Modules shopping

Lately, I got a few friends asking me what modules I will be taking for next semester and whether I will be taking more than 5 modules. Well, I could not really give them a confirm answer right away because I myself have yet to really sit down and seriously think about this matter. It’s now less than 2 weeks to the module registration and time to do some planning, amidst all the enjoyment of the holiday. So, I did some module shopping via the CORS website a few days back and came up with a list of modules that interests me.

GEM (Science)

GEK1509 – Introduction to the nanoworld

This is a module by the department of physics and as the title clearly states, it is an intro to the nanoworld, dealing with the knowledge of nanoscience and nanotechnology. This has much relevance to my course, electrical engineering, or rather the branch of electrical engineering I am considering to specialize in, ie microelectronics. From what I have heard, this module has a lot of hands on, dealing with devices that study materials at the nanoscale. This is a non-examinable module consisting of some projects, individual as well as group, plus a term test and lots of quizzes.

However, it seems that this module is not available next semester as it is not listed under the cors website.

GEM (Arts)

GEK1001 – Place, environment and society

This module is offered by the department of geography; dealing with physical as well as human geography, providing a geographical perspective of the world we live in. This module consist of 1 group project, which contribute 20%, some practical assignments, totaling to 20%, and the final exam which carries 60%. Also, there are 2 fieldtrips, which are optional, to the Singapore River and central catchments area.

GEM 2006 – Logic

This one is by the department of philosophy and is basically the study of logical reasoning. This module is also not listed under the cors updated list; probably it is not available this coming semester as well. So, not much info is gathered for this module, but I heard that the exam is quite interesting, some matching game.

Singapore studies (SS)

SSB2216 – Employee management in Singapore

So far, the synopsis of all the SS modules bored me to tears. I will probably settle for this one as this seems to be the most useful of all. There will be an individual project which requires the student to interview an “employee” and produce a 1500-words report based on the interview.

Cross Faculty modules

EC1301 – Principles of economics

I will probably take this to fulfill my second SARTOR (UK Accreditation) requirements.

LAF1201 – French 1

Hmm let’s talk about this if I ever get this module. The average bid point for this module last semester was 1000+. We, engineers, get the least general points under our account, a pathetic 250 per sem, which means I only have 500 points to spend for this coming semester.

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Now, as for whether I am going to take 6 modules is still pretty undecided. One reason is that next semester seems to be pretty tough with the 5 MCs programming module as well as the critical thinking and writing. The programming module, CS1102C, is once again being portrayed as the ultimate killer module, with 2 labs per week, crazy lab assignments and ultra hard concepts waiting for us to grasp, or at least that’s what the rumors said. As for critical thinking and writing, some said that it’s a project based module and therefore it is going to be very time-consuming. Well, while it is true that next semester is going to be demanding, but then again, which semester is not? I doubt that year 2 engineering modules are going to be smooth sailing. If we do not start cramping our modules now, we will probably never want to do it and realized that by year 4, you have to juggle between your final year project (fyp) together with some core modules plus a couple of university requirements modules which you could have cleared earlier and that in my opinion is not very wise.

Yet, even with all these planning, what we desired might not materialize. One, the module you desire might not be available, for instance, I was planning to take "Introduction to the nanoworld", but it seems that it is not offered in this coming semester. Two, you might not be able to get the module, probably out-bided during the registration. Third, unfortunately, you fail one of your core modules and have to retake it and all these planning basically go down the drain. Lastly, cors might just refuse to let us take more than 5 modules and all our bubbles will start bursting…

Anyway, for fellow year one engineering students, our time table for next semester is out at the Faculty of Engineering (FoE) website.

Edit: Just received an email stating the following:

“Pl take note that the maximum workload in semester 2 is a total of 25 MCs. Although you are strongly advised not to overload yourself in the coming semester, if you wish to increase your semestral workload to above 25 MCs, you must do so prior to the start of CORS by seeking approval from the Year 1 Academic Coordinator, …”

So we can start planning for 6 modules this coming semester if we want to.