UNSW Subject Reviews. (1 Viewer)

D94

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Umm... What do you think a test is supposed to do ? Make a course tolerable ? If there were no hard tests then undergraduate degrees would literally be the same as going through high school.
You are responding to a comment made over 7 years ago. Please.
 

Ikki

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COMP2041 - Software Construction

Ease: 9/10. As long as you do all the labs, the subject is pretty easy. Final exam is why I didn't give 10/10, the last 2-3 questions are a bit difficult.
Content: 20/10. Super real life usable skills. Super high recommended. Although if you can do stuff in python rather than PERL.
Lecturer: 9/10. Funny lecturer, entertaining, made me watch lecture also because of interest.
Tutors: 9/10. Helpful, but most of it is by yourself. Advice = compare your solutions to sample.

Overall: 12/10. Highly recommended.

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COMP1927 - Computing 2

Ease: 9/10. Fairly easy course if you follow and study.
Content: 7/10. Didn't find it very enlightening, but some things I guess were interesting.
Lecturer: 6/10. Just reads off lecture slides. But tries to make things funny.
Tutors: 4/10. Crap tutor. No inspiration, low amounts of experience and could not answer relatively high level questions or had to check.

Overall: 7/10. Its a core for computing, if you have to, take it. Not worth it probs. To learn programming take COMP1917.

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COMP2121 - Microprocessors & Interfacing

Ease: 6/10. Not an easy course, but thankfully gets scaled. Labs are killer but the final exam is OK.
Content: 8/10. Decently interesting and useful knowledge. Esp since only hardware course we are required to take.
Lecturer: 8/10. Sri is gud. "Are you with me?" HAHA
Tutors: 10/10. Hectic tutors. Shoutout to Florencia. :p

Overall: 8/10. Make sure you work well throughout, choose good partners, esp for final project. Was sitting on HD average (strong) in assessments before final exam, probably just passed the exam but it got scaled and ended up with DN. Make sure you do alot of the past papers and rock up to the final lecture where Sri basically tells you the questions and answers to the final exam.

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MATH1241 - Higher Mathematics 1B

Ease: 6/10. If interested easy. But tis math = boring. Take 1231 if you ceebs math.
Content: 8/10. Pretty interesting, but that's probably mostly the 1231 bit.
Lecturer: 7/10. Decent lecturers.
Tutors: 9/10. Good tutors.

Overall: 7/10. Don't take unless you're interested. Make sure you do the past papers and you'll be sweet.
 
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shadowdyne

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Currently enrolled in lecture stream 1 for MATH1131, any thoughts on the lecturers (Ellis,McDougall)?
 

leehuan

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Mid-sem initial thoughts (no overall rates):

ACCT1501 - Accounting and Financial Management 1A
Ease 8.5/10 - Although we're not too far in and things are starting to look more specialised, so far this course literally started from 1/10 all the way to being my easiest subject. Things actually regroup themselves very quickly if you let them. It's just the first week can be very baffling without prior knowledge as to what financial statements really are and etc.
Content7/10 - You only need it significantly if you get into a commerce related field, but it equips you quite quickly with useful life skills - helps you decide who to invest in and if your parents' companies or etc. are simply performing well. From what I hear FINS1613 may be better because with the saturation in the finance sector, it's more relevant to them.
Lecturer Youngdeok Lim - 8.5/10 I personally really liked him. Although in first week when the content was getting overloaded it felt a bit intimidating, the fact he really knows his stuff and can get the content through to you meticulously is great. Perhaps the one put-off to most students was that he was a bit monotonous, and I hear from others about how they fall asleep after a while
Tutor I have Dickson, and he gets a 9.5/10 from me simply because a) he is a nice guy and b) yes he's actually really good at explaining stuff and focusing on specifics.
Teaching resources 7.5/10 - Most of the content is derived out of the textbooks, and the lecture slides are essentially notes. But the textbook, if you actually have the time to read through it does cover everything you need. Problem is that it covers a bit too much (~5-10% over) and you need to go back to the lecture slides to see what to discard. Also the slides only make sense if you actually attend the lecture. But that's not really surprising.

