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FINC2011
Lecturers: 7/10
Amy is great, 9/10, explains things well and is extremely nice. If you have her be happy. Craig 5/10. Pretty boring and not that helpful, go to his lectures if you like but not the biggest deal in the world if you miss em.
did it sem 1. thought id put up my reviews now though cause i didnt then hahaSem 2 2015? Wasn't Tro the lecturer for that?
wrong uni ..Sem 1 2016
Comp1917 – Comp1A – semester 1
Difficulty: 8.5/10
.Fuck. I suggest that NO ONE EVER TAKE THIS COURSE IN SEMESTER ONE EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! First 5 weeks are actually pretty mad though. Enjoyed so much and pretty easy actually, with small challenges.
Next though, everything is online on this website called open learning, and you need to make IN DETAIL and MULTIPLE blogs every fucking week proving u watched online lecture videos, and show reflection and how u improved ur skills and just random BS that takes so long. Then you need to juggle doing assignments (the last of which is a MAJOR PROJECT THAT YOU WORK ON FOR WEEKS) and lab activities that don’t even count directly, they just go to ur RESUME (dumbest shit out). Then u need to study for exams (prac exam and theory exam), both being quite hard. Prac exam is pass or fail as well. This subject would have been good if run like a normal subject without blogging and all that bs. Overall, you spend like70% of your time on this subject with not that much to gain from it.
Lectures: 0/10
Recorded in 2011. Are all online. Richard Buckland rambles on in the lectures meaning 10 minutes of content takes 1 hour. Lectures not in a structured order so to speak. just shit. Also u are forced to watch these lectures and prove you watched them...wat even.
Tutorials/Labs: 9/10
These were awesome. Had a really good tutor that made the course really interesting and fun and pushed us to our potential. Good to work with other people in the course.
Interest: 8/10
pretty interesting content, but course is difficult do to the amount of time u need to spend on it in SEM 1.
Overall: 1.5/10 (DO IN SEMESTER 2 IF U WANT TO DO THIS. MUCH BETTER COURSE )
Memories <3Semester 1 2016
ECON1001 – Introductory Microeconomics
Ease – 7/10
Fun fact: 20% of students who take this course fail. Initially I expected this unit to be fairly easy, especially since the first three to four weeks were all similar to HSC economics. However, don’t let that fool you. There comes a point in the subject where a lot of students are thrown off – specifically around week 7 regarding the study of markets. While the mathematics of economics are basic HSC 2U algebra and calculus, it can be quite easy to lose sight of the context behind the mathematics. That being said, however, as long as one can grasp the analytical approach towards markets, an HD in this subject isn’t too difficult.
Lecturer – 7.5/10 (Pablo Guillen Alvarez)
Among the most amusing lecturer I’ve had all semester – digresses often to mildly amusing jokes about “kinky maths” and how he’s only rich because he “married well”. He goes through the content in a relaxed and comprehensible way.
Tutorials, however, were incredibly dry. It was due to a mixture of only going through the set questions each week and a dry tutor.
Interest – 7/10
The section on government intervention can get quite dry at times. The first few weeks were essentially all from HSC and preliminary economics. While difficult, the section on market analysis can prove to be interesting in a counterintuitive way. Game theory was also intriguing, though it was only small section of the course.
Overall – 7/10
Probably the driest course I’ve done all semester, but I can’t complain about my HD. As a compulsory subject for quite a few majors, it’s a reasonably decent course.
HPSC1000 – Bioethics
(Special thanks to Amleops for recommending me this unit!)
Ease – 8/10
No homework. No final exam. Three take-home essays. Class discussions. That being said however, tutors have been known to be picky when it comes to marking. An HD in this unit does take some effort. As long as you work with your feedback and at least be somewhat up-to-date with readings, you should be fine.
Lecturer – 11/10 (Anson Fehross)
Probably the most memorable lecturer I’ve had all semester. Loaded with deadpan humour, somewhat edgy, amusingly sarcastic, sassy – all making it very worthwhile to attend his lectures. While he has a notable utilitarian slant, his lectures are highly informative, packed with debate and rewarding to attend.
Interest – 10/10
It’s philosophical ethics. Of course it’s interesting! The content is far and wide, so you’ll be sure to find areas of interest. The assessments give you a large degree of freedom regarding topics and stances.
Overall – 10/10
Have a spare elective? Do it. Particularly if you are a lover of debate, controversy and/or philosophy.
Also, a special shout-out to my tutor Adam who invited us to drinks.
INFO1103 – Introduction to Programming
Ease – 7/10
The content itself isn’t difficult. Problem solving was required, and rewarding to do. The assessments were perfectly doable. The final exam however was a slight leap in terms of difficulty, but also manageable.
