Module Review for AY17/18 SEM 2

NUS Module Review for AY1718 SEM 2!

Here are the modules I took this semester:

LSM3211 Fundamental Pharmacology 

LSM4243 Tumor Biology

SP3202 Evidence in Forensic Science 

CM3301 Advance Forensic Science 

GEH1026 Drugs and Society 

CFG2001 Career Catalyst 

LSM3211 Fundamental Pharmacology 

One 2-hour lecture weekly

One 4-hour Practical (3x/sem)

One 1-hour tutorial (3x/sem)

Webcasted (yay!) 

25% CA MCQ 

25% Finals MCQ 

50% Finals Essay 

Best thing about this mod: Some contents are quite interesting 

Worst thing about this mod: Loads of content to memorize + hate PK/PD 

I spent 500 bid points for this T_T

I only took this module because it can unlock a lot of lsm4k + can double count for major and forensic minor (yes i got in omg!!! More on that later). 

I didn't went for any lectures and only watch webcast all the way. Watching webcast was a dreaddd because the contents were so heavy and I have to keep pausing to write the notes down first. A 1h45min webcast can take me 3hr to watch (omg just imagine!!). Hence i think even if you go to the lecture itself, it is quite useless because if you dont manage to catch the info you still have to go home and watch the webcast lol. 

The module started of by teaching PK/PD concepts which i HATE. Because of the calculations!! I hate calculations or when someone trying to teach maths by using english (something like GER1000). Thus I did badly for the CA, i think i was in 25% percentile or smth T.T. And i got damn worried because like the average was 70++ and I was only at 50+!!! I thought everyone would find the paper difficult but it was just me... Ok i admit i didn't study hard enough + i cant really be bothered because of the pk/pd shit. So yeaps, might be okay for you guys! TBH, the CA didn't really test a lot on calculations but rather what the diff parameters meant or smth like that. 

After recess week, the lectures mainly teaches drugs and side effects (thank god), which I can catch and found some quite interesting (: The profs are generally quite good and nice, they will tell you which drugs they want you to remember. (Some of them will). 

Finals are MCQ + Essays. They will collect the MCQ after the one-hour mark, so you will have to do that first. Finals MCQ only test content taught after recess week (YAY no more pk/pd shit)

Essays are divided into 3 sections, each section with 2 essays and you have to answer one. So in a sense, the essays are not divided based on lecturers e.g one lecturer will give one essays, nope. The essays can be like part (a) is prof X questions and (b) is prof Y's. So you cant't really give up on a particular prof topic to study lol. 

There's a lot of content to memorize. I almost go crazy memorizing (':

Grade: -

Not recommended if you do not like memorizing. Drugs + side effects content were quite interesting to me. 

LSM4243 Tumor Biology 

Two 2-hour lecture weekly

Webcasted (Only towards end of the sem, certain lecturers only, idk how they decide)

50% CAs (5 CA in total)

50% Finals, Essays

Best thing about this mod: Some contents are quite interesting 

Worst thing about this mod: Some lecturers are not clear/vague/dont know what they teaching. Spent 800 bid points for this sobs. Very very lost as to what they will test for finals. 

This module is taught by 7 lecturers in total when I took it, used to be 5 lecturers i think. They are generally quite okay, but some of them are really... Like I just can't catch their main point or what they are trying to teach. The contents centers on tumors/cancers and how they develop/what causes it/some pathways to target for treatment options etc. Contents are quite okay. Each lecturer will gave a CA, and they will limit it to 5 CA in total. So even though there are 7 lecturers for my time, only 5 of them gave CA. CA are basically essays questions that you do in a group of 5 (can form your own group). Because i took this mod alone, i have to group with strangers that are... very last minute and some can't really be bothered because they are focusing on their fyp i think. But we scored quite well (A-) for some essays (Surprisingly). The results are not fully released yet. If you have members that can understand the lecture and what they are doing then the 5 CAs are actually quite ok, as in each person just have to contribute abit to get the work done. So in a sense the workload for this module is quite light. (IMO) 

The tough part for this module is the finals. Because of the nature of the content, it is very hard to grasp what is the mainpoint of the lecturer and what they are going to test. Finals is essay, 6 essays choose 5. So is like one lecturer will give one essay & I only studied topics taught by 5 lecturer (yes I gave up on one lecturer bcos idk what the hell he tryna teach + I can't memorize so many things!!) But end up i think that his (the lecturer that I gave up on) essay questions were quite easy. The other questions are quite okay as well, doable. It really is just a memorization module. 

