NUS AY 21/22 Sem 2 Course Review

Many NUS seniors will probably tell you that Year 1 Semester 2 is the time for you to do "limit-testing" and making use of your S/Us by overloading more courses. So of course, that's what I did and boy was that a mistake. I was still fairly free last semester but my goodness, taking on 2 extra courses really increased the workload by a wide margin. Thankfully, I've managed to reach the end of this semester relatively unscathed so without further ado, let's get started on Part 2: Electric Boogaloo of my NUS Course Reviews.

Disclaimer 1: As a CHS student doing a double major in Communications and New Media (CNM) and Management, my reviewed courses will be almost exclusively CNM, Business and CHS courses with very few exceptions.

Disclaimer 2: All of the following courses were taken in AY 21/22 Sem 2 and the structures of these courses MAY BE DIFFERENT in subsequent sems. All views expressed in this article are my own so please only take this review as an unofficial guide. More detailed information can be found in the links at the bottom of this article.

Previously, I've already reviewed HSH1000, GEA1000 and FAS1101 separately over at CNM Types, so click this link to check that out: https://www.nus-cnm.com/post/chs-common-curriculum-module-reviews-part-2. If not, continue reading for my review of the four other courses I took this semester. 

HSH1000 - The Human Condition

Expected grade: B+/B

Actual grade: B+ (got what I expected so I'm thankful for that) (S/Ued)

Side-note: HSH1000 is a nonsense course at times but it's also the one where I've had the most fun with a groupwork component. I had a lot of fun making memes and just clowning with my groupmates, and overall I think I just vibed with them very well. Doubt they'll see this post but thanks for the fun ride guys, hope to see y'all in future courses. 

GEA1000 - Quantitative Reasoning with Data

Expected grade: B+

Actual grade: A- (was worried because my finals was bad but I guess my higher-than-median midterms and group project pulled me up)

FAS1101 - Writing Academically: Arts and Social Sciences

Expected grade: A/A-

Actual grade: A (got what I expected so I have nothing much to say here but I guess it is true that if you score ≥75 for each essay component, you have a shot at getting A)

NM2101 - Theories of Communications and New Media

Lecturer: Prof Jack Qiu

Tutor: Prof Jack Qiu

TLDR: A deeper look at why we communicate the way we do. 

Description of course

• NM2101 is one of the compulsory core courses for CNM majors and as its name suggests, it introduces students to theories relating to the development of communications and new media.
• Lectures go in-depth into some of the theories taught in NM1101E, such as expectancy violation theory, while also covering new material like the conflict face negotiation theory, giving students more opportunities to understand the nuances of communication. 
• Weekly tutorials from weeks 3-13 are 1 hour long and held online (changed to on campus next AY), with tutors running through pre-assigned tutorial questions and recapping lecture content. There'll also be time for students to discuss their group projects.
• While NM1101E isn't a prerequisite for NM2101, students are advised to either read the former before the latter or both courses together, as some of NM1101E's content will be useful during your NM2101 learning journey. 

Assessment

• Tutorial Attendance and Participation (20%)
• 9 Quizzes (20%)
• 3 Online Tests (30%)
• Final Group Project (30%)

Pros

NM2101 expands on some of the theories that were introduced in NM1101E and as a CNM major, I found the content taught for this course to be very intriguing. It allowed me to gain a deeper understanding of why people communicate the way we do and the content is extremely applicable to the real world. 

The course can be a little theory-heavy, with each lecture covering multiple theories but it's definitely not boring. This is largely thanks to Prof Jack, who's undoubtedly one of the best lecturers out there. He puts a lot of effort into his teachings, which makes lectures fun and engaging. 

Finally, there have been horror stories in the past about how unbelievably difficult the assessments were for previous iterations of NM2101 (midterms comprised a maximum 3750 words essay in 2 hours) but thankfully, the assessment criteria has been changed to be far more manageable, something that I'm sure countless students are very grateful for.

Cons

This isn't a problem exclusive to NM2101 but I really wished tutorials were longer. Before the sem started, I questioned the usefulness of an hour-long tutorial, which would really end up being more like 45 minutes. Unfortunately, all my worries were proven true after going through this course. Tutorials passed by in a flash and oftentimes, we would rush through everything without being able to properly discuss the pre-tutorial questions, among other things. 

Almost every tutorial ended beyond the stipulated time, which caused Prof Jack to rush things at the end and definitely reduced the conduciveness of the learning experience. Considering that the format of NM2101's tutorials are fairly similar to NM1101E's, I think that tutorials being 2 hours long isn't out of the realm of possibility. 

