analysis is widely demanded and used to explore and exploit data for business to optimize processes or come up with business decisions. This module involves a lot of statistics and learning how to create models for linear, logistic regression and some data mining tactics. If this is something up your alley, you might want to then take it, but keep in mind that is in no way an easy module, unless they have changed the grading scheme. I would recommend people who wish to take this as an UE as an easy S/Uable module but scoring well is not guaranteed.
Expected Grade: B/B+
Actual Grade: A- (Again Thank god for bell curve, I left one of my finals structured coding question blank so I was pleasantly surprised with this grade)
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