ECON1101 - Microeconomics 1
Ease 7.5/10 - This course feels like a walk in the park once you get told how the stuff works. But if you try to self learn it you get absolutely nowhere.
Content 8.5/10 - Wrongly biased, because I didn't do any economics during high school. So to me the stuff is actually quite interesting. Although it feels like just logic, I personally enjoy the intricacy of how it's explained.
Lecturer 9.5/10 - Probably plays the game too much but I absolutely loved Alberto Motta. Am actually sad that he's going. Could not be any more funny and engaging and getting to the point.
ECON1101
Lecturers: 9/10 for Alberto Motta - A good lecturer and a visionary educator, but to be very honest, I think he is slightly over-rated in terms of his lecturing. Yes, he did know the content back to front, and was very engaging and kept the audience laughing. But sometimes, I felt like we wasted a bit too much time on unrelated stuff. And that sometimes meant a) it was easy to zone/tune out and lose your concentration b) it got hard to control audience noise level c) we rushed some content, because we had lost too much time due to "stuffing around". However, definitely a good lecturer, just prefer if he reduced time wasted on the "LOLs"
That's funny, he mentioned how he got feedback for being sidetracked and said he tried his hardest to not be sidetracked this year! I reckon he succeeded.
Tutor I have Seb, and he's getting 7.5/10 but probably scrapes an 8/10 easily. Knows his content well and helps things make sense to me when I get stuck quite easily. Also really friendly to everyone. Not sure what puts me off.
Teaching resources NaN - Economics got shifted to having a game (Playconomics) counting towards the final mark. So far, this has been a useful resource, but this plot twist means I still need to think before giving a proper review.

MATH1151 - Mathematics for Actuarial Studies and Finance 1A
Ease 4/10 - Whilst I've been able to pull through this course, especially with easy questions, the difficulty has spiked a lot here from what I'm used to and I would say I'm barely on track. 4 hours worth of lectures a week instead of 2 due to the split in algebra and calculus, and sometimes the methods are just overloading (e.g. I really hate matrix multiplication). If it weren't for certain people on this forum helping me out I'd be doomed.
Content 9/10 - Really interesting and does contain quite a majority of the stuff that I did look forward to after high school. Doesn't mean it's easy but it's interesting.
Lecturer Josef Dick (Algebra) 6.5/10 (maybe 7 because he tries hard) - His teaching in general is pretty good; he writes out some worked examples to guide you as to how to go about answering ordinary level questions. And when I asked him for help he explained it in a way I eventually understood what he was getting at. But again, feels monotonous and with certain bits in algebra a bit dry it's off-putting. Also the noise control is also a bit hard, as I've found some previous post to mention.
Ian Doust (Calculus) 8.5/10 - More enthusiastic about what he teaches, but some may say he goes too fast keeping in mind the rigour of calculus at uni compared to HS. Slices in a maths trivia problem halfway through to temporarily liven the mood and give a brain break as well. Explains his concepts thoroughly and also writes out some worked examples (interestingly though, he uses an old-fashioned overhead projector whilst Josef uses the camera) Maths has got to be maths though - he can teach it well, but it makes no sense as to where you would apply what you know, and for a ton of students it can be hard.
Teaching resources Algebra notes get a 9/10 for their compactness, whilst calculus notes aren't really for rating if you ask me because they're just what Ian uses to teach. Course pack is an easy 10/10.

SCIF1121 TBD
 

boat460

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MMAN2700
Ease 2/10 - WTF is this subject, can you even call it one? Suppose to be an "easy" subject(Got baited into taking it this sem).


Content 1/10 - Content is alright, and pretty interesting . You know how air works

Lecturer Olsen- 8.5/10 wtf. first lecture. 50% of you will fail. wtf who says that. No lecture slides. Tells you to shut up if you talk in the lectures (thats reasonable i guess) and also tells you put your phone away if you have it in front of you. He is knowledgeable, but wow...

