Abstract: NTU Elective Modules Review Roundup including NIE, Business, Arts, Design & Media, Science and Technology, Environment, Humanities & Sports.

Not all electives are created equal. Picking the right electives could sometimes mean the difference in your honors classification.i.e. from 2^nd upper to a first class.  The SU system further complicates this battle with electives. In a war, the victory goes to the party who has insider information from his spies in the enemies’ camp. Here, we have unearth information from the best spies(seniors) all over the internet so that you can make the right move and strategically conquer the electives!

NIE

• AAU280: Voice Studies & Production (Tutor: Claire) (Available for 2014)

Basically, the activities that u are having will be super fun and there will be times where u are required to read a paragraph and she will correct u a few times in front of everyone until u are perfect which is damn good. U will learn how to breathe properly oso cos alignment affects the way u speak. If u are a person who is super good at presentation, can consider taking. Lots of poetry and prose.  And the workload is relatively heavy and readings need to be done.

• Full Attendance and active participation
• Reflective journal: 40%
• Max 5000 words and must be referenced properly.
• Seminar Presentation of 4-6 mins:30%
• -Group presentation
• Presentation of vocal technique in poetry and prose(4-6mins) :30%
• -Alone presentation.  Read more.

–Shi Ting from http://gohshiting.blogspot.com/ 

• AED281: Counselling  (Tutor: Kit Phey Ling ) (Available for 2014)

Most boring elective in the entire NTU. I only attended 6 out of 9 classes. The course is pretty commonsensical and I think the teacher is a very “B+” kind of tutor. By that, I meant she is those kind of tutor who only gives average grades to everyone. Not daring to give A and not critical enough to give B and below.

Class attendance 10%, Participation in counselling sessions 10%, Group presentation on your assigned topic 40%, Reflection essay 40%. Read more.

–Winnie from https://winnieblogs.wordpress.com/

Business

• BU8101: Accounting User Perspective (Available for 2014)

This is a very heavy content modulus. If you do not have any piror knowledge in business, pls do not take it. You will suffer anot. Alot of terms to understand and concepts are quite different to apply. For me, I am struggling. Maybe i was too busy with my CCA. But the notes were not sufficient enough. I have to read every single chapter and this is very tedious. Of course, reading the textbook is important for this modulus. You will need the textbook because the tutorial questions were ask from the tb. Only the question number given. I suggest to take business first before accounting.  A lot of people SU.

Straightahead

 (Read more on http://hardwarezone.com)

The module requires you to be competent with both financial and managerial accounting and has the thickest textbook and the most chapters (22 out of 24 in the textbook).

Tips:

1. Read up the chapter before going for lesson, as lecture is a mad rush. Read more.

–Ronnie from http://ryuuzaki01.blogspot.com/

•  BU8201: Business Finance (Available for 2014)

I took this in special term II. The reason I took this was because it was a heavy subject (IMO) and I know I will not be able to cope well if I were to take during the normal semester. Thus, I paid an additional fee to take up this elective to clear my Business PE. During the special term, I only have this course, so the workload was relatively very low. I was able to catch up with the lecture. The only bad thing was there was no that the lecturer did not go through tutorial. There were a total of 10 lectures (2 times a week, 3.5hrs each lesson but usually end earlier) and 1 week of study break. I really like the lecturer. He was able to bring across the theory and his presentation very efficiently. In addition, he replied me email when I clarify my doubts with him (quite a number of qns). One of the best lecturers I came across in NTU. His name is Daniel Ong.

Business Finance is basicially just math and minimal memory work if you practice the work problem frequently. A lot of practice is required for the module and don’t do last minute studying.

Straightahead

(Read more on http://hardwarezone.com)

 The seminar is a full 3 hour session for 1/2 topics (compared that to MB101). There is no tutorials. It has 3 rounds of revision before going for exams and camp within the remaining 2 weeks. So yup, the module is not that taxing.

