I decided to join the IDP programme (Innovation Design Programme) before year 1 semester 2 officially started. I initially wanted to overload this semester but I kinda screwed up and didn't because I thought I didn't need too. In the end, this semester was too chill for me as I had a lot of free time due to two of my modules tutorial only on even weeks. In addition, most of my modules are heavily project-based and very few exams. I regretted not overloading my second semester.
1) EG1112 (ENGINEERING PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE II)
6 MCs
10% Oral Presentation
10% Report Write-up
40% Quiz (2 x 20% quiz)
30% Lab-work
10% Tutorial Attendance
This is a continual of EG1111 which I had previously took last semester. This module is actually a basic introduction to triple E stuffs which is something you would probably hardly use in your future mechanical engineering modules. It was a very tough module to be frank. The triple E content that you will be learning is totally foreign as compared when you were introduced to EG1111 content which at first was easy for almost everyone to learn. You will get to have some hands on on electrical circuit components like playing with wires, light bulbs, breadboard and even Arduino coding. The oral presentation, unlike EG1111 which was individual, for EG1112 is it a pair presentation. For lab groups with odd numbers, there will be one group of 3 people. The same person that you will pair with is the same person that you will be doing the report with. The report content will be the same content as the oral presentation. For the two quizzes, like EG1111, the first quiz will be held on week 5 and the second will be held on week 12. Even though the two quizzes were MCQ and open book, the quizzes were still very hard as there was negative marking (for every one question correct 2 positive marks, one question not attempted zero marks and one question wrong minus 1 mark). The questions were are also very tough and some of it were not taught in class. There were 20 questions each and total marks was 40. For both quizzes, the average was quite bad, especially the second where the median was 10. I got a big flat zero mark for my second quiz LOL but I was pretty chilled about it. This is because I screwed up my first quiz and I already resigned to fate and decided to SU this module from the very start. For the lab work, it was pretty chill too as compared to EG1111. For EG1111, the weekly lab report had to be done out of class time too and usually consumed a lot of our time. For EG1112, they decided to adjust the complexity and make it such that each weekly lab assignment could be done within the 3 hrs given stipulated lab timing. In addition, a 10% tutorial attendance was included as a lot of people were very late or did not came at all for the lab sessions in EG1111. Generally, I did not particular enjoy this module a lot as I was learning triple E stuffs which was not really my interest. I am glad that I was in mechanical engineering and not triple e after taking this module. For both EG1111 and EG1112, if you want to do well, do well in mainly the two quizzes as averagely everyone else would have roughly the same marks for the other components as everything is bell-curved. The two quizzes are the main factor that will determine you grade as seen from both EG1111 and EG1112. For EG1111 I did quite well for the quizzes and got quite a good grade. Likewise for EG1112, I did very poorly for both quizzes and got quite a bad grade.
Expected Grade: C
Achieved Grade: B-
2) MA1512 (DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS FOR ENGINEERING)
2 MCs
20% Online quiz
80% Finals
Last time, there was MA1506, now it split into both MA1512 and MA1513, both 2 MCs each. MA1513 started off as first half of the semester and MA1512 continue off in the second half of the semester. For this module, there are both physical and online lectures. However, I just watched the online lectures and skip the physical one because essentially they covered the same content of the topic and I could do the tutorial questions.The structuring of the notes of MA1512 was quite bad though. Like the other math modules, you can bring in an A4 double sized cheat-sheet into the exam hall. To score well in this module, just practice as much as you can and write down all the formulas and past year questions with workings on the cheat-sheet. Even if you dont get the final answer, as long as you write down some formulas and working, you will still score some marks. Unlike MA1505 and MA1513, the tutorials are not graded. For the online quiz, it is just 4 long questions. Basically its a giveaway too because you can discuss it with your friends and the questions are not relatively difficult too. Personally, I enjoyed doing calculus so I do enjoyed this module a lot even though a lot of other people hated it a lot.