Teaching resources 7.5/10 - wtf dont have tutes we have consultations due to uni cuts. Cannot call them tutors, we call them consultants. (they get paid less) 0/10 for unsw. No slides, so you have to attend lecture
 

D94

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MMAN2700
Ease 2/10 - WTF is this subject, can you even call it one? Suppose to be an "easy" subject(Got baited into taking it this sem).


Content 1/10 - Content is alright, and pretty interesting . You know how air works

Lecturer Olsen- 8.5/10 wtf. first lecture. 50% of you will fail. wtf who says that. No lecture slides. Tells you to shut up if you talk in the lectures (thats reasonable i guess) and also tells you put your phone away if you have it in front of you. He is knowledgeable, but wow...

Teaching resources 7.5/10 - wtf dont have tutes we have consultations due to uni cuts. Cannot call them tutors, we call them consultants. (they get paid less) 0/10 for unsw. No slides, so you have to attend lecture
What's so hard about it? Everything you learn has a rather straightforward formula or diagram associated with it. If you are stuck, get access to the "course pack".
 

templaraus

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Hi, has anyone done GMAT1110 Surveying and GIS ? How is the the lecturer/s and what are the assessments like ?
 

sadpwner

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MINE1010 Semester 1 7/10
Surprisingly, a good course. You pretty much have to attend all your lectures to not get wrecked in the finals. They don't tell you what's in the final but all the work you do throughout the semester is relevant (assignments and lectures). Also, the Hartman recommended text is crucial.

Lost 3 marks because of bs 5k word report due in 2 weeks.
 
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Occupied

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MINE1010 Semester 1 7/10
Surprisingly, a good course. You pretty much have to attend all your lectures to not get wrecked in the finals. They don't tell you what's in the final but all the work you do throughout the semester is relevant (assignments and lectures). Also, the Hartman recommended text is crucial.

Lost 3 marks because of bs 5k word report due in 2 weeks.
curious- how do u lose marks if it isn't dued yet? :)
 

leehuan

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ACCT1501 (Accounting & Financial Management 1A)
Ease 8.5/10 - If you get your hands on past papers then you're at an advantage, but in all honesty if you put the time into grasping the concepts of this course, you can perform quite well. Tutorial participation is really just a matter of always being involved and the questions are quite standard in difficulty
Content 7.5/10 - Accounting feels quite content heavy more than relevant. It's so easy to forget the things that you learn and when the time comes to study for it you can feel bombarded. But the way things puzzle together in the course is something I found amusement in. You can start off with basically being smacked by bombs but then everything comes together and builds on the accounting equation. Not something I want to dedicate a lot of time to but worth learning - elementary knowledge in accounting can be a life skill in my opinion.
Lecturers
Youngdeok Lim 6.5/10 - Since dropped because now I know what good lecturers are, but I still liked having him. Accounting first made sense cause he explained it so well in Weeks 3 and 4. Still monotonous.
Jeffrey Knapp 4/10 - He is actually engaging in my opinion, but what puts me off the most is the excessive repetition. We get it, let's move on. Sometimes he probably spent too much time on the wrong things. Still, he was funny and made accounting relevant
Radzi Jidin 8.5/10 - I can compare him to many good lecturers. He gets right down to the point, explains things to as clear as they can possibly be and always has the entire class's attention. Clearly knows what he's talking about, and can still add humour to the lesson where applicable. Occasionally a bit fast though
Tutor
Dickson 9/10 - Nothing much changed from my previous comments. Just raised expectations.
Learning resources 6/10 - If it weren't for someone putting the management accounting supplement up on Facebook...
I mean, I bought my own copy so I pirated nothing lol, but whilst two seperate books is ok, the fact that one of them is an eBook is very annoying for someone like me who, if forced to pay, would always prefer the paper copy.
Radzi's lecture notes stood out a bit too much in quality. Went to the point the other lecturer's were kinda a bit lower quality
Quality of the textbooks was excellent though. Very comprehensive explanations. Study guide also has decently relevant questions.
Need more resources for management accounting though since the study guide skips it.
Overall rate 8/10 - Very nice course for me; my first steps into the business world tbh.

