Academic Update AY2012/13 Sem 02

The workload for this semester is quite heavy with a lot of readings from my Econs mods. Out of the 5 modules, 2 were particularly demanding (ST3236 and EC3312). ST3236 was a nightmare for me. Each week, I spent more than 6 hrs attending lectures and re-watching webcasts because I simply could not follow the lecturer's pace. I also have to spend an entire day each week attempting its tutorial, but usually I can only do less than half of it at the end of the day. By the second half of the semester, I realize I'm spending too much time on this one module, hence I decided to sort of give up on it and focus more on the remaining 4 modules which I have a higher confidence of getting a better grade. On the other hand, I enjoyed both my econs mods immensely this semester. Overall, the SAP is better than I have expected, but still, I think I would be disappointed if I missed the Dean's List this semester.

Year1-Sem1

ST1131	Introduction to Statistics	A-
MA1101R	Linear Algebra I	A
MA1102R	Calculus	A
EC1301	Principles of Economics	A
GEK1508	Einstein's Universe and Quantum Weirdness	A

 
Year1-Sem2  

CS1010	Programming Methodology	A-
ST2131	Probability	B
MA2108	Mathematical Analysis I	B+
EC2102	Macroeconomic Analysis I	A
PC1322	Understanding the Universe	A+

Year2-Sem1 

ST2132	Mathematical Statistics	A+
ST2137	Computer Aided Data Analysis	A+
EC2101	Microeconomics Analysis I	A
LSM1302	Gene and Society	A+
GEK2503	Remote Sensing for Earth Observation	A-

 
Year2-Sem2

ST3131	Regression Analysis	A
ST3236	Stochastic Processes I	B+
ST3239	Survey Methodology	A-
EC3312	Game theory & its application in economics	A
EC3333	Financial Economics I	A+

MC	80
CAP	4.725

ST3131

The module is taught by Chan Yiu Man. Although many say that he is not a good lecturer, I actually find him decent in delivering concepts. His illustrations make it much easier to understand. Module is not difficult and easy to follow. Workload is light except for the project work which need to be submitted within a tight schedule. Could be advantages if you have some prior knowledge in R and SAS by taking ST2137 first.

ST3236

As mentioned above, this module is hell mainly because of the lecturer, Sun Rongfeng who make everything so abstract and include things that are so difficult to understand. Doing his tutorials is highly frustrating and demoralizing. Although his mid term was not difficult, the distribution of grade is some-what uniform. I suspect it was because many are misled into thinking that the answers involve some alien-ish concepts seen in the lecture notes. Advice: never take this module if it is offered by the math department.

Mid-Term mean-median: 50.56-50 (/100)

ST3239

This module is more qualitative than quantitative. Dr Chua Tin Chiu who is also our Vice Dean, spent most of the time sharing with us his experience as a statistics/survey consultant. Although his stories are very interesting, it gets tiring after awhile. The technical aspect are often lacking in his explanation and notations are confusing as 2 textbooks with different notations are used. Not a very interesting module, but workload is light and it is one of the few modules which fulfill the Business and Finance specialization requirement.

Mid-Term mean-median: 17.5-17 (/25)

EC3312

Very interesting module. However it can be quite abstract some times and I have to re-read the textbook several times in order to understand it. It does not help that the lecturer, Luo Xiao, has a very thick accent and poor command of English. Although his mid terms (and possibly finials) is challenging, he is very lenient in his marking. Even so, the midterm median is not very high. Those who are not particularly academically inclined should avoid this module as it somehow attract many Zai Kia from different faculties, pushing up the level of competition.

Mid-Term median: 30/40

EC3333

One of the best module I have taken. Useful and interesting for those that are interested in investing. This module build a foundation for many of the derivatives. However, due to the heavy content, many things are being rushed through towards the end of the semesters making it difficult for student to catch up with the pace. Dr Lim Boon Tiong is an animated lecturer with entertaining hand gesture throughout his lecture. His paper is highly mathematical. Advantages for those with strong mathematical background.

As usual, if anyone would like to have materials such as lecture notes or tutorials for any of the modules that I have taken before, you may access them through this link: NUS Modules.