NUS year 1 semester 2 module review AY2013/14

CG1108 - Electrical Engineering

The module is roughly divided into 2 parts - DC circuits and AC circuits. Most of the content such as resistance, capacitance, inductance, impedance (complex resistance), AC power, diodes and rectifiers were briefly covered in the ISC class 12 Physics syllabus, so I found the concepts slightly easier to understand. Nevertheless, the 2nd part (AC circuits) is difficult and most students say so. Brush up your concepts of complex numbers for this part. The DC circuits part is easy. Thevenin and Norton equivalents should be at your fingertips by the first half of the module, otherwise you will struggle later.

There is a project which involves making an automated car which runs on a black road on a white background. Lab assignments are held every week and there is a lab test at the end of the semester (easy if you know how to use digital multimeter, signal generator and oscilloscope properly).

Tips

Practise Thevenin and Norton equivalent conversions a lot.

Get your concepts clear for AC circuits. At least know how to convert inductance and capacitance to complex resistance.

Be familiar with complex numbers. Buy a calculator that can perform complex number calculations. Practice using functions like conversion between rectangular and polar, complex number addition, subtraction and multiplication in your calculator. If you don't do this, you may end up wasting a huge amount of time in your exam.

Difficulty: Medium

My grade: A

CS1020 - Data Structures and Algorithms

CS1020 is like a continuation of CS1010. However, you are expected to learn Java syntax within the first 3-4 weeks. During the rest of the semester, topics such as stacks, queues, linked lists, hashing, sorting and recursion will be taught.

There are 4 sit-in labs (friendly term for practical exams). Almost 90% of the class, including myself, could complete only the first sit-in-lab happily. For the rest, getting the correct output within 1 hour and 40 minutes was a nightmare. In fact, to help students, for labs 3 and 4, the lecturers actually split the programming into 3 parts. I never completed all the parts but always ensured my code was correct for the first and, if possible, the second part also. I was relieved that this technique gave me much higher marks than I expected.

The final exam is easier than the sit-in labs and requires you to recall concepts you have learnt throughout this module. Some questions were similar in pattern to the tutorials.

Tips

In my year, I had to use VIM editor. It helps in the practical exam if you are familiar with VIM shortcut commands so that you do not waste time unnecessarily.

During practical exams, always INDENT your code, and do not forget to write your name, matriculation number and program description at the top of the program. It would be extremely disappointing to lose marks for these mistakes when the questions are already so difficult.

In the final exam and midterm, whenever you encounter a question from linked lists, stacks and queues, draw a diagram to help you visualize.

Difficulty: Hard

My grade: A+

ES1531 - Critical Thinking and Writing

This module is a demanding one. There is only sectional teaching (tutorials), no lectures. Since the class size is small (~around 20), class participation is monitored and taken into account. You must read the tutorial readings before class and participate in group discussion.

The module does not teach you English, rather it aims to make you a critical and logical thinker who analyses statements and ideas rationally based on evidence. You learn about strong and weak arguments. In the first assignment you have to critically evaluate a spoken or written article. In my semester, a TED talk on energy by Bill Gates was provided. You have to decompose the speaker/writer's arguments, state his claims and mention whether they are valid, whether his arguments are strong or weak and support your stand with your own research.

The second assignment was done in groups of three. Each group has to write their own position paper on a certain topic.

Tips

Attend the tutorials. Skipping classes without valid reasons will give the tutor a bad impression of you.

There are 2 types of reasoning taught in this module - deductive and inductive. Deductive means that the main claim is stated first, then the reasoning follows. Inductive reasoning is the opposite. The reasons come first, then they lead to a conclusion. I personally feel that while constructing an argument, deductive reasoning is easier since there is less chance of a reader getting confused. If the reader cannot identify your main claim easily, he is likely to label your work as poor. Hence, my tutor encouraged the class to 'front their claims'.

Difficulty: Very hard

My grade: A-

MA1506 - Mathematics II

This is all about differential equations and linear algebra. It may be tempting to skip lectures because of the webcasts but don't forget to watch these afterwards. Otherwise your workload will pile up miserably.

The first chapter teaches the fundamentals techniques of solving differential equations. The later ones are applications of differential equations including harmonic oscillators, plug flow reactors, cantilever principle, population ad harvesting model. Then comes the Laplace transforms. This is just like differentiation in the way that you can derive the Laplace transform all the way from the beginning or just memorize common formulae that will make your life easier.

Linear algebra is slightly easier. The chapter on matrices is very simple to score in if you avoid careless mistakes. Learn to use your calculator to double-check your matrix algebra.

Tips

Don't be discouraged if you don't know how to do the tutorials. I found the tutorials too hard. I rarely understood the questions, let alone the solutions. I just relied on past year papers.

Practise all the past year papers. The questions set are usually of a similar type.

Try to score good marks in the midterm which is MCQ.

For harvesting model, remember the formula and conditions i.e when is equilibrium stable and unstable.

Practise eigenvalues and eigenvectors as they cover a large percentage of marks in the final exam. Most questions from linear algebra require you to find eigenvalues and eigenvectors first.

Difficulty: Hard

My grade: A+

GEK1540 - Modern Technology in Health and Medicine

This is the best module I have taken so far in NUS, extremely interesting and informative. The module teaches about the technology used in medical care nowadays. Topics include endoscopy, lasers and laser surgery, ultrasound, color Doppler, X-rays, mammograms, CT scan, nuclear medicine, SPECT and PET scans, radioactive oncology, cyber knife and gamma knife, MRI and possible nano-medicine in future. Each topic explains the physics behind the idea, a brief description of the medical condition treated and how the instrument is used.

The lecturer showed videos in every lecture which brought the concept 'alive' and showed recent developments in that particular field. It is offered by the Department of Physics and requires very basic knowledge of Physics, nothing compared to engineering Physics. The lecturer really wants you to understand the topics and not treat it like a slack module. Hence, the standard of questions is slightly hard. The midterm comprises MCQs but the choices are very close, so it is far from easy. The final exam has open-ended questions. Each answer should be around 10 lines long.

If you always wondered what how medical procedures and diagnostics are conducted and how hospital equipment works, go ahead and take this module. It's very engaging.

Tips

Attend lectures and tutorials and take notes if necessary. Some information required for MCQs were orally mentioned by the lecturer and tutor but nowhere mentioned in the lecture notes.

Along with the facts, make a comparison of medical procedures, such as the pros and cons of CT scan, MRI, SPECT, PET and which is preferable for a particular situation. The test and exam contain analytical questions.

Difficulty: Medium

My grade: A+

Semestral average point (SAP): 4.9

Cumulative average point (CAP): 4.89 

I am on the Dean's list again and also the top year 1 CEG (computer engineering) student. :D