ECON1101 (Microeconomics)
Ease 7.5/10 - Whilst the semester was pretty well, and the free 20% from the game was appealing, the exam was a bit of a bomb this time round. Basically everyone got intimidated by it. Was going to rate its ease higher but then that happened.
Content 9/10 - After really trying to work around it, the fact that economics is a discipline which always builds on top of what is already established means that any person who has either one or more of a good financial background, good mathematical background or good memory and applying abilities can easily grasp new concepts when it's delivered. It's only really hard if you try to self learn it without knowing what you're doing. An HSC economist will get through it easily but if you're in the same boat as me (zero business exposure) then just go to the lectures, hear what they have to say, and profit. (Hah, profit.)
Lecturers
Alberto Motta 9.5/10 - Reasons already stated
Scott French 9.5/10 - Scott and I eventually got to know each other a little. I help people on the forum for Playconomics and eventually he identified me sitting at the front of his lecture. Also a really funny guy but explains everything so clearly that you actually end up with hardly any questions because everything is that clear and concise. Only problem is he uh's a lot, and even then that was mostly at the start; the further the semester progressed the less you noticed it. Lectures were also decently interactive - I remember for say oligopolies when we were doing game theory he brought in donuts and asked people to take or give (I'll skip the finer details).
Tutor
Sebastian 8.5/10 - Runs out of time on a bit too many occasions and doesn't get what he wants done every now and then but in reality just the fact he can explain things so well and clarify the hard bits (you come across harder homework questions than what your lecturers show you obviously) so easily is amazing. Plus I think a lot of the students managed to get on friendly terms and know him to some extent.
Learning resources 7/10 - Playconomics is actually not bad; too many people just fuss about it. And it's basically a free 20% to your final mark. Questions are relevant and the correct models and modelling techniques definitely reflect what's being taught in the course. It would be a waste though if it weren't for the "wizard questions" - these review multiple choice questions should prepare us well for the final exam.
The conciseness of the textbook was pretty good in that you know what's the only required stuff in the course. But you could say it's a dumbed down textbook. It's mainly cause the nature of the course is that it's supposed to be easy.
Only the questions that get covered in tutorials get answers published though so, given that you can't hunt down past papers for this course that's a bit unfortunate.
Overall rate 8.5/10 - It's chill and fun
 
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leehuan

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MATH1151 (Mathematics for Actuarial Studies and Finance 1A)
Ease 5/10 - Earned its title as the "most demanding of the first year maths courses". Gotta consistently work hard to perform well in it, and then you still can't exactly guarantee your success.
Content 9/10 - Maths gave me lots of ups and downs this semester. The drastic change from knowing almost everything to virtually knowing nothing is huge, and on top of its title as "the most demanding first year maths course", the content overload can be really hard to keep up with. I had the feeling that in tutorials people were just copying down what the tutor said whilst I said "oh can you please do this question" because they just haven't done their homework.
But it has invoked the most interest maths has ever brought about to me. It really encourages students to appreciate just how powerful maths is and actually offer up 1% of the taste of life as a real mathematician. (As a bonus, for the first time in my life I had a genuine like for probability and statistics.)
Lecturers
Josef Dick 6/10 - His lectures got better. Whilst there was still a monotonous environment, his humourous side came out and more of the algebra + probability became magic instead of rote.
Ian Doust 8.5/10 - Mostly the same as previously. I am going to revoke what I said on speed because if you take the time to just break down what you learn in calculus, it makes perfect sense.
Tutor
Paul 6/10 - Very clear and loud explanations, but he sometimes doesn't know how to do a question. Also forgets what he's doing sometimes. I really liked having him as a tutor though
Galina 6/10 - Whilst she always seemed sociable, it didn't have much of an effect until the second last lesson. Also answers questions probably a bit too slowly, thus limiting the amount of questions we can do in a tutorial. But the explanations are so in depth that you can't simply "not follow her".
Learning resources 7/10 - Yellow book is a 'bible' for algebra. The questions booklet for calculus can be a bit annoying though - so many questions just make you get lost in a matter of seconds and it is lacking WAY too many solutions. Orange past paper booklet for the finals is fantastic, however there were virtually no past papers for the quizzes. Lecture slides from both professors were to a decent standard for review, however definitely used well for the lectures themselves.
Overall rate 8/10 - Welcome to the real world of maths.

