EC2303: Foundations for Econometrics
Content
Describing data (mean, median, percentile etc), probability, binomial and poisson distribution, normal distribution, central limit theorem, sampling distributions of sample means, sample proportions and sample variances, confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, linear regression
Exams
Online IVLE Quizzes 5%
Tutorial participation 5%
2 graded problem sets 15%
Midterm 30%
Finals 45%
Personal Experience
This is a core Economics module on statistics. Also my favourite and easiest economics module of the semester. I loved this module. Personally I found it very easy and straightforward. Basically stuff that we learnt in JC H2 Math, but slightly more in-depth. The lecturer, Dr Beam, is pretty good as well.
Grade
A
EC3102: Macroeconomic Analysis II
Content
Investment theories, financial market, labour market, AS-AD model, unemployment and inflation, dynamics of saving and capital accumulation, technological progress and growth, goods market in the open economy
Exams
Tutorial Participation 5%
Tutorial Attendance 10%
Midterm 25%
Final Exam 60%
Personal Experience
I did not like this module at all. Personally, I thought the lecturer was terrible at explaining concepts. His English isn’t that great and many, many times, he will simply stop speaking in the middle of a sentence, pause awkwardly, and start a new sentence without finishing what he was saying.
The good thing, I guess, is that the final exam was pretty straightforward imo. Most of the questions were easy and doable, pretty similar to the tutorial questions. I felt like I did not have a very solid understanding of all the topics, better with some than others, and I was kinda worried about getting a B for this module but thankfully I got the grade I hoped for.
Grade
A-
EC3333: Financial Economics I
Content
Portfolio theory, bond prices and valuation, stocks, options
Exams
Tutorial Participation 15%
Midterm 35%
Final Exam 50%
Personal Experience
I started off liking this module, then not liking it so much, then liking it again… While some of the topics were easy to immediately understand, others weren’t as easy for me and I had to read the textbook and re-read the lecture notes on my own to understand. It’s not like ec2104 or ec2303 where I had no problems understanding everything immediately, for this module I had many “lightbulb” moments… you know, after reading and stressing out over the gibberish in the lecture notes, the moment when you feel enlightened and think “OHH aha I finally understand it now!”.
Prof Wong is a really good lecturer, but sometimes I found it difficult to keep up cause he tends to speak pretty fast at times.
I didn’t present a single time during tutorials, despite tutorial participation being 15% (I thought it was only 5%, found out much much later that it was actually a whooping 15%) because unlike most other tutorials where you simply present your answers on the board and run back to your seat, for this module my tutor would grill everyone up there, ask additional questions that required us to write our answers on the board on-the-spot, and that was too much for me to handle because of my stupid social anxiety. So I pretty much gave up on that 15% of marks and resigned myself to getting a terrible grade because 15% is A LOT.
I found the midterm exam easy but the final exam was difficult and discouraging, imo. I thought I had a very solid understanding of all the materials and topics covered by Week 13, but finals was like a slap in the face. LOL. There were 4 questions in total, each with parts (a), (b), (c), etc and we were given 2 hours to complete the paper. I spent ONE hour doing just the first question and was scrambling to complete the other 3 questions in the second hour. I’m pretty sure I scored a zero, or close to zero, for the last question itself.
In short, I had already lost 15% of my marks because of (complete lack of) tutorial participation, the final exam was a disaster, and I was prepared to score a B- or below.
The bell curve actually saved me. I was honestly surprised (and relieved!).
Grade
B+
GEK1521: Physics in the Life Sciences
Content
Term Test 1 Topics: Units, scalars and vectors, description of motion, force and motion, Newton’s laws, gravitational force, electric force, work and energy, planetary and satellite motion, elements and atoms, electron orbits, chemical bonding, compounds, carbon, organic molecules, life, cell, photosynthesis and respiration, life and energy conservation, life and entropy, stress and strain, pressure, collagen bone and teeth, silk,
Term Test 2 Topics: special water, buoyant force, surface tension, wetting and capillary, inertial force, gravity, weight, gravitational biology, wave, resonance and hearing, electric field and potential, electric current resistance, bioelectricity, electrolocation, magnets and magnetic field, magnetic force on charges and currents, biomagnetism, earth’s magnetic shield, wave diffraction interference and refraction, nature of light, vision, electromagnetic spectrum, colour sense, origin of colour, greenhouse effect
Exams
Term Test 1 (30 MCQs) 30%
Term Test 2 (30 MCQs) 30%
Term Paper 35%
Tutorial Attendance 5%
Personal Experience
This is a module where people who DO deserve an A will end up with an A. But people who don’t deserve an A may also end up with an A.
There is A LOT of content covered. And only 30 multiple choice questions (with negative marking) in both term tests. Chances are most of what you study won’t even be tested.
Seriously, this module was OVERWHELMING for me. Like, look at that list of topics. I was really kicking myself even before the end of Week 4, like WHY THE HELL DID I TAKE A PHYSICS MODULE when physics was never my strong point? Anyway, this module isn’t just about physics, but also has some Chemistry and Biology-related topics. I honestly felt like this module covered more content in 4 weeks than EC2303 or EC3102 covered in the whole 13 weeks of the semester.
There are two lectures every week, with two different chapters being covered during each lecture. So that’s four different chapters every week. Maybe it sounds like the best thing ever to people out there who seriously love science, but for people like me it’s nothing but a frickin’ nightmare.
There are no prerequisites for this module but I think, those with a solid secondary school and JC background in physics/chemistry/biology will definitely have a huuuge advantage.
The lecturer is decent but the tutor was terrible (imo). I only attended the first two tutorials before I stopped, because I found them to be utterly useless and I was already pretty sure that I would be s/u-ing this module so why bother.
tldr; Hated this module. Regretted taking it.
Grade
B-
LAF1201: French 1
Exams
Tutorial Attendance 5%
Homework 10% (Two homework assignments – the first, we had to write two postcards and the second was to write a short email response)
Written Tests 40%
Culture Quiz 10%
Oral Tests 35%
The first oral test was a home assignment, where we had to record and upload an audio clip of a self-introduction.
The second oral test was at the end of the course, done in a group where you have to role-play a scenario while the teacher watches from the sidelines.
Personal Experience
Well where do I begin? I LOVED THIS MODULE!!! My family and friends were so skeptical in the beginning, when I told them I intended to take French. They were like, are you seriously going to take another language mod when you’re terrible at your own mother tongue? Pffft how can anyone compare French to Chinese, they are WAY WAY WAY different.
Anyway, before I took this module the only French words I knew were ‘bonjour’ and ‘merci’. We learnt the basics of the language. Simple stuff like how to introduce yourself in French, speak of your hobbies, likes and dislikes, your dreams, introducing your family members, announcing events (like a wedding, anniversaries, etc), asking for the time and telling someone the time.
Among all five modules I took this semester, surprisingly I spent the least amount of time and effort on LAF1201. Personally, I think that it’s VERY easy to do well for all the written tests, too. You know what’s going to be tested. There aren’t any “trick” questions or questions to intentionally throw you off. There’s also listening comprehension, which shouldn’t be too difficult either as long as you pay attention and listen for keywords.
Before actually having my first LAF1201 lesson, I thought that this module would pull my CAP down (but I took it anyway because I’ve always wanted to learn French), but it actually ended up pulling my CAP up instead. Tutor was great, the learning materials provided were good, overall I really really enjoyed this module and found it pretty slack (I expected it to be harder and more time-consuming since it’s a language module but that wasn’t the case at all).
Grade
A
theoryoflies 