ST2132: Mathematical Statistics
Lecturer: Gan Fah Fatt
So I got taught by GFF again, and despite him claiming that he's "so excited!" to teach us, I'm not that fond of the 8am lectures. Without webcast. Apparently he doesn't like webcast, so we are all forced to wake up early. There's no avoiding this module anyway, since it is compulsory. Most stats majors will take this Year 2 Sem 1, with a few sprinkles of math majors.
The first half of this module is just ST2131 repeated, so it was easy at first, the new stuff comes after the midterms. There is a huge focus of estimation of parameters. Personally I feel that this is my hardest module ever, I couldn't do the tutorial questions at all for the new topics. There are 2 lectures and a 1-hour tutorial weekly. Workload is minimum, just do the tutorial questions. Midterm was MCQ and finals was short questions. Cheatsheets allowed. I doubt I will score well for this, but my advice would be to pay attention during lectures and do some practice questions. Well, I paid attention but still couldn't do the questions, I must be really dumb.
So I got taught by GFF again, and despite him claiming that he's "so excited!" to teach us, I'm not that fond of the 8am lectures. Without webcast. Apparently he doesn't like webcast, so we are all forced to wake up early. There's no avoiding this module anyway, since it is compulsory. Most stats majors will take this Year 2 Sem 1, with a few sprinkles of math majors.
The first half of this module is just ST2131 repeated, so it was easy at first, the new stuff comes after the midterms. There is a huge focus of estimation of parameters. Personally I feel that this is my hardest module ever, I couldn't do the tutorial questions at all for the new topics. There are 2 lectures and a 1-hour tutorial weekly. Workload is minimum, just do the tutorial questions. Midterm was MCQ and finals was short questions. Cheatsheets allowed. I doubt I will score well for this, but my advice would be to pay attention during lectures and do some practice questions. Well, I paid attention but still couldn't do the questions, I must be really dumb.
ST2137: Computer Aided Data Analysis
Lecturer: Lim Chingway
This module is also compulsory for stats majors. Basically we just learn how to use 3 statistical programs: SAS, R, SPSS. I would encourage students to finish up CS1010S before taking this as you may require some programming techniques.
The 3 programs used were vastly different and my cheatsheets were filled with tons and tons of code. R gives the most flexibility and you will still need some R knowledge in later modules, so please don't erase it from your memory. SAS is slightly more rigid, while SPSS is like an upgraded version of Microsoft Excel. Although we do learn some statistical stuff in this module, the midterms and finals tested mainly on coding, with a few T/F questions at the front. There is a weekly lab session where you just go to mark your attendance. Only R can be downloaded free onto your computer, so you would have to visit the lab often to practise your coding. SAS has a free University edition, but the interface is slightly different from the version used in the lab.
There is also a group project where each group has about 5 members. Basically, the group has to find a dataset (either online or go survey people) and perform some statistical analysis on it. The report is around 8 pages long, so that should give you an idea of the workload. Like most groups, my group only started the project after the midterms (despite me bugging them since the beginning), so it was pretty hectic. I would recommend for future groups to at least find a dataset and decide on a hypothesis before recess week, otherwise you might be swamped with work after the midterms, especially when everyone has other projects from other modules.
This module is also compulsory for stats majors. Basically we just learn how to use 3 statistical programs: SAS, R, SPSS. I would encourage students to finish up CS1010S before taking this as you may require some programming techniques.
The 3 programs used were vastly different and my cheatsheets were filled with tons and tons of code. R gives the most flexibility and you will still need some R knowledge in later modules, so please don't erase it from your memory. SAS is slightly more rigid, while SPSS is like an upgraded version of Microsoft Excel. Although we do learn some statistical stuff in this module, the midterms and finals tested mainly on coding, with a few T/F questions at the front. There is a weekly lab session where you just go to mark your attendance. Only R can be downloaded free onto your computer, so you would have to visit the lab often to practise your coding. SAS has a free University edition, but the interface is slightly different from the version used in the lab.
