Musings from someone bored

A bored NUS Electrical Engineering student!

Showing posts with label Module Review (AY18/19 S2). Show all posts
Showing posts with label Module Review (AY18/19 S2). Show all posts

Wednesday, 10 June 2020

4

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! ðŸ˜¡ðŸ˜¡ðŸ˜¡

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) 
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Tuesday, 7 January 2020

0

Module Review: GEQ1000 Asking Questions

This is a 4 MCs module that has a 1 MC workload. This is a compulsory pass/fail module and unfortunately, many students just don't give a freak about it. (RVRC students must take a letter graded GEQ1917 in place of this though). I have a friend taking this module at a 4pm slot, which was unusually late. Out of curiosity, I asked why. The response was that it allows for a nice afternoon nap before heading home. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

 

Not that I encourage, but you can afford to skip several graded components and still pass it, I think. Graded components include making a paper wallet, folding origami, reflection essays and participation in the online forum. There are also fortnightly quizzes on LumiNUS but not to worry, you can join the famous GEQ1000 Discord group where everyone share answers discusses the questions. I am sure the instructors are aware of it and randomises the questions. Not everyone will get the exact same questions. But not like it matters if you get full marks or not. 

 

This is a pass/fail module and there's no A grade to aim for! You can even skip the quizzes if you like, but I wouldn't recommend it as it makes you look bad. :( The workload is so little that you sometimes forget this module exists. In place of physical lectures are online lectures which I don't remember viewing them. :3 Tutorial is fortnightly and at times it slips my mind I have lessons. By the time I remember it, I am 30 minutes late. But no issues, other making the tutor a little pissed, I still passed this module with flying colours! 

 

The tutorial is extremely dry, though at times there are interesting activities to keep you awake. One intriguing observation was seeing some students vigorously taking down notes in class. And when I glanced over the computer screen, it was indeed GEQ1000 notes. I know we are expected to be good NUS students but isn't this a little overkill for a CS/CU module? I see many complains that this module is useless, wasting time etc.. but hey! It's a rare 4 MCs pass/fail module and students should be thankful for its existence. If we continue complaining, they might make this module graded like its cousin GER1000 and I don't think our juniors will be too happy about it. 

 

Summary: Low workload module for you to make new friends and destress if you are into that sort of stuff. 

 

My rating: 

Difficulty: 0/5 
Workload: 1/5 
Teaching staff: 3/5 
Overall: 4.5/5 (come on, it's a free 4 MC module. Appreciate it!) 

 

Final grade: CS

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Sunday, 2 June 2019

0

Module Review: MA1508E Linear Algebra for Engineering

Introduction 
Out of all the three math modules, this is the one I struggled the most. Unlike MA1511 or MA1512, this doesn't have calculus or difficult arithmetics, just simple addition or subtraction. However, the real difficulty comes in grasping the concept given the abstract nature of linear algebra. To do well, you need to digest these concepts and work with speed and accuracy as many of the processes are algorithmic: one wrong calculation and the whole question is gone... 

Lesson format and weekly quizzes 
Like previous math modules, this also uses the flip classroom methodology, where students have to watch pre-recorded videos before coming to class. I tried my best to watch those, but gave up halfway due to laziness. This module is conducted in small classes for ECE students just like the previous two math modules. 

If there's a key take away: this module is very pressurised. With three graded quizzes every week, you're constantly occupied with it. :(

The first quiz is a weekly LumiNUS MCQ quiz. It felt like an IQ test that gone south. Questions are notoriously ambiguous and the options are all so similar. But given that the quiz isn't randomised,  you just need to make the right friends who is willing to share discuss the solutions. 

The second quiz is held weekly during lecture slots which focuses on current week's content. Before the quiz starts, the instructor will give a brief recap from the online videos you never have watched. When the quiz starts, no discussions are allowed, hence it's advisable to at least skim through the content before coming to class. 

Finally, we have the tutorial quiz, where application questions are given. These quizzes are so difficult that many took so long to complete it and the whole class often have to evacuate to the classroom next door to make way for the next class! Before conducting quiz, the instructor will go through tutorial questions. He will randomly select students to present their answers and if you did not do the questions, he won't be too pleased. 

Bell curve, midterm and finals
The bell curve is very steep as there are many foreign scholars with full mastery of linear algebra competing with us. :(

The midterm was extremely difficult (for me) and I left many blanks and unsurprisingly, flung the paper. For finals, it was doable, but everyone else found it easy. Having left some questions blank, I had the expectation for a humble B at most (if I'm lucky). But somehow, I got a pretty decent grade (despite failing midterms). To do well, you need to have to grasp the concept well. Rote learning won't help as there are many proofing, True/False questions where explanations are expected. 

My main advice is constant practice and digesting the concepts fully or you are going get lost quickly. I'm guilty of neither doing tutorials nor watching the videos diligently (mind you, it's 10 min per video!) and it's probably why I struggled. 

One tip is to have (smart) friends taking this module together. With so many graded components, having an extra pair of eyes to double confirm your answers can help ensure you secure the quiz marks to the fullest extent. 

My rating:
Difficulty: 4/5
Workload: 4/5
Teaching staff: 4/5 
Overall: 3/5 (Manageable, if you put constant effort)

Assessment Format:
10% online quiz
10% Lecture quiz
10% Tutorial quiz
20% Midterm paper
50% Final paper

Expected grade: conservative B
Final grade: better than B+ :) 
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Thursday, 9 May 2019

0

Module Review: EE2026 Digital Design

Introduction 
For EE students, this is the first 2k module encountered -> No S/U option! The content of this module will be foreign to many JC kids (poly students will have an edge). It's a coding and digital electronics module and bulk of your grades will be from lab assignments. For the first half, Dr Massimo introduces various logic gates (XOR, NOR, OR etc), Boolean algebra and its arithmetics; like adding numbers of different radixes, converting them, simplifying it with K-maps and truth table. We then moved into creating combinational circuits using logic gates. The pace ramps up in second half taught by Dr Chua, which includes: sequential circuits, where combination circuits are made useful thanks to clocks; turning them into counters, adders and snails. We also learned finite state machines and drawing state diagrams. The lectures were conducted at weird timings (one at 5pm and the other early morning), but were recorded hence naturally, I did not attend (in my defence I don't stay in campus!). For the 1h weekly tutorials, it's normal to stumble when attempting the questions as it can get difficult. 

Quizzes (steep bell curve!) 
Don't get too excited if someone tells you there's no examinations. In place of those are two quizzes (that are conducted exactly like exams), weighing 20% each. Quiz 1, which tested Dr Massimo's stuff, was easy. To illustrate, the cohort median was a ridiculous 39 out of 40. Some might assume it's a MCQ test but no; it's a fully written 1.5h test with no cheatsheets or calculators allowed. Can you imagine how steep the bell curve is? There's no room for errors or you will fall behind the curve. For Quiz 2, no cheatsheets as well but calculators are allowed. It was challenging and killed some people. When we were leaving the exam venue, a student went up to Dr Chua to beg for mercy. There were larger variations for Quiz 2 results. Out of 50, many friends scored above 40. But the median was a low 30. Someone joked that EE students tanked the quiz and I couldn't agree more! - We are competing with "smarter" CEG students 😔. 

Verilog, labs and project
The coding language used is Verilog. The lab instructor, Dr Gu Jing explains everything crystal-clear. Her PowerPoint slides were important survival aids if you want to complete the labs. It was obvious that whoever created the lab assignments was attempting to make students suffer. Despite many investing a lot of time in it, many struggled and did not submit a 100% working code, especially for the last few assignments. Dr Gu Jing is a great instructor and will guide students if help is required, though she won't tolerate amateurish questions. 

Verilog isn't like C or Python hence it took time getting used to. The module ended with a pair-work project (30%).  For our batch, it was reading sound frequencies and manipulating the waveform. A skeleton of the base code are provided. The main differentiating point was on how you further enhance the project, which was a time consuming process. Each group is only issued one VGA cable and microphone, so only one can work on it at any time. Not helping is how long it takes to generate the bitstream (something like a compiling the code). So whenever you make changes, no matter how small, you will waste several minutes before you can test it again. The project also requires an external monitor, so if you do not have it, you will likely be camping in the school lab for long hours. Many groups (including mine) did irrelevant enhancements like adding games which added no real value to the project. None of the lab scores were released, hence I have no inkling on how I did.

Expected grade: B+
Update: when I saw my results, I was pleasantly surprised with it. Despite not hitting the 75th percentile mark for both quizzes, I managed to do one grade better than peers who got 75th pct. My guess is the project (30%) which differentiated our grades. I spent lots of time on it and I'm glad it paid off. 😊😊😊

My rating:
Difficulty: 3/5
Workload: 4/5
Teaching staff: 4/5 
Overall: 4/5

Assessment Format:
20% Quiz 1
20% Quiz 2
30% Various lab assignments
30% Lab Project
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