Expected Grade: B+
Achieved Grade: A-
3) MA1513 (LINEAR ALGEBRA WITH DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS)
2 MCs
15% Online quiz
15% In class Assignment
70% Finals
This module covered more in depth contents on vectors and matrices. Like MA1505, there were in class assignments that were graded. There were also online and physical lectures, which I only just watched the online lectures though. For the online quizzes, you can submit it online any amount of times until you reach the deadline, which will be one week later. It is very advisable to discuss these quizzes every week with your friend if you want to secure the full 15% component. The bell-curve for this module is generally quite high and one small careless mistake could cost you, so do slowly.
Expected Grade: B+
Achieved Grade: B
4) GER1000 (QUANTITATIVE REASONING)
4 MCs
30% Finals
20% Online Quiz
30% Project
20% Tutorial Attendance
This module is one of the 5 GE modules that you have to cleared in NUS. It is a compulsory module, being the only module in the GER pillar. If you are staying in halls/RCs, you can also choose to take this module with your hall/RCs people. There is no physical lecture of this module and all the lectures are all online. The tutorial session is only once per two weeks, either odd or even. To score the tutorial component marks, all you just have to do is attend the tutorial and answer whatever the TA asked you. For my tutorial, my TA set up a random generator, so whoever got chosen have to represent their groups and present one of the answers. By the way, you guys will be grouped for your projects which you will be presenting around week 12/13. For the finals, it will be MCQs and the recommended way to practice for is to spam practice and past year papers questions. Likewise, most people should be getting roughly about the same average score for the rest of the components, what determines the most of the grade for this module will be the final quiz. It will usually be an MCQ but it is very tricky, be it the calculations or concepts. Most people feel that what they learnt from this module does not really have much use as there are other modules out there which provides more depth and scope into statistics On the contrary, I really enjoyed this module a lot personally.
Expected Grade: B+
Achieved Grade: B
5) SSA1206/GES1023 (REPRESENTING SINGAPORE)
4 MCs
20% Mid Terms
20% Term Paper
20% Tutorial
40% Project
This module is a GE module, under the GES pillars. I choose the module as I found that the contents covered and the way it is covered is very interesting. I also initially chose this module because it is also an arts module and I love writing essays. Unfortunately, the lecture is not webcasted. For the mid-term, you will have to answer both questions by writing two short essays each physically on the exam booklet. Ever since after A levels and even into uni first semester, all my essay assignments were due online on soft-copy so I typed it out on Word Document. It was my first time after a few years physically writing on a physical hard copy paper. After about half an hour into the paper, my hand was super pain not being conditioned into taking up a pen and scribbling down at a super fast pace. In the end, everyone did quite badly for the paper and they have to moderate the marks by adding a few marks to our initial score. For the term paper, you will be given the question in about 1 month in advance to prepare for it. For the tutorial, as long as you turn out and take part actively in class participation you will be given the marks. For the project, you will be grouped in about 3-4 and you can either do a full report, a creative project consisting of a short story write-up, a film, etc. This will constitute 30% to your total grades and the other 10% will be your final reflection about this module. For me personally, I kinda gave up halfway as I gotten quite badly from the term paper, a C+ actually. I feel that this module is unfair as everything like literally 100% of this module is graded by your TA. If your essay style doesn't suit your TA, you might not be able to score that well.
Expected Grade: B-
Achieved Grade: B-
6) EG2201A (INTRODUCTION TO DESIGN THINKING)
4MCs
This module is a special module, under the IDP programme (Innovation Design Programme). It is a 2nd major programme that is design focused based. I could have taken the other module which involves lots of electronics and coding, something which I am not too good and have a lack of interest in. This module teaches and gives you a brief introduction to design-thinking, which is something very interesting. For most people when comes to problem solving in the world they only think about the solution itself. However in design thinking, it actually teaches us on how to find out what is the problem itself. Put it in simple terms, even though the solution might seems too good, it might not specifically solve the main particular problem. For my semester, there were two projects being done and you will be shuffled randomly into two different groups for the two projects. Overall, I enjoyed this module a lot as it equipped me with interesting skill-sets and I really enjoyed the whole design-thinking process
Expected Grade: A-
Achieved Grade: A-
Overall, this semester was a pretty chill 4 months and i wished I had overloaded as some days I have too much free time. I was pretty disappointed with my GER1000 grade as I did not have enough SU and it pulled down my cap by quite a bit.