SCIF1121 (Advanced Science: Professional Perspective and Practice)

Graduate Attributes
Ease 8/10 - A classmate biography and an interview with a scientist are somewhat demanding assignments. But in class? You can just relax and listen.
Content 6.5/10 - Someone had to do it. Someone had to conduct proper lessons at some point on ethics, leadership, resume writing and all of that stuff. UNDENIABLY a good thing that the science department has chosen to do. Even mock interviews and ranking cover letters are done!
One question though - Is it really worth it when not enough people will care?
Tutor
Sue Schibeci 9/10 - She is actually amazing though. Gets along with everyone in the class, very easy to chat with and makes the learning environment just CHILL. Actively encourages classroom participation from everyone and promotes a beautiful learning environment. Also explains really well - really emphasises the key elements of say, interview preparation.
Overall rate 7/10 - You tune out a bit too much too easily... but having one course to relax in the semester sounds far more appealing than ENGG1000

Discpline stream - Mathematics
Ease 7/10 - Surprisingly, the 8000 word report + 20min speech isn't hard! I tried to bludge out of it as much as possible (well, that's not saying much given my studious attitude) but still I managed to achieve 31/35 with my group. All you have to make sure is you address what you chose to research. (But it is still cancerous though.)
Otherwise, apart from two weeks where you're allowed to miss out, you're basically kidnapped and forced to listen to a presentation for six weeks in a row.
Content Open ended - The research project is on your own field of interest. It is hard to give this a proper rating. However, a guest speaker was invited in one week and in some other weeks some discussions on mathematical modelling was explained (including game theory, population dynamics). They were interesting to listen to. (Note: I sat at the back of the class because I knew I was going to be disrespectful in not listening to their presentation. But of course I didn't want to whisper out loud either.)
Lecturer
Pinhas Grossman >Cannot be properly rated< Since he only had to actually "conduct" a lecture twice, there's not much you can say. The best you could say was probably the fact he was attentive to group presentations and was the only one who asked groups questions on what they had researched.
Overall rate 5/10 - Tbh, whilst the marking was quite generous, the 8000 words was still mentally draining throughOUT the semester. You only start appreciating it when the exam block comes and you realise oh wait one less exam.

Note that learning resources is not really applicable to this course.
 
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Queenroot

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I won't repeat my science subjects, since it's all pretty much been said.

ARTS1480- Introductory French 1A
Ease- 4/10: I've been told that French is an easy language to learn due to the similarities between it and English. But because the course has been revised this year- new coordinator, new textbook, new teaching method- I found the course extremely hard to follow. The method they decided to use was immersion, and unless immersion is your thing, you will struggle. If you're like me, and need translations to see and understand how a language works, then this subject does not work in our favour.

Lecturers- Valerie: 7/10 She's funny, which made her lectures enjoyable, albeit the fact I couldn't understand most of what she said.

Michelle: 5/10 Didn't enjoy her lectures, and at times she was quite patronizing- we were too slow apparently- but her grammar notes are good for revision, I'll give her that.

Tutors- Guylaine: 10/10 If it wasn't for Guylaine, I would never be able to understand the content in the lectures. She explained things clearly enough, she knew how to teach a language, and had a good sense of humour.

Interest: 6/10- The French language is awesome, but when I feel like I am just rote-learning lines from a travel phrasebook (and poorly at that), this course doesn't meet my expectations. Except for the tutes (bit biased here, sorry).

Overall: 6/10- As it's a newly revised course, I'll be a bit more lenient. There is a lot of potential, because the teachers are pretty decent, but maybe they should look over whether immersion is a good method of teaching absolute beginners a language.
fuck shoulda read this review before i picked the course
 

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