There is also a group project where each group has about 5 members. Basically, the group has to find a dataset (either online or go survey people) and perform some statistical analysis on it. The report is around 8 pages long, so that should give you an idea of the workload. Like most groups, my group only started the project after the midterms (despite me bugging them since the beginning), so it was pretty hectic. I would recommend for future groups to at least find a dataset and decide on a hypothesis before recess week, otherwise you might be swamped with work after the midterms, especially when everyone has other projects from other modules.
MA2311: Techniques in Advanced Calculus
Lecturer: Leung Man Chun
Definitely the most memorable lecturer I had this semester. Here's a tip to find people who have taken this module under this lecturer: just tell them that you need the "intuition" to solve the math problems and seeing the "simplicity" behind them is absolutely necessary. Seriously, these 2 words have become an inside joke for everyone.
I... am rather wordless now for this module. I don't even know what I learned, so I'll just copy from the notes: Sequences, Series, Vectors, Differentiation, Integration. The lecturer likes to focus on the idea behind solving problems and not the actual techniques, plus he is the only one teaching the tutorials too, so I have no one else to consult, ugh. Lecture attendance was very very poor, I also started skipping lecture after recess week oops. His notes were horrible too, so many blank pages and he does not upload the full set of notes before the lecture. I would recommend students to just skip lectures, wait until he has finished a chapter, then watch the webcasts to copy notes in one shot. Midterms was open-book, and many people brought in last year's notes, including me, LOL. No surprise there. I screwed up my finals too, also no surprise there.
This module overall was super slack, but it was due to the lecturer. Every tutorial has only about 2-3 questions. So, if you trust your ability to self-study, you can try this module out under this lecturer. Keyword: "this lecturer". Oh yes, this module precludes all those math, applied math, QF people, so you'll only face competition from us stats majors! -gives an evil smirk-
Definitely the most memorable lecturer I had this semester. Here's a tip to find people who have taken this module under this lecturer: just tell them that you need the "intuition" to solve the math problems and seeing the "simplicity" behind them is absolutely necessary. Seriously, these 2 words have become an inside joke for everyone.
I... am rather wordless now for this module. I don't even know what I learned, so I'll just copy from the notes: Sequences, Series, Vectors, Differentiation, Integration. The lecturer likes to focus on the idea behind solving problems and not the actual techniques, plus he is the only one teaching the tutorials too, so I have no one else to consult, ugh. Lecture attendance was very very poor, I also started skipping lecture after recess week oops. His notes were horrible too, so many blank pages and he does not upload the full set of notes before the lecture. I would recommend students to just skip lectures, wait until he has finished a chapter, then watch the webcasts to copy notes in one shot. Midterms was open-book, and many people brought in last year's notes, including me, LOL. No surprise there. I screwed up my finals too, also no surprise there.
This module overall was super slack, but it was due to the lecturer. Every tutorial has only about 2-3 questions. So, if you trust your ability to self-study, you can try this module out under this lecturer. Keyword: "this lecturer". Oh yes, this module precludes all those math, applied math, QF people, so you'll only face competition from us stats majors! -gives an evil smirk-
MA3269: Mathematical Finance 1
Lecturer: Gong Zheng
I took this module because I can use it for my specialisation in finance and business statistics. My first ever level-3000 module! The cohort for this module mainly consists of math, applied math and stats majors. There are a lot of year 3 students with a minority of year 2 students.
I have conflicted feelings about this module. I love this module as the stuff we learned are practical and useful. We study the basics of cashflows, utility theory, portfolios, Capital Asset Pricing Model and options. I felt smarter after every lecture. However, the midterms and finals were super hard for me. There is a reason why this module is coded as MA and not FIN. All the math came out during the tests and I lost to those math people and all those seniors. I did so badly :( should have asked for supplementary questions to practise. Nevertheless, I do not regret taking this module.
Workload wise, there's only 1 lecture weekly, but it was in the evening at 7pm-10pm (the horrors!). There is also a 1-hour weekly tutorial which was just going through the solutions. I found those useless as the solutions will be posted up anyway, but at least the tutor was nice and tried to summarise the chapters for us every tutorial. There are also 2 assignments throughout the semester to do, we get about slightly over a week to do and hand in. Midterms and finals were hard, as mentioned previously, but copying some examples and proofs will help to answer the giveaway questions. Overall a recommended module, but will have to spend some bidding points.
I took this module because I can use it for my specialisation in finance and business statistics. My first ever level-3000 module! The cohort for this module mainly consists of math, applied math and stats majors. There are a lot of year 3 students with a minority of year 2 students.
I have conflicted feelings about this module. I love this module as the stuff we learned are practical and useful. We study the basics of cashflows, utility theory, portfolios, Capital Asset Pricing Model and options. I felt smarter after every lecture. However, the midterms and finals were super hard for me. There is a reason why this module is coded as MA and not FIN. All the math came out during the tests and I lost to those math people and all those seniors. I did so badly :( should have asked for supplementary questions to practise. Nevertheless, I do not regret taking this module.
Workload wise, there's only 1 lecture weekly, but it was in the evening at 7pm-10pm (the horrors!). There is also a 1-hour weekly tutorial which was just going through the solutions. I found those useless as the solutions will be posted up anyway, but at least the tutor was nice and tried to summarise the chapters for us every tutorial. There are also 2 assignments throughout the semester to do, we get about slightly over a week to do and hand in. Midterms and finals were hard, as mentioned previously, but copying some examples and proofs will help to answer the giveaway questions. Overall a recommended module, but will have to spend some bidding points.
GEK2003/SSA2209/PS2249: Government and Politics of Singapore
Lecturer: Bilveer Singh
Ok. I took this module because of my lack of bidding points, since I wanted to save up for next semester. I also took this because of the General Election, which was expected to happen during this semester. I think a lot of students took this module for the same reason, especially those who were voting for the first time.
I'm not really sure if this review will help, as I suspect that the focus every semester changes depending on Singapore's political situation. This semester, the focus was on GE2015 as well as the passing away of the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew. Our essay assignment was on Mr Lee's demise, and the finals had 1 question for GE2015 and 1 question on Mr Lee, out of a total of 3 questions. So it's pretty obvious where the focus is. Nevertheless, we still covered a lot of generic stuff during the weekly lectures, which were kinda fun, I guess. I find the lecturer ok, and sometimes he will walk around the auditorium to ask students questions, eg. how do you find the performance of (insert minister name here) or do you think (insert party here) will win their constituency.
This module is slack too in terms of workload. There are no midterms, only finals which was choose 2 out of 3 questions. There are fortnightly tutorials when we just discuss about random topics and share our ideas, no need to prepare anything. I got some ideas for my essay from the tutorials. Also, an essay assignment which was around 2500 words, choose 1 out of 2 questions. I scored decently for that essay, despite not being a politics major. The essay questions would change focus every semester I suppose. Overall, a recommended module, since it has very little writing as compared to other arts modules. A good module to clear your SS or GEM or whatever.
Ok. I took this module because of my lack of bidding points, since I wanted to save up for next semester. I also took this because of the General Election, which was expected to happen during this semester. I think a lot of students took this module for the same reason, especially those who were voting for the first time.
I'm not really sure if this review will help, as I suspect that the focus every semester changes depending on Singapore's political situation. This semester, the focus was on GE2015 as well as the passing away of the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew. Our essay assignment was on Mr Lee's demise, and the finals had 1 question for GE2015 and 1 question on Mr Lee, out of a total of 3 questions. So it's pretty obvious where the focus is. Nevertheless, we still covered a lot of generic stuff during the weekly lectures, which were kinda fun, I guess. I find the lecturer ok, and sometimes he will walk around the auditorium to ask students questions, eg. how do you find the performance of (insert minister name here) or do you think (insert party here) will win their constituency.
This module is slack too in terms of workload. There are no midterms, only finals which was choose 2 out of 3 questions. There are fortnightly tutorials when we just discuss about random topics and share our ideas, no need to prepare anything. I got some ideas for my essay from the tutorials. Also, an essay assignment which was around 2500 words, choose 1 out of 2 questions. I scored decently for that essay, despite not being a politics major. The essay questions would change focus every semester I suppose. Overall, a recommended module, since it has very little writing as compared to other arts modules. A good module to clear your SS or GEM or whatever.
