Module Review: ES2531 Critical Thinking And Writing

Introduction 

This module is the biggest burden for me this semester. I don't really get the point of it. As far I know, it's compulsory for all engineering students and the only way you can avoid it is to enrol into the RCs. To be honest, there is really nothing much to say here as I did not learn anything from it and urge my juniors to avoid this if you can. There are three assignments, which are graded from your final written report and a "midterm" test (they don't call it midterm, but you can treat it as such). 

Lesson format

There are several problems with this module. Firstly, it's too theoretical. Tell me which engineer out there will look up for leadership frameworks in their line of work? Next, the class is extremely boring. Imagine, two hours of non-stop talking on leadership theory in the middle of the day. Not helping was the tutor, who wasn't engaging at all. The classes were so boring that I took the time to work on other important stuff. In fact, when the tutor disperses us for group discussions, everyone starts to discuss just about everything except the module itself.

Graded assignments

The first assignment (35%), is the "midterm". It's a 1.5h individually timed assignment where you examine a case study and critique it is using an engineering leadership framework. Did not put in much effort into it and the assignments marks were not released as well so I cannot comment on how I fare; but not too well, I guess. 

Assignment 2 consists of individual and group components. The main task is writing a paper on UN's "Sustainable Development Goals". Basically, you pick one goal and come out with an engineering solution to the problem. In the paper, you delegate one chapter to each group members and the draft you come out with is your Assignment 2A marks (15%). The combined chapters from your group mates is your final written report that weighs 35%. Because I didn't pay much attention to this module, the final report was a mad rush. Given that EE2026's final project has a similar deadline, time was tight. However, EE2026 project was definitely priority one, but not failing this module was important too. Although we pulled through, after reading the final report, all I can do was to shake my head in shame. It was painful to read and riddled with grammatical, logical and formating errors, that we decided it wasn't worth our time to fix it. 

The final Assignment 3 (15%) consists of forum posts, final reflection paper and in-class participation marks that I have no clue how it was calculated. 

Additional remarks

Other than allowing me to work on schoolwork, the only other good thing about it is how they revamped this module. We are the first or second batch to try out this new format, where there is no final examination and the tutorial sessions reduced. Imagine having two-hour leadership theory lessons twice or thrice weekly and having a final examination to end it! 😡😡😡

My rating:

Difficulty: 2/5

Workload: 2/5

Teaching staff: 1/5 

Overall: 1/5

Graded components:

Assignment 1 (Midterm): 35%

Assignment 2: 50%

Assignment 3: 15% 

Final grade: B (S/U option exercised)