GER1000 Quantitative Reasoning is a 4 MC GEM module that is compulsory for all undergraduates (with the exception of students in medicine and law). You would have heard of a number of seniors complaining about this module and the amount of effort required for this module but I would assure you it would not be as bad as it sounds. (Btw, this is coming from a viewpoint of an engineering undergraduate.)
Assessment
10% Class Attendance and Participation
10% Online IVLE Quiz
20% Mid Terms (Closed Book, 14 MCQ Questions)
27% Group Project (Report + Poster)
33% Final Exam (Closed Book, 28 MCQ Questions)
10% Online IVLE Quiz
20% Mid Terms (Closed Book, 14 MCQ Questions)
27% Group Project (Report + Poster)
33% Final Exam (Closed Book, 28 MCQ Questions)
Lecturer: Various Professors from different faculties
Tutor: A/Prof Tan Weiyu, Colin
Lectures
Lectures were entirely online and can be accessed via IVLE. There were a total of 6 chapters for this module, mainly Design, Association, Measurement, Sampling, Uncertainty and Networks. The module basically focuses on questioning the data we see everyday (on the newspaper, online etc) and whether we should believe the things we read and see. (Despite the name of the module, the lecturers kept emphasizing that this is more of a qualitative module but after taking this module, I still felt like the name of the module makes sense.) There were a couple of content that was already covered in H2 maths (like probability) and it served more of a revision for me.
As for the online lectures itself, because the lecture notes already provided the lecturer's transcript, there isn't a need to watch the online videos. Reading the transcript along with the PowerPoint slides is actually sufficient.
Online IVLE Quiz
There is one IVLE quiz every week from Week 1 - 10. There are about 5-6 MCQ questions per quiz. We were given multiple attempts for the quiz and obviously, we would also be able to discuss the questions with our friends. So, the quizzes were giveaways.
As for the online lectures itself, because the lecture notes already provided the lecturer's transcript, there isn't a need to watch the online videos. Reading the transcript along with the PowerPoint slides is actually sufficient.
Online IVLE Quiz
There is one IVLE quiz every week from Week 1 - 10. There are about 5-6 MCQ questions per quiz. We were given multiple attempts for the quiz and obviously, we would also be able to discuss the questions with our friends. So, the quizzes were giveaways.
Tutorial
Tutorial took place once every two weeks and there were a total of 6 sessions. I guess it was a blessing in disguise as I had my tutorial in Arts. Our tutor is a Math Professor and he likes to babble about math and side track a little. But other than that, he actually gives pretty good explanations about the topic and provides a rather good okay environment to simulate thinking and problem solving. Since we had a group project to settle, we would sit in our own groups during tutorial and the discussions would be done within the same groups itself.
Group Project
For the group project, we are required to critique a news article that was written about a scientific study. Take note here: we are criticizing the news article and not the scientific study. Although the study had issues, our focus was only on the news article. We were then required to write a 2 page summary and do up a poster to talk about the bad points of the news article and to suggest a few points of improvement.
This is where I was very thankful that I took my tutorial in Arts because my group members were able to write very well and design really good posters. I provided the content and they refurbished it and made it sound so classy and formal. (I guess I would never be able to do that) I felt that the main reason why I did well for this module was because of the group project.
On Week 13, we were supposed to present the poster to our tutor. But my tutor had a different way of grading us. What we did was put up our posters during tutorial and we go around pointing out flaws on the posters of other groups. The tutor will listen to how we counter the flaws which were pointed out by the other groups.
Mid Terms
Mid Terms took place on a Saturday afternoon on Week 8. It was a one hour paper which consisted of 14 MCQ questions. I would say a lot of the questions were really tricky (just like the final paper) and I had to read really closely before being able to pick out an answer. I scored the median score for mid terms and was mentally prepared to S/U this module. However, I guessed I didn't need to in the end because of the group project.
Group Project
For the group project, we are required to critique a news article that was written about a scientific study. Take note here: we are criticizing the news article and not the scientific study. Although the study had issues, our focus was only on the news article. We were then required to write a 2 page summary and do up a poster to talk about the bad points of the news article and to suggest a few points of improvement.
This is where I was very thankful that I took my tutorial in Arts because my group members were able to write very well and design really good posters. I provided the content and they refurbished it and made it sound so classy and formal. (I guess I would never be able to do that) I felt that the main reason why I did well for this module was because of the group project.
On Week 13, we were supposed to present the poster to our tutor. But my tutor had a different way of grading us. What we did was put up our posters during tutorial and we go around pointing out flaws on the posters of other groups. The tutor will listen to how we counter the flaws which were pointed out by the other groups.
Mid Terms
Mid Terms took place on a Saturday afternoon on Week 8. It was a one hour paper which consisted of 14 MCQ questions. I would say a lot of the questions were really tricky (just like the final paper) and I had to read really closely before being able to pick out an answer. I scored the median score for mid terms and was mentally prepared to S/U this module. However, I guessed I didn't need to in the end because of the group project.
Final Exam
The final exam was 2 hours long and consisted of 28 MCQ questions. Like the mid terms, the questions were really tricky. Since I'm the indecisive type, I kept changing my answers during the paper. But the paper was still doable and 2 hours was totally sufficient to complete the paper.
Expected Grade: B
Final Grade: A+
Final Comments
I was really surprised that I could do so well for this module. I came in with the expectation to S/U it but did really well in the end. My advice is to focus and do well for the group project.
I was really surprised that I could do so well for this module. I came in with the expectation to S/U it but did really well in the end. My advice is to focus and do well for the group project.
Stay tuned for more updates.
- Alan
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