WAM boosters (1 Viewer)

[anomalousdecay]

"The only assumed knowledge is up to year 10 science."

"how a street lamp works"
“What makes a car go?”
“What makes a car stop?"
"Newton’s laws of motion"
“Why do stars shine?”

http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/firstyear/pdf files/PHYS1110flyer.pdf

Based on that, it's probably a very easy course.

Also, considering they used comic sans, it should be exciting!

Unbelievable. Its like doing Senior Science, but in uni.

 

[flashyGoldFish]

This is a fully online course that looks at everyday applications of physics. No prior physics knowledge is required. The course will look at the physics behind several everyday phenomena. Physics topics addressed in this course include thermodynamics, properties of fluids, basic mechanics, electricity and magnetism, waves, nuclear physics, quantum physics, optics and astronomy. Basic experimental methods will be covered through simulations and simple experiments that can be conducted at home. The course will make use of Physclips. The course would form a good basic physics knowledge for students studying life sciences, medicine and business and for those planning to sit the Gamsat exam. This is a quantitative course using algebra and trigonometry but not calculus.

If its says it is helpful for physics part of GAMSAT surely it cant be THAT simple? or am i overestimating it?

 

[anomalousdecay]

If its says it is helpful for physics part of GAMSAT surely it cant be THAT simple? or am i overestimating it?

Maybe they mean that it increases your WAM to an acceptable level for GAMSAT?

 

[D94]

If its says it is helpful for physics part of GAMSAT surely it cant be THAT simple? or am i overestimating it?

I think it means the quantitative and qualitative content will help with those who haven't done Year 12 Physics (because PHYS1110 is probably Year 12 Physics level of study).

This is in the GAMSAT 2014 Booklet:

The level of subject knowledge required for the Reasoning in Biological and Physical Sciences section of the test generally corresponds to the first year of university studies in biology and chemistry, and Year 12 in physics. The test focuses primarily on problem solving and on the use of knowledge that will be presumed at the beginning of the medical program: that is, a basic understanding of biology, chemistry (organic and physical) and physics. A student who has mastered these general concepts should have adequate knowledge to answer questions in this section.

 

[Bored_of_HSC]

FINS1613 was a WAM booster in sem1 2013. Legit the assessments weren't that hard and they still added positive scaling. In our cohort, over half the students got D/HD.

HOWEVER, i've heard this is quite variable. My friends doing it in sem 2 found it quite hard. So if you'r gonna do it, try it in first sem.

PS: I had Rob Tumarkin last sem, and he's teaching it for 1st sem this year too.

 

[Darth_Duplicity]

Can I get more info about PHYS1110, preferably from someone who's done it? From the PDF I get the impression that there are no exams just some online quizzes, experiments at home and a final report on whatever you want? Can anyone confirm the structure of this subject and its WAM boosting potential . Sincerely, a guy who didn't get into astronomy.

 

[wilsondw]

For PHYS1110, this is certainly no bludge course lol. Your impression is pretty much correct, every 2-3 weeks you have to do a home experiment which make up a total of 30% of your course assessment (theres 6 home experiments). The 4 online quizzes would consist of 20 questions (last one consisted of like 23) and some of them can be quite annoying. The final report has to be on a physical phenomenon which relates to the stuff you've learnt and it must include formula(s). There are no exams but I found this course quite difficult due to fact I have not taken high school physics and assessments pop up at the most inconvenient times. But I still managed to do well since I got help from my mates who've done HSC physics and I guess you can say it boosted my WAM a lot haha.

But for my friends who actually completed HSC physics, this course was a piece of cake for them

Hope that helps!

 

[Darth_Duplicity]

For PHYS1110, this is certainly no bludge course lol. Your impression is pretty much correct, every 2-3 weeks you have to do a home experiment which make up a total of 30% of your course assessment (theres 6 home experiments). The 4 online quizzes would consist of 20 questions (last one consisted of like 23) and some of them can be quite annoying. The final report has to be on a physical phenomenon which relates to the stuff you've learnt and it must include formula(s). There are no exams but I found this course quite difficult due to fact I have not taken high school physics and assessments pop up at the most inconvenient times. But I still managed to do well since I got help from my mates who've done HSC physics and I guess you can say it boosted my WAM a lot haha.

But for my friends who actually completed HSC physics, this course was a piece of cake for them

Hope that helps!

Very helpful but can you just clarify whether this is or is not a bludge course? And don't worry I've got friends who did HSC physics so definitely hitting them up.

 

[wilsondw]

I reckon it's not a bludge course simply because you have a lot of small assessments throughout the 13 weeks and I found it that it inconveniently stacked up my workload with other courses which had assessments due on those same particular days/weeks. So what I mean is that around every 1-3 weeks, you will have a couple of assessments (quizzes+ home experiments) and this impacted on my time management for other courses (2nd year). Even my mates who did HSC physics found the workload to be annoying but it is manageable! It's a good thing that these all of assessments due on Sunday 9pm so you can finish your other assessments beforehand.

Also, if I were to add up all of the assessments you have to do in the 13 weeks, it would be 4 quizzes+6 home experiments+ peer review of final report+ final report=12 assessments

 

[Darth_Duplicity]

I reckon it's not a bludge course simply because you have a lot of small assessments throughout the 13 weeks and I found it that it inconveniently stacked up my workload with other courses which had assessments due on those same particular days/weeks. So what I mean is that around every 1-3 weeks, you will have a couple of assessments (quizzes+ home experiments) and this impacted on my time management for other courses (2nd year). Even my mates who did HSC physics found the workload to be annoying but it is manageable! It's a good thing that these all of assessments due on Sunday 9pm so you can finish your other assessments beforehand.

Also, if I were to add up all of the assessments you have to do in the 13 weeks, it would be 4 quizzes+6 home experiments+ peer review of final report+ final report=12 assessments

How do they assess the experiments? Do they take long? How long is the final report? Are the quizzes timed? Sorry, just can't find any info on this anywhere.

 

[obliviousninja]

Darth what subjects are you doing next sem? You dropping infs?

 

[Darth_Duplicity]

Yeah dropping infs. Currently enrolled in acct1511, econ1102, econ1203 and phys1110. I was going do do fins1613 but i'm been scared off by Kyung haha. figured i'd do a gen ed this sem and fins next year

 

[wilsondw]

How do they assess the experiments? Do they take long? How long is the final report? Are the quizzes timed? Sorry, just can't find any info on this anywhere.

Once you finish the assessments and submitted online, your designated tutor would mark them. The experiment themselves take at max 1 hour and usually takes around 30-40 mins imo. But there are questions you have to answer (usually 5 questions) and I found some of them to difficult probs coz I didn't do HSC phys. I did manage to finish all of the questions though and it would take your tutor one week to measure them.

The final report is around 1500-3000 words and it's just a normal science report lol. For the quizzes, they are not timed but you are given 1 week to complete them.