AY17/18 NTU SPMS CBC Y2S1

This is by far the worst semester! Hopefully it won't get any worse... Mainly because of my lack of motivation haha I dunno what was I doing for the whole semester. So...I tried to minimise the damage caused by SU-ing 2 electives, which means I have 2AU of SU left omg

I also realised that I should have saved the notes for the previous semesters so shall start doing it from now on, if you want anything can pm me at 151tqju@gmail.com (from random username generate)

Pardon my bad grammar

CM2011 | ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY | 3AU | CORE | B 

Midterm 1(20%) 

Midterm 2(20%)

Final(60%)

Comments

This module is about extractions, chromatography, a bit of statistics, electrochemistry and potentiometry. I think this is the first time they included PSI in the syllabus, the topic is quite interesting as we learn things that are relevant to our daily lives. Overall the first few chapters are easy, until electrochemistry and potentiometry where the calculations became complicated and sufficient practice is required to understand the concepts. Luckily the lecturers also provided questions and answers for all topics except for the PSI. Oh and even though the calculations are easy, there are quite a lot of things to remember, like the drawing of diagrams, and comparing the properties of Nitrogen, Hydrogen and Helium as mobile phase in gas chromatography. There are blanks to be filled in the lecture notes so go for the lectures as the recordings are sometimes unclear. (learnt my lesson) One of the 2 recommended textbooks is available online so can go google~

Assessment

Mid terms 1 and 2 are quite straightforward, with simple calculations using the formulas given and some memory work, and must remember the significant figures and decimal places!! Mid term 1 only had short-answer questions, while mid term 2 had 25 MCQs. Just when I thought the final would be as simple as the previous years...We got the shock of our lives. You can compare the questions between 17/18 final paper and the others and see how different they are. Or maybe it's just me not studying enough... Actually I was surprised to even get a B since I only started studying 1 day before the final exam. (I spent the whole week studying for cm2021 and a bit of cm9081, again bad choices)

CM2021 | INORGANIC AND BIOINORGANIC CHEMISTRY | 3AU | CORE | A-

Midterm 1(25%) 78/100

Midterm 2(25%) 

Final(50%)

Comments

This module is about bonding (VSEPR and molecular orbital theory), symmetry and point groups(a very important part of the course), character tables and transition metals. The lecturer decided to leave out main group chemistry and focus on transition metals instead during the second part of the course, so our final exam only tested on transition metals. A very good thing about this mod is that ample practice questions were given with detailed answers provided! :D So can don't go for lectures and just stare at the answers provided. :x Just kidding! Of course attending lectures is much better than racking your brains trying to figure out the concepts, but I was too lazy haha. Don't be like me, really, go for lectures. There is a tutorial during recess week to prepare us for mid term 2 but I didn't go, argh I should have went for it cos I heard from my classmate that the questions discussed during that tutorial were similar to those in the mid term. >.<

Assessment

Mid term 1 is about molecular orbital theory, so we were tested on MO diagram drawing, and to determine point groups of molecules. Mid term 2 also required the drawing of MO diagram, plus character tables(A NIGHTMARE), and chirality(actually I still don't really get it).I would suggest doing the exercises provided to prepare for the tests, as well as attempt the questions from the Miessler textbook. There are actually detailed solutions for the textbook questions online, so can go find it. I can't find any free textbook online so I guess you would have to buy one(Update: I found the textbook online! Look for it at the side bar). For the final exam, it seems to be dependent on the lecturer's mood HAHA cos the content tested for each year differs greatly. Nevertheless, I think he is really nice as he tried to explain new concepts to us patiently which took a lot of time, and used interesting analogies to help us understand the concepts. The Tanabe-Sugano diagrams looked scary when I first saw it but not that hard if you understand them, and there are actually a lot of online resources to help you. 

CM2061 | CHEMISTRY AND BIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY LABORATORY 1 | 3AU | CORE | B

Labs and lab reports (75%)

Final (25%)

Horrible. It was so horrible. I kept hearing people getting upset when they had 11 marks deducted from their lab report(s), while I got 20+ marks deducted for quite a few of them. ._. Such big blow to my self esteem. *cries* I should have been much more careful in my work(given that I'm the opposite of meticulous). Ya its entirely my fault haiz. 

