AY 2018/19 NTU SPMS CBC Y3S1

Ok this post is wayyyyy overdue
My motivational level is like droppin droppin dropping
From a bright-eyed eager year 1 student to a jaded year-3-going-to-year-4 old person
So much stuff had changed, so many things happening
I just feel like ranting a little, even to strangers
HAHAHA OKAY HERE GOES NOTHING

This sem is really the worst one ever, they say when you hit rock bottom, the only way is up
For me, this is really the rock bottom cos my grades got slightly better after this sem (still bad tho)
I only took 15 AU cos I thought it may help pull up my grades, but ended up studying even less cos I underestimated my workload HAHA


CM3011 | CHEMICAL SPECTROSCOPY AND APPLICATIONS | 3 AU | CORE
Midterm 1 - 20% (open book)
Midterm 2 - 20% (closed book)
Final - 60%

The first part of the course is more about determining the structures of compounds when given spectroscopic information about them. The main concepts taught were interpreting the spectra of different tools: 1H NMR, 13C NMR, mass spectrometer, IR and the degree of unsaturation formula. The thing is that even if I felt I understood all the techniques used, I had difficulties guessing the right structures. The first mid term is even an open book exam yet I did badly x_x. It is important to know the fragmentation mechanisms for different functional groups in the mass spectrometry well. The lecturer also taught a little on 2D NMR which was not tested for exams, but I would advise to pay attention too cos it was in one of the experiments during lab in sem 2.

For the second part of the course, it was entirely on the different types of NMR. The important thing is to be familiar with the calculations of coupling constants and the number of splitting peaks. I would recommend doing the practice questions a few times to get the hang of it, or maybe I just wasn't paying attention in lectures. We were required to calculate the chemical shifts of each peak to precisions of 4 decimal places which I totally flunked it. So sad cos the way the lecturer taught made everything sound so easy, he even excluded transition metals and told us that the test would be a breeze. I tried the past mid terms and they seemed manageable, but the mid term I did was more complicated than I expected(again overconfidence). Obviously I did badly for the test and what's worse was that 73 people got full marