Type: Core Module
Difficulty: Normal
Workload: Normal
Lecturer(s): Prof Lowe Zhu Yong & Mr Yao Jingxian (Commendable Tutor)
Lecturer(s): Prof Lowe Zhu Yong & Mr Yao Jingxian (Commendable Tutor)
Assessment: Class Participation, 1 Group Presentation + Report and Finals
This is a business module which all engineers are forced to take, hence it is not uncommon to hear sighs and grumbles among students during the first few lectures. I also grumbled a little, because I never did well in fluffy essay modules.
The lecturer, Prof Lowe, uploads very scant powerpoint slides. He constantly emphasizes the benefit of attending lecturers physically because 1: there is no webcast and 2: most of the explanation is done during the lecture itself. It is very true. Many concepts are pretty straightforward when explained by prof Lowe, hence I would highly recommend you to attend the lectures. Don't skip any of them.
100% of the assessment is conducted by your tutor. My tutor was Mr Yao Jingxian, and I must say he's the best tutor ever. He understands that class participation will result in many "fake" and "wayang" people who will raise hands and unload their knowledge regardless on the direction of the discussion, all just for the sake of getting the class participation marks. Hence instead, Mr Yao designs many class activities which involves discussions naturally. He'll then walk around and grade everyone based on the overall performance. So just participate in your group discussions and you should be safe.
For the finals, Prof Lowe emphasized that our tutors are also responsible for marking your scripts. Finals consisted of 2 compulsory questions, in which both point form or essay form was allowed. During the reading week, I did several practise questions from past year papers, and I emailed my tutor for comments and feedback. He was very diligent in the feedback and very quick in his reply. From the feedback of the 2 practice essays I submitted to my tutor, I learnt what he likes. (Note that this may differ from tutor to tutor)
* A Hint: Understand your tutor's preferences (As stated in my guide - A guide to easily score that elusive A / A+ in NUS), what he likes and dislikes. Then during the final exam just dish him exactly what he wants, and you will reap the grades which you want too.
This is a business module which all engineers are forced to take, hence it is not uncommon to hear sighs and grumbles among students during the first few lectures. I also grumbled a little, because I never did well in fluffy essay modules.
The lecturer, Prof Lowe, uploads very scant powerpoint slides. He constantly emphasizes the benefit of attending lecturers physically because 1: there is no webcast and 2: most of the explanation is done during the lecture itself. It is very true. Many concepts are pretty straightforward when explained by prof Lowe, hence I would highly recommend you to attend the lectures. Don't skip any of them.
100% of the assessment is conducted by your tutor. My tutor was Mr Yao Jingxian, and I must say he's the best tutor ever. He understands that class participation will result in many "fake" and "wayang" people who will raise hands and unload their knowledge regardless on the direction of the discussion, all just for the sake of getting the class participation marks. Hence instead, Mr Yao designs many class activities which involves discussions naturally. He'll then walk around and grade everyone based on the overall performance. So just participate in your group discussions and you should be safe.
For the finals, Prof Lowe emphasized that our tutors are also responsible for marking your scripts. Finals consisted of 2 compulsory questions, in which both point form or essay form was allowed. During the reading week, I did several practise questions from past year papers, and I emailed my tutor for comments and feedback. He was very diligent in the feedback and very quick in his reply. From the feedback of the 2 practice essays I submitted to my tutor, I learnt what he likes. (Note that this may differ from tutor to tutor)
- Real examples are not required, rather use examples to illustrate your point
- e.g. "Suppose your boss knows that his workers have a habit of arriving late, he may wish to take up an authoritarian approach of leadership."
- You do not need to take a stand, rather generate points from both sides of the argument
- Unique points are preferred. Think out of the box! As long as you can argue in a way which makes sense, that will be a unique point which my tutor especially loves.
* A Hint: Understand your tutor's preferences (As stated in my guide - A guide to easily score that elusive A / A+ in NUS), what he likes and dislikes. Then during the final exam just dish him exactly what he wants, and you will reap the grades which you want too.
Expected Grade: B+
Achieved Grade: A+