Okay some lab safety tips to avoid being penalised during labs

1. Use a container(for example beaker) to hold your syringe with needle when walking around
2. Needles are to be thrown into the big container in the same fumehood as the waste chemicals (NOT IN BINS)
3. Only syringes can be thrown into syringe bins (NOT needles)
4. Don't throw filter papers with chemicals exposed into the bins, put them into used gloves and tie them first

There are still many more written in the lab manual but the above 4 are the common mistakes. Needles are dangerous cos they may hurt the cleaners if not disposed properly. 

For lab reports, take note of the decimal places and significant figures and units. Your work must be typewritten as much as possible. There must be a space between the number and the units. For final exam, one thing that I didn't expect is that we need to draw the structures of the common chemicals in labs, like acetone, ethyl acetate, diethyl ether etc, so take note. Also read the lab manual and try to understand each step. Some of the answers for the past year papers can be found online so can use them as reference since answers are not provided.

CM9081 | MEDICINAL CHEMISTRY | UE | 3AU | S

Mid term 1 & 2 & Homework (40%)

Final (60%)

Comments

I took this because I didn't know what elective to take, and I couldn't find any reviews on this module might as well try it so that a review can be written HAHA. The content taught were not difficult, but you need to know how to draw the mechanisms and the "cartoon" actions of some proteins and enzymes. Quite a bit of memory work(but less than CM1031) which I wasn't feeling motivated enough to study. We were asked to submit 5 homework during lectures and those are included in the grading. It feels like H2 Biology but many more actions of receptors (GPCR, tyrosine kinase receptor) were taught.We also learnt about the different types of drug administration and how it affects the action of drugs. Overall the module is quite interesting. The textbook is available online.

Assessment

Most people did very well for the tests as I heard the lecturer say that the average score is 80%.😱I'm definitely not one of them(didn't take back my papers cos I forgot). EH but the lecturer likes to reuse questions for the tests!! And he only uploaded the past year tests AFTER the mid term!! I saved them in my laptop so if anyone need those can pm me. For final, it was alright I guess, but I still SU-ed it since I didn't study enough and couldn't expect a good grade after all the slacking. 

HG8004 | COMMUNICATION ACROSS CULTURAL CONTEXTS | GERPE - LA | 3AU | A

Mid term 1 (25%) 16/25

Mid term 2 (25%) 18/25

Final (50%) 80/100

Comments

I took this because I didn't get my first choice and had to choose this during add-drop. This module is mainly about how people behave when they encounter different cultures overseas and how to cope and adapt to the cultures. The lectures are fun but a bit too long(weekly 3-hour lectures) and the lecturer is a lady who knows many languages! She shared a lot of her personal experiences which made the lessons interesting, and I would definitely recommend this module. Oh I realised that the slides on this link have more details than the ones I got for this sem, so you might want to download that instead.

Assessment

For mid terms 1 and 2, there are 25 MCQs each and most of the questions tested on content in the notes, but may also test on stuff the lecturer said during class, as well as the readings. Thus it is best to attend all lectures and pay attention to them. The average score for the tests were quite low though, so the lecturer said she would add 10 marks for everyone(YAY). For the final, we had to watch a movie and write a 300-word essay about one competency displayed by the character(s) in the movie. The competencies would be taught in the last few lectures and we only need to write about one of them, so it is not hard haha. 

MH2500 | PROBABILITY AND INTRODUCTION TO STATISTICS | UE | 4AU | S

Mid term 1 (20%)

Mid term 2 (25%)

Class participation(5%)

Final (50%)

Comments

Uh...this is actually a year 2 math core, I took it because the prerequisites were MH1800 and MH1801, and since I did well for those 2 I thought this would be simple too. In the end I did really badly for the tests hais. I thought it wouldn't be that hard since the first 3 weeks were about binomial, poisson and normal distribution which were taught in JC. I read reviews for this modules and they didn't say it is so hard! Or is it because I'm not a math student haha, luckily can SU or I will die. Yes yes it's great that I passed~ The textbook is available online too.

Assessment

For the first mid term, 1 single-sided A4 cheat sheet can be brought to the exam, and 1 double-sided A4 cheat sheet for the second mid term. For the final, 2 double-sided A4 cheat sheet can be brought. I don't know how to do well for this so go read other reviews instead~ 

Okay end of year 2 review, HAPPY NEW YEAR!! I added some links for the textbooks at the side bar but I think it is only visible on web view.