Tips for scoring:
1. Read up the chapter before going for lesson
2. After the lectures, do your tutorials faithfully. Read more.

–Ronnie from http://ryuuzaki01.blogspot.com/

• EE8065: Managing your money (Available for 2014)

I feel that the course is kind of useful for someone with totally no finance knowledge as it introduces topics like asset classes and what to do with your money etc(investing, insurance). The lack of recorded lectures is a bit of a negative. The exam paper had 2 sections, first part consisted of 3 questions, written answers, kind of like essay writing. 2^nd part is mcq.

N-thraX

 (Read more on http://hardwarezone.com)

•  MB106/BU8601: Fundamentals of Management (3AU) (Available for 2014)

The module’s exam is mad rush. It is a must that when taking this module you should master the 3 important financial documents (Income statement, balance sheet, and especially Statement of Cash Flow).

Tips:

Try out at least 3 past year exam papers before the actual paper to familiarise yourself with the format.   Read more.

–Ronnie from http://ryuuzaki01.blogspot.com/

• BU8301: Fundamentals of Business Law(Available for 2014)

It is important to not skip lectures on this one. BU8301 only has one exam. There are no quizzes, no tests, no presentations.

The final exam is also OPEN-BOOK  and it determines 80% of your grade, so be sure to take down notes during tutorials. This module is easy or at least manageable.

Tips:

As long as you prepare for your tutorials and make your notes accordingly, you’ll be safe.  Read more.

–Fiona from http://fivefatfleas.blogspot.com/

• MB107/BU8301: Fundamentals of Business Law (3AU) Tutor: Mr. Tan Peng Kwee (Available for 2014)

The study techniques in this module is using the mind maps which is effective and useful during the open-book examination. This module gives you a good understanding of the laws governing commercial contracts. Read more.

–Ronnie from http://ryuuzaki01.blogspot.com/

• ET9121: Introduction to Entrepreneurship (Tutor: Marilyn Ang ) (Available for 2014)

This elective is quite fun. If you think you have what it takes, go for it. By that I mean you should have creativity, a flair for report writing and presentation. On the other hand, I think this elective is challenging because there are five freaking components for an elective and there are no classes before the add-drop period. Thus, there is no “try-and-then-drop” classes. To add this elective is a huge risk (but turned out to be a great return for me). This elective finishes before recess week ends, at *SCAPE! (for my class under Ms Marilyn). She is a very efficient marker. Good luck to you if you are not wiling to dedicate that amount of time for an elective.

Pitch presentation (by yourself) 10% + Class participation 10% + Closed book quiz 20% + Team report 35% + Team presentation 25%

Read more.

–Winnie from https://winnieblogs.wordpress.com/

•  ET9121: Introduction to Entrepreneurship(Available for 2014)

I really enjoyed this course. Tutorials were very interactive and you really have nothing to prepare most of the time. I don’t know what this mod is like now seems it seems like they have changed the syllabus bit back then it was:

• 2 mins (I think) Elevator Pitch (Solo)
• Business Proposal (Group) (Handed in in parts every week for a rough grade then you submit your final version for your actual)
• Presentation on your proposal (Group)

Managed to get A.

Icetray

 (Read more on http://hardwarezone.com)

 Communication

 

• CS8100: Fundamentals of Communication Studies (Available for 2014)

I took this to clear my AHSS PE. The reason I took this was because I read the review somewhere else saying this was an easy elective to score. Well, this is not my type. My first non- 100% final mcq elective. There is a lot of memory work for 50% of the final are essay type. The remaining 30% are MCQ – 30 MCQ and remaining 20% – 20 fill in the blanks. There are a lot of terms to memorise and I don’t like it. Need to learn spelling etc. Totally not my type. Decided to SU it even though I did average for the mid term quiz. When I went lectures, I went with my friends but I went there to do my cores ‘tutorial. Why? Because the lecturer always likes to give a surprise quiz so as to mark your attendance. Every week w/o fail. If you want to score well, your language have to be good. But my friends did well. Most of my friends got A- and B+.

Straightahead

 (Read more on http://hardwarezone.com)

Arts, Design and Media

• DG9006: Creative Thinking in Design Solutions  (Tutor: Peggy )  (Available for 2014)

I wanted to take this UE but decided to drop after the first class. I still recommend this because this elective focuses a lot on creativity. Even if your art sucks, you still can take this and score well. For me, I am not very good at a lot of Photoshop techniques so I decided to drop this. There is huge amount of assistance provided by the tutor. You get to submit the drafts first before the actual submission.

Class participation 20%. Exercise 40%( Every week there is a group presentation and evaluation on the topic provided), Final Project 40%. Read more.

 –Winnie from https://winnieblogs.wordpress.com/

Science and Technology

• BS8003: Science or Fiction? – Biology in Popular Media (Available in 2014)

One of the more interesting electives I have taken. Lessons involve watching of movies like spiderman and then identifying some wrong biology concepts used in the movies.  Exam is single answer mcq and is easy to score, test on some basic knowledge of biology and some details of the movies screened during lessons. Will definitely be helpful if you have basic biology knowledge.

The grading system is 100% on final exam. Both me and my friend got A for the module. Personally, I find the exam easier than forensic science. The bell curve is likely to be steep, but it will be all the same for other STS-PE electives like astro, forensic science and impact of chem on society. At least for this module, lessons are enjoyable.

biosciguy

 (Read more on http://hardwarezone.com)

• EE8086: Astronomy – Stars, Galaxies and Cosmology (Available for 2014)

Well, I believed that you can find a lot of review about this course easily. The only difference from theirs and what you are going to expect is, the difficulty is no longer that easy. Why? Last time, the lecturer came out question from the question bank. But now, even if you memorise everything, you may not get A. Somehow, he hardly use the question from the question bank anymore. Final consisted of 60 MCQ. When I took it, I think only less than 10 came from the question bank. So don’t be too confident if you know everything from the question bank. I got a B+ only. Astro is very competitive. The easier something is, the harder for you to perform well.

Straightahead

 (Read more on http://hardwarezone.com)

Find out the 3 ways to choose an elective

• EE8086: Astronomy

Dont think so much just study hard for the finals liao. Also, do watch “The Universe” series, they are all over in youtube. Piques ur interest, relevant to what we are learning now too!!

Yeah, it is true that the mod is very content heavy. The module tests up to Ch 8 the sun (IIRC) for just the quiz already.

Last time I heard the question banks were useful, but for my time, there was only ~10 MCQs that came out from the question banks. In my opinion, the quiz and finals was really about how good you are at memorizing it, or you have some general knowledge on astro/watched astro-related

videos/shows before.. But then, 2 of my other friends, 1 got A+ (with super good memory) and the other got A- (even though he got only like B- for quiz).

XxInNOutxX

(Read more on http://hardwarezone.com)

• EE8084: Cyber Security (Available for 2014)

The exam format for this was 50% project (dateline was week 12 I think) and 50% finals. Finals consisted of 50 to 60 MCQ. This course only has 26 hours of lectures. The remaining 13 hours are intended for project work thus no lectures (week 9 to 12 if I remember correctly). Suggested Group size was 6 – Plus minus one very few, those special case. I took this with my friends, 6 of them. There will be a total of 50 titles to choose from and a title can only be used by a maximum of 2 groups. Choose your title as soon as you can. The finals were relatively easier. I got a B+ as the determining factor was the project.

Straightahead

(Read more on http://hardwarezone.com)

•  EE8092: Digital Lifestyle (Available for 2014)

Didn’t attend a single lecture physically (just watched lecture recording online at home).

I do not have any IT background, and found the content manageable and interesting. While it is true that what is taught covers several topics but merely scrapes the surface of each, overall I feel there is still quite a lot to remember.

I s/u ed the mod in the end due to 2 reasons:

1) Decided to focus more on my cores, hence I only studied a few days before each mid term (2 mid terms accounting for 50% of total grade).

2) If you hope to score a good grade, you MUST be prepared to put in time to memorize the content (I have no background in IT, so it is like starting from scratch). The profs release the whole cohort’s mid term results.

doomdesire105

(Read more on http://hardwarezone.com)

This course is only offered in semester 2. Before my batch, it was supposed to be 50%mcq and 50% fill in the banks for the final. I was the first batch to be a 100% 60mcq finals. The final is only 50% and CA is another 50%. There are 2 quizzes equal weightage and 30mcq each. If you have knowledge about computer – hdd, ram, rom, processor etc. Home entertainment such as surround system, LED, LCD 3D TV etc. Last part is about wireless connection for mobile and internet – Bluetooth, 1G 2G 3G GSM LTE etc. They just touch and go but there is a lot of things to memorize, such as effective range of Bluetooth etc. Compared to Cyber security, this was way harder, but in the end, I got A-, probably because a lot of people SU it.

Straightahead

(Read more on http://hardwarezone.com)

Environment

• ES8001: Natural Hazards and Society (Available in 2014 sem 1)

I took EAR801 – Natural Hazards last year. There’s a change in module code so I’m not sure if there’s any difference in the syllabus but basically the exam format was MCQs, so is the mid-term tests.

This module interesting, especially if you’re interested in geography but the thing is that this a very content-heavy module. During my time, we had about 30 over chapters covered. 

simpleton13

(Read more on http://hardwarezone.com)

Humanities

•  HP1000: Introduction to Psychology (Available for 2014)

The module  is split into two parts: the first part (before mid-terms) is mostly memorising. The second part (after mid-terms) is mostly on application. The tutorial is not the important but the attendance is.

The mid-terms’ format is 80 MCQ (1 mark each) + 10 fill-in-the-blanks (2 marks each).

The finals’ format but is 30 MCQ + 20 fill-in-the-blanks + about 5 or 6 mini essays. The essays are largely on application, as are the other types of questions.

Tips:

Be mentally prepared for lots of memorization. Read more.

–Fiona from http://fivefatfleas.blogspot.com/

• HP1000: Intro to Psychology (Available in 2014)

I took it last semester. You would need the textbook definitely as the notes are not sufficient. It is a really interesting course though. Really enjoyed the lessons.

Latios1314

 (Read more on http://hardwarezone.com)

• HP101 Intro to Psychology (Available for 2014 as HP1000)

i took it b4 as a UE n got a A+, it’s mostly memory work, so u’ll really need to mug the textbook then it’ll b ez… if not GG!

antares1

(Read more on http://hardwarezone.com)

•  HP8002: Working in 21st Century (Tutor: Kamal Kant) (Available for 2014)

There is no need to buy the textbook as there are soft-copies of the textbook floating around. There was not enough time to complete all the essay questions during the final exam. The reason why I recommended this elective is because it is probably the best AHSS or LS to clear.

Pair-work report 40% + Final closed-book exam 60%

 Read more.

–Winnie from https://winnieblogs.wordpress.com/

• HP8002:  Working in the 21st Century   (Available in 2014)

I went for the lecture. Its a paired work for CA. must interview at least 3 person with 15 years of exp. around there. cant rmb the exact details. 30 to 40%. The remaining final exam is all essay. If u want to buy tb. buy the latest version as quoted by the lecturer. 2011 edition. Have to be 1st hand. The main pt is the pair work so if u don wan score well, get some1 who wan to score well also. IMO, even if i wan to su, i will still give my 100% cos i can lepak abit for my final exams.

Straightahead

(Read more on http://hardwarezone.com)

• HG8004: Communicating across cultural context (HP8004 COPING WITH CULTURAL TRANSITION available for 2014)

Close book.. Quiz is all mcq. Exam majority mcq..

Saq is kind of saq.. But also got case study pattern..haha…. The prof is a german lady.. Got an A, easy to score. 2 quiz each 25% and exams 50%.

NUMBer

(Read more on http://hardwarezone.com)

• HP4103: The Forensic Psychology of Crime, Terrorism and Disasters (Available for 2014)

i took forensic science last acad yr. if i can rem , midterms was mcq and final exams were mcq + problem solving. you will be given a crime scene which is kinda fun as u were kinda like playing detective. For the content, i must say its kinda heavy, you have to take down notes as some of the qns cannot be found on the slides alone. need to rem facts and case studies to score the mcqs. Aside from that its pretty easy, the case solving is kind of common sense if you know how to apply what u learned. Easy to score if u like CSI stuff.

neuronsmisfiring

 (Read more on http://hardwarezone.com)

Language

•  LF9001 : French Level 1 (Tutor is Jean Francois) (Available for 2014)

My tutor was Jean Francois and he was a very good teacher imo! (and he’s funny too which is a plus, haha). Quite a lot of ‘fake beginners’ (i.e. people who have learnt French before outside but are taking the Level 1 course to get an easy A)

CA consisted of class participation and a few quizzes (the Listening component was difficult).

 There is an  oral assessment and it will done in a group.

–Fiona from http://fivefatfleas.blogspot.com/

•  LK9001: Korean Level 1 (Tutor: Yun Hae-ri) (Available for 2014)

Before you take Korean, you must have passion in Korean. You will be fighting against Kpop fans who already have an edge in Korean (mostly learnt by themselves). For me, I did listen to Kpop songs and watched a few shows in Korean but I am definitely not a crazy Kpop fan. Generally, I believe that Korean teachers are more fun (and fashionable!) in class. Even at 40+ years old, they are definitely not your typical Singaporean tutors. After Korean level 1, you are able to read almost everything in Korean (but not understand them due to limited vocabulary). Textbook is a must-buy!

Final Grade = Final closed-book exam 50% + CA Marks /2

Tips: Every lesson that you are absent for would take away 1% of your CA.  There were PYPs for Korean 1 and paper was very easy. Read more.

–Winnie from https://winnieblogs.wordpress.com/

Sports

• SS9204 Floorball (Tutor: Alvin ) (Available for 2014)

I attended 3 classes of floorball before deciding to drop it. I did not have a lot of confidence in sports after not playing netball for 3 years. Nonetheless, the coach is very patient and I guessed he was the NTU school team coach so it explains the professionalism. I am not sure if the coach evaluates boys and girls differently but as long as you follow his teaching, it should be fine. Every week there are games to play and some girls can get really nasty (there was one who hit me repeatedly without saying “sorry”!

Theory 30% (Mainly on game rules), Practical: Game play 40%, Practical: Skills 20%, Course Assignment: Task card 5%, Class participation 5%.  Read more.

–Winnie from https://winnieblogs.wordpress.com/

•  MOCC: Beauty, Form & Function: An Exploration of Symmetry

Imagine a GERPE/UE mod worth 3AU… That is pass/fail, no final exam, That can be completed in 8 weeks! (or earlier) That can be completed in 8 weeks! (or earlier) Has open-book MCQ tests for assessments, but given 3 chances, Has a written assessment, but sample answers given, Possible to score enough points within 4 weeks so that you can skip doing some assessment, and still get 3AU!

For those who have not taken it, should take this for next sem, since its the easiest mod ever!

yusoffb01

 (Read more on http://hardwarezone.com)

At the end of the day, the choice of elective is a personal one, as no one has the exact same set of strengths and interests as you. With the information on the most popular electives above, find one that aligns both of these factors and give it a try during the add/drop period!

Have you taken an elective which you really like ? Or one in which you regret taking ? don’t keep it to yourself. With more information, the NTU community would collectively thrive even further. Tell us about it in the comments section below !!

Disclaimer: please exercise your own discretion in using the information here. Our team does its best to suss out the most credible information on the net but we are unable to guarantee its 100% accuracy.

 

Check out: 10 easy to score NTU electives 

Find out the 3 ways to choose an elective