Grade: - 

Recommended. (Relatively light 4k mod)

SP3202 Evidence in Forensic Science

One 3-hour night lecture weekly 

No webcast 

5% Practical report 

20% Practical Exam

15% Moots 

60% Finals essay (Open-book)

Best thing about this mod: VERY INTERESTING. DA BEST PROFs. Open book for finals! 

Worst thing about this mod: Lack of prep time for prac exam. Moots were kinda scary. 

Yes omg I finally got into the Minor in Forensic Science T___T. I am so happy!!! 

(Interesting updates for those who wants to be in the minor below!)

This module is exclusive for minor students. 

The front part of the lecture talks about crime scene examinations, basically what to do when you face a crime scene. There's a practical component on this as well. 

The practicals are veryvery rushed and there's no time to practice on the techniques taught before they throw you in for the exam ): The prac exam took place in HTA filming village. That place is damn cool got all the props and fake crime scene! It's a 3 hour lab exam and really a mad rushhh. I got like crazy muscle cramps the next day lol. The exam is with your group! Groups are allocated and it's about 3-4 person a group. The group are your life-support and you guys will have to support each other through the tough examinations okay!! My group mates were very nice and funny! Glad that I have them through this journey man heheh. 

After the crazy crime scene component, the rest of the module teaches law. Yes, you read that right, law. I was quite surprised actually because why do we have to learn law right, like very chim eh. But there's actually application to forensic lah. TBH i was complaining so much in the beginning because my english sucks and I can't understand all the chimology law stuff. But at the end I actually quite enjoy myself HAHA. Especially all the tutorials the profs gave, the scenarios are very funny! Basically all you have to do is apply the law principle to the scenario given etc. 

Moots was like a place for you to practice being a lawyer. You are given a case study and who to represent, then you have to prove your client is innocent and the other person is guilty etc. It's in pairs, again, random. Your opponent will have to question your friend (yes you have to bring a friend to roleplay as a witness). The easy-ness of this moots really depends on your opponent friend, how compliant/difficult they are. But not to worry, the profs will take that into consideration. Moots were quite scary for me! But i think the prac exam is the toughest of all. 

Essays were 7 question, choose 4. Open book! So you dont have to memo all the law principles. 

The profs are this mod/minor are damn nice. They are very funny, teaches interesting concepts, really care about their students! Their life stories are interesting as well (:

Okay so as promised, interesting updates to the minor: 

Now, minor in forensic science will take in applicants once for each sem!! So that means more slots are open up! Previously they only take in applicants once a year (that's two semester). Just hop onto the http://www.lifesciences.nus.edu.sg/info/FC_Minor.pdf for more info! There are more new modules up also, kinda looking forward to it! 

Grade: -

Recommended!! Very very very recommended if you love forensic! 

okay so, i got lazy/tired of writing again. I am sorry guys, i will be back!!!!

CM3301 Advance Forensic Science 

Two 2-hour lecture weekly

No webcast

30% CA MCQ

30% Finals MCQ

40% Finals Short structured questions 

Best thing about this mod: Some contents are quite interesting 

Worst thing about this mod: Loads of content to memorize

Grade: -

Recommended 

GEH1026 Drugs and Society 

Two 2-hour lecture weekly

Webcasted

20% CA1 (Short structured questions)
20% CA2 (Graphic commentary)

20% CA3 (Newsfeed) 

40% Finals MCQ - Cheatsheet allowed

Best thing about this mod: Contents are quite interesting. Topics in CA1 not tested in finals. Cheatsheet allowed for finals - no need to memorize stuff. Prof Go very funny!!!

Worst thing about this mod: Hard to score for CAs (esp 2 & 3) 

Grade: -

Recommended!!  

CFG2001 Career Catalyst 

2-hour lecture (2x in whole sem) 

2-hour career board game or go to CFG career fairs.

I honestly don't rmb the exact component of this module because it's a cs/cu mod (2MCs). 

But it's something like - do personality test, some test, interview pitch, resume, cover letter. 

Best thing about this mod:  It's CS/CU, 2MCs. Which can complement the "compulsory" roots and wings thing. Helpful info to do your resume and cover letter 

Worst thing about this mod: - 

Grade: -

Recommended!!