Personal thoughts

NM2101 is quite important in the grand scheme of CNM because the theories taught will prove useful in future courses. As I mentioned above, a theory-heavy course like this should be quite dry but lessons aren't boring at all, in no small part due to Prof Jack. Bear with me as I wax lyrical about Prof Jack for a while but he's seriously one of the GOATs. A wonderful lecturer and tutor alike, Prof Jack's an extremely engaging and passionate lecturer who's totally committed to his students. Moreover he's very approachable and communicates with students regularly (both through Telegram and email).

Even though tutorials are so short, he does his best to ensure students have properly engaged with the lecture content and applied them to the pre-tutorial questions. He also provides timely feedback for the group project and his guidance was really useful in helping my group to create the best project we could. They say a great teacher makes all the difference when it comes to learning and I really think Prof Jack is a perfect example of this saying.

If you ever get the chance to take a course under Prof Jack, congratulations because he's genuinely one of the best educators I've had not just in university but probably throughout my educational career. I really enjoyed NM2101 and it's probably in my top 3 Year 1 courses. Prof Jack is also teaching this course next sem so future students are in luck. 

Expected grade: A-/B+

Actual grade: A (in general I scored quite well for every assessment component but so did everyone else, so I didn't expect to score this well but colour me surprised)

MKT1705X - Principles of Marketing

Lecturer: Prof Regina Yeo

Tutor: Canley Yong

TLDR: An introduction to marketing for non-Business students. 

Description of course

• As the introductory marketing course, MKT1705X covers basic marketing concepts and provides students with a better understanding of marketing principles. This course is meant for non-Business students, hence the "X" suffix. 
• Lectures cover such topics as the marketing mix and consumer behaviour, helping students to gain marketing knowledge as well as preparing them for higher level marketing courses.
• Biweekly tutorials are 2 hours long and held on campus, with tutors going through assignment questions and running through lecture content. Later on in the sem, tutorials will also be used for group project presentations.
• I was pre-allocated MKT1705X, likely because of my status as a CNM and Management double major student. 

Assessment

• Subject Pool Participation (10%)
• Class Participation (15%)
• Test (15%)
• Individual Assignment (20%)
• Individual Online Learning (10%)
• Group Project (30%)

Pros

Much like any other introduction course, MKT1705X does a fairly good job of bringing students into the world of marketing. Although it covers a lot of ground in a short amount of time, I found the content to be interesting and very applicable to the real world. Also, the course's relatively light workload was a blessing because I was still able to understand the basics of marketing while not being swamped by work.

I also thought that MKT1705X's group project was a great way for students to gain a better grasp of marketing concepts as we really had to dive deep into the marketing campaigns of various brands. We really had to apply what we had learnt in lectures to these real life case studies and that made for a very interesting project. 

Cons

MKT1705X makes use of the McGraw-Hill Connect software and 10% of the course's weightage comes from online assignments held on Connect. While students do have unlimited tries to get the full 10%, it is mildly annoying that many of the Connect quizzes cover content and material that isn't actually taught in the lecture itself. Yes, Connect itself provides learning resources but I don't think that it should be an expectation for us to make use of this external material, especially since it's not covered in lectures themselves.

Also, I don't understand the 10% attributed to subject pool participation. Granted, MKT1705X isn't the only course that does this but why should students be graded based on their participation in studies conducted by others? How is that fair? If anything, this just feels like a way for the faculty to make sure that there are people participating in the studies conducted by either their higher-level undergraduate or graduate students. 

Personal thoughts

MKT1705X is definitely one of the more enjoyable courses I took this sem and I found the content taught very applicable to my primary major of CNM. In fact, some of the course content actually overlapped with what I had learnt in CNM courses and I can definitely see the links between these two areas of study. 

I also can't forget to mention the lecturer for this course, Prof Regina Yeo, who was very engaging and always did her best to make lectures interesting by bringing in case studies and real life examples. This was a huge help in the learning process, which I really appreciated as someone new to marketing. 

Expected grade: A-

Actual grade: A- (again, something else I expected so I'm really happy about that)

ACC1701X - Accounting for Decision Makers

Lecturer: Prof Charles Shi

Tutor: Philip Toh

TLDR: Accounting 101 for non-Business students.

Description of course

• ACC1701X guides students on their first step into the world of accounting. This introductory course is meant for non-Business students, hence the "X" suffix.
• Lectures break down the importance of accounting in financial decision making (hence the course's name) by covering basic accounting concepts through the viewpoint of an investor. 
• Weekly tutorials from weeks 3-13 are 1 hour long and held on campus, with tutors spending some time to recap lecture content. Students will also present their answers to pre-assigned tutorial questions and the tutorial will be wrapped up with a look at the model answers.

