PS2244 Public Administration in Singapore
Professor Shamsul Haque
Assessment: 20% Class Participation, 30% Term Paper, 50% Finals
Professor Haque conducts lectures in a very methodological way that makes the content easy to understand and absorb. Definitely a recommended module for those who have no interest in the PA subfield under PS but is just looking for a module to clear the requirement. The lectures are not webcasted but Prof Haque uploads his ppt slides before every lecture. The ppt slides are also clear and well organised, so even if you miss a lecture, there shouldn't be much problem catching up. However, attending lectures are definitely recommended as Prof does share some extra information and elaborates on the slides so it would be good to jot them down! Even if you have close to zero background knowledge in PA, Prof Haque gives a good overview of every topic before zooming in to the Singapore context so it won't be a problem.
As with other PS modules, there are 4 tutorial sessions throughout the semester and the tutorial questions are the essay questions so it is possible to start on your essay early. We had to answer a total of 3(can't really rmb) out of a possible 6/7 questions in 2hours for the final exam. A quick tip is to study the entire module together and link the various topics during revision! Exam questions were straightforward which might contribute to a steeper bellcurve. Studying is absolutely essential if you wish to do well - one cannot just 'wing it' for a PA exam - alot of information but manageable as long as you are consistent!
Overall I enjoyed this module. Prof Haque is a really humble and nice guy, but his accent makes it a bit hard to understand him at times. Sit at the front of lecture hall and the problem is solved! Could be a bit boring for some though!
PS2249 Government and Politics of Singapore
Professor Hussin Mutalib
Assessment: 20% Class Participation, 30% Term Paper, 50% Finals
I didn't really enjoy this module, to be honest. Prof Mutalib definitely has a comprehensive knowledge of the who's and whatnots of Singapore politics - but unfortunately every lecture was more of a trivia dumping session rather than a close examination of critical perspectives. The only saving grace(s) of this module were the rather engaging recommended reading list and the tutorial sessions. There were only 4 tutorial sessions throughout the semester, but I ended up learning much more from my classmates/tutor as compared to lecture sessions. Granted, my tutor was quite a bitch (unknown 3 would know), but I have to give it to him for asking us questions that prompted us to learn more. BUT STILL he could have turned down the 'sassy' a bit; a sentiment I share with my classmates.
There were some guiding questions that we could use for the Term paper, but my tutor was flexible and allowed us to work on the topic of our choice. Final exam was one compulsory essay question and one optional (chosen from 2 available). As it is with the nature of my major, essays are always subjective and dependent on your marker. That being said, it is still possible to score decently as long as you have done your fair share of readings and are able to apply wider generic concepts to Singapore's context.
LAJ2201 Japanese 2
Ms Kazuko Morita
Assessment: 70% Continual Assessment, 30% Final Exam
Much much more tiring than Jap 1 for sure, but also much more enjoyable! As luck would have it, I was very fortunately assigned to Morita sensei for ALL of my tutorials, and as she was my lecturer as well, I saw her 4 times every week - basically everyday that I had school. Morita sensei is a very effective teacher and is well-versed in the pedagogy of the Japanese language. In fact, all senseis that I have come across in the jap department are all very sweet and effective teachers. The other teacher for this module, Nagami sensei was also a very sweet and humble guy that really helped my group alot in revising our script for the skit presentation.
The tough part of this module is definitely the workload, as it is with every japanese language module. There was a marked increase in the amount of work as compared to Jap 1; we had to do a presentation of our hobby, come up with a skit for a commercial and present it to the class, and had a total of 3 writing assignments where the last one was a 1-1.5 page essay about a member of our own family. The upside of all these is that it really helps you to learn the language well, so be consistent!
Final exam was much tougher than the midterms as well as Jap 1 papers, but that also means that the bellcurve would be more gentle! Soooo just do your best and it shouldn't be too difficult to score decently as long as you have done all the practices. I will definitely continue to pursue Japanese next semester :)
EL1101E Introduction to Linguistics
Professor Yosuke Sato
Assessment: 10% Class participation, 10% Tutorial Presentation, 20% Group Project, 30% Midterms, 30% Finals
Overall an enjoyable module, and I was able to apply the concepts I learnt here to help me better appreciate Japanese - it helped that Prof Yosuke is a Japanese and hence used the Japanese language as an example several times to put across his point. Yosuke is really passionate about linguistics and also really funny, but I didn't feel that he was an exceptionally effective lecturer as there were some concepts that he was not able to explain clearly. However, I definitely have to give him props for maintaining his zest throughout the entire semester.
Some people might have the misconception that this mod is about essay writing and all that due to it being offered by the department of english, but that couldn't be further away from the truth. In fact, linguistics is definitely more of a science than an arts, in my opinion, and that's the beauty of it! You can find many non-arts students taking this module to clear their breadth requirements. Alot of data analysis is involved, so that might be an advantage for science students who are used to such assessment methods. The continual assessment was not too difficult, but it would definitely help if you had a good group so that the workload evens out. Thankfully, my groupmates were all very kind and helpful even though 2 of them were year 4s.
Overall an interesting module. Midterms and finals were both MCQ papers, but then again Yosuke won't be teaching this module anymore (if I heard correctly), so the assessment methods might change the following semester 2.
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