Lecturer – 7.5/10 (John Stavrakakis)
I can’t concentrate in his lectures because his smile is too bright. Aside from his seemingly unending joyfulness, he is an adequate lecturer who goes through the content in a comprehensible way. However, he sometimes goes through content too slowly, particularly when it comes to examples of codes. As a result, his lectures can get quite dull at times.
The seminars weren’t that helpful for most people, and often quite dry, hence I got into the habit of doing maths or readings during them. Tutors, on the other hand, were often helpful, engaging and friendly.
Interest – 7.5/10
Programming itself is pretty interesting. Exercises during labs were often enjoyable. Assignments were interesting and satisfying to finish. Lectures and seminars can sometimes be a little boring. Certain topics, such as testing, were incredibly dry.
Overall – 7.5/10
Overall a rather interesting and engaging course. The IT staff and tutors were amazing; they were highly active and helpful on the forums, friendly and professional.
MATH1901 – Differential Calculus (Advanced)
Ease – 9/10
Most of this unit is fairly straightforward. Some aspects of limits and functions may prove to be challenging. Despite this unit being relatively straightforward for the mathematically inclined, the second quiz had an average less than 50%. The final exam was perfectly manageable.
Lecturer – 10/10 (James Parkinson)
Parkinson teaches in a highly effective manner. His lectures are well structured, engaging and definitely worth attending. The only objection I have is the fact that he cut his beautiful hair during the last week. It doesn’t take much to work out that a huge portion of the cohort (female and male) are too lost in his handsomeness to focus on understanding multivariable calculus.
Interest – 10/10
This course has a heavy emphasis on proofs and theorems, thus making it more abstract than your average first year differential calculus course. I’d definitely recommend this course to anyone who takes an interest in mathematics.
Overall – 10/10
Amazing lecturer. Organised content. Perfectly manageable assessments. Mathematics. What more can you ask for?
MATH1902 – Linear Algebra (Advanced)
Ease – 6/10
The content wasn’t too difficult, albeit the difficulty did notably increase towards the end with diagonalization and whatnot. The tutorial questions can get quite challenging (got into a routine where I stopped every week at 80-90%) The assignments and quizzes weren’t that difficult. The final exam, however, destroyed me (along with the rest of the cohort). The extended answers section of the exam is quite abstract and really tests you on areas of the course that were glossed over. A massive contrast to the difficulty of the final exam of MATH1901.
Lecturer – 8.5/10 (Holger Dullin)
A friendly lecturer who presents the content in a comprehensive way. Considering the difficulty of this course towards the end, it would be a mistake not to take advantage of his lectures.
Interest – 8.5/10
Linear algebra is definitely different to the maths most students hitherto have been exposed to, so some may find it’s foreignness dry, particularly since there were very little opportunities to apply the theory in a practical context. However, if one persists, one can really get into it (particularly towards the end).
Overall – 8/10
This is definitely harder than MATH1901. While this course is quite difficult and few students can get upwards of 80, it’s a course well worth doing, especially if you expect to encounter more maths in later years.
MATH1906 – Mathematics (Special Studies Program) A
Ease – 8/10
The content itself can get quite abstract and difficult to follow. It’s not uncommon for the class to get completely lost during seminars. However, since all assessments are take-home assignments, getting high marks in SSP isn’t difficult (most people did). Regardless whether you understand the seminars, you’ll always receive notes for every topic, so no biggie. That assignment on cardiac arrhythmia was probably by far the most difficult assignment all semester.
Lecturers – 9/10 (Daners, Wechselberger, Cirstea)
The topic on maps by Daners was brilliant. Cardiac arrhythmia by Wechselberger was also somewhat interesting, however he had to go through some background biology context. Furthermore, since the algebra was very long and messy, it was really easy to get lost during his seminars. Fractals by Cirstea was also fascinating, however once again, some parts of it were quite difficult to follow.
Interest – 10/10
I mean seriously, where else in an undergraduate course will you learn these kinds of maths…?
Overall – 10/10
Highly interesting, challenging and rewarding course. Furthermore, considering that the extra-credit is easy to get, and that you can’t do worse than your MATH1901 mark, why wouldn’t you do this course? We even threw Dr. Daners a class party for his 18th birthday. (It wasn’t actually his birthday, but at least we got to party for an entire tutorial… with Cirstea too.)
ur the only memory i need xoxoMemories <3
I never wrote reviews for those subs and I don't remember anything about them now. Soz <3I'm going to write a review for chemistry, math and MBLG.
Do MBLG and chemistry. Your feedback/rage always makes me lol.