Assessment

• Class Participation (20%)
• Group Project (30%)
• Class Focus (5%)
• Final Exam (45%)

Pros

I think it's safe to say that ACC1701X is quite a popular choice among students to clear their Unrestricted Electives (UEs), as over 400 students choose to read it every sem. The content taught is definitely useful and relevant, especially if you plan on doing your own investing into companies in future. Knowing how to read and actually understand their financial reports will be a huge boon in this scenario. ACC1701X is also a prerequisite for many finance (FIN-coded) courses so it's definitely a good start if you want to dive deeper into the study of finance. 

Cons

This is going to be a long segment so strap in. ACC1701X is like plain steamed chicken breast. It's good for me but so unbelievable dry. Accounting concepts in general are not the most engaging topics out there, with a lot of time being spent looking at numbers or poring over financial reports. Possessing an analytical brain really helps with this course and if (like yours truly) you don't have one, you will have a really tough time. That said, the biggest issues with ACC1701X don't lie with what's being taught but rather how it's taught, as well as the overall structure of this course. 

The inevitable dryness of accounting is made so much worse by Prof Charles Shi, who's hands down the most boring lecturer I've had in my entire first year of university. He has done nothing to make ACC1701X more interesting and I struggle through all his lectures. The design of this course is also just terrible. Project questions are poorly set, requiring numerous clarifications, and the project in general is based around the idea of "self-learning", which is ridiculous considering this is an intro beginners' course meant for non-Business students, who obviously don't know much about the content. We pay school fees to actually learn content, not learn how to Google.

There's also a distinct lack of communication between ACC1701X's teaching team and students. Crucial information about the project was trickled down slowly from lecturer to tutor to students and some students didn't even know about some of the changes to the project because their tutors didn't make it clear. In the first place, such important information should be made known to us via a cohort-wide official announcement but nothing of the sort was done, which is absolutely mind-boggling. Personally, I also get the feeling that there're some issues between members of the teaching team as well, with my tutor showing some disdain for the lecturer. I think this needs to be ironed out for ACC1701X to function properly. 

Finally, I truly don't understand why there is a 5% "class focus" assessment component. Yes, it lowers the weightage for the final examination from 50 to 45%, which I am grateful about, but why should there be a "class focus" assessment? If anything, this disincentivises students from asking questions for fear of losing marks and getting a lower grade. If I don't understand something taught, I should be able to ask my lecturer/tutor without fear of penalisation. So far, ACC1701X is the only course I've taken that has this component and I think this assessment component should be scrapped or at least reworked.

Personal thoughts

I hated ACC1701X and it's undoubtedly my least favourite course of the entire AY. Of the 12 courses I took this AY, this is the only one that I wanted to S/U purely because I had completely given up on it. To all future NUS students who plan on taking ACC1701X, if you see Prof Charles Shi's name in the teaching team, you're better off waiting until a future semester when he's not teaching it. If you've already registered for it and see his name afterwards, good luck to you and be prepared for Google to be your best friend because Prof Shi insists on "self-learning" for the group project so much that it's ridiculous.

The group project has a hefty weightage of 30% and a not insignificant number of project questions contains material that is not covered in the lectures/textbook. I understand that as university students, we're not going to be spoon-fed all the answers. But not only is ACC1701X an intro course to accounting, it's specifically meant for non-Business students who shouldn't be expected to have prior accounting knowledge. This isn't a graduate level or even a higher level undergraduate course but for whatever reason, Prof Shi thinks that it's fine to expect these things from students who obviously don't know what they're doing.

Prof Shi also released numerous clarifications and Q&As for the project as late as 2 weeks from the submission date. This would not have happened if he had designed the questions in a way that was suitable and accessible for beginner students with no knowledge of accounting. And of course, let's not forget the lack of communication that I mentioned in the previous section.

I will acknowledge that this is Prof Shi's first time teaching ACC1701X so maybe he has yet to iron out the kinks in the system but there is a ridiculous amount of room for improvement. Perhaps it is selection bias but I have yet to meet someone who enjoyed this course and thinks it was well-taught. My experience with ACC1701X has been dreadful and it has totally turned me off from reading FIN courses in future to clear my 2nd Major requirements. 

Expected grade: C+/C

Actual grade: A- (this is my biggest surprise of this semester especially after completely bombing my finals so I can only attribute this to the bell curve saving me or because my group project was good)

LAK3202 - Korean 4

Lecturer: Ko Eun-eee (yet another GOATed lecturer)

TLDR: A continuation from Korean 3.

Description of course

• The second intermediate Korean course, LAK3202 continues LAK3201's job of improving students' proficiency in listening, speaking, reading and writing, this time to a higher intermediate level. Students will also gain more knowledge about Korean culture and develop skills to learning Korean independently. 
• Following the format of lower level Korean courses, pre-recorded lectures introduce students to new grammar and vocabulary, and students are expected to watch these recordings prior to actual lessons, which take place twice weekly, are 2 hours long and held online (will be on campus in subsequent sems).
• Similarly, LAK3202's lectures carry on the trend of being more like tutorials, wherein lecturers will go through the e-lecture content in a far more in-depth and interactive fashion. Compared to LAK3201, there's far more emphasis on speaking practice than completing the short written assignments. 
• Take note that this course is only offered in the second semester of every AY so make sure you plan your schedules properly!
• Prerequisites: Passed LAK3201 (Korean 3) or by allocation after placement test. Students must not have read a higher level course than this. 

Assessment

• Class Participation (10%)
• 2 Writing Assignments (15%)
• Oral Test (15%)
• Weekly Review Note (10%)
• 2 Online Tests (50%)

Pros

LAK3202 is a huge step-up from LAK3201 and focuses on grammar/vocabulary that are more commonly used in speech. That's a good thing because it means that the course is gearing us up to not only be more fluent speakers but also to speak in a non-awkward manner. There's a lot more speaking practice in the course and it has proven to be very useful. 

It's also no surprise that the lecturers from the Korean department are amazing at their jobs, which makes the learning experience so much better. Just like with LAK3201 or any other language course, this is something students read out of personal interest so the learning environment is far more conducive and wholesome as people are here to improve in and learn more about the language. The course is definitely tough but it's really fun. 

Cons

N/A

Personal thoughts

After my less-than-stellar performance in LAK3201, I was flip-flopping on the idea of heading to the next level with LAK3202. But after making a bunch of friends from LAK3201 the previous sem, I decided to just go for it and before I knew it, my Korean journey had resumed once again. In fact, I only got this course after appealing and I actually didn't think my appeal would work but I guess Lady Luck was smiling down on me. I have absolutely no regrets taking this course, even if it meant overloading this sem to a crazy amount.

I also want to use this segment to give special mention to my lecturer Ms. Ko Eun-eee. She engages students well, she brings across what she's teaching in a manner that we can understand and most importantly, you can tell she cares about students. My most memorable moment in LAK3202 happened after I emailed Ms. Ko to ask something regarding grammar. Not only did she reply with a detailed explanation, she went the extra mile to even critique and give me feedback on the email I sent. She didn't have to do that, but that act of kindness and commitment really stuck with me throughout. 

LAK3202 introduces Korean grammar/vocabulary that are commonly used in speech, so the course is moving towards making us less awkward while speaking Korean. Ms. Ko's teachings make that distinction very clear and you can really tell she's training us to be better speakers. She's also very fluent in English so that's a huge bonus. Ms. Ko might be a fairly new member of NUS, in fact having entered the university after me, but with her many years of experience in teaching Korean, I firmly believe that she will instrumental in many students' Korean learning journey, as she has been in mine. I doubt she'll see this but 감사합니다 선생님!

I haven't had a long university career yet, but I'm convinced that the Centre for Language Studies and more specifically the Korean department has some of the best educators in NUS, absolutely GOATed teaching team. If there're any students out there still mulling over whether to embark on learning a language in university, just do it! It's always worth a shot and if you want more info, you can check out another article I wrote right here: https://www.nus-cnm.com/post/learning-a-language-in-university-worth-the-mcs.

Expected grade: B-/C+

Actual grade: B+ (big surprise number 2, I consistently scored below median for every single assessment component so I wasn't expecting much but I guess by some miracle, the bell curve has saved me once again) (S/Ued)

Grade Point Average (GPA): 4.71 [with newly-formed expectations, I hope I can maintain this GPA and graduate with Honours (Highest Distinction)]

I just want to end this course review by stating that yes, it is true that overloading in Year 1 Semester 2 is not a bad move since you would want to gauge your limit for future semesters, but it's not a necessity. An increased workload is really no joke so if you really don't think you can manage the workload, don't take on too much and either burn out by the end of the semester or completely tank your GPA. Cheers. 

For more information, please access the following links-

AY 21/22 Sem 1 Course Review: https://theworldallatonce.blogspot.com/2021/12/nus-ay-2122-sem-1-mod-review.html

General Course Info: https://nusmods.com/modules?sem[0]=1&sem[1]=2&sem[2]=3&sem[3]=4, https://luminus.nus.edu.sg/module-search, https://canvas.nus.edu.sg/search/all_courses/

CHS Curriculum: https://chs.nus.edu.sg/programmes/

USP Courses: https://www.usp.nus.edu.sg/curriculum/academic-requirements/

NUSC Courses: https://nuscollege.nus.edu.sg/learn/critical-competencies/

UTCP Courses: https://www.nus.edu.sg/celc/undergraduate-courses/residential-college-rc-programmes/ideas-and-exposition-courses/

RVRC Courses: https://rvrc.nus.edu.sg/rvrc-programme/rvrc-courses/

SPS Courses: http://sps.nus.edu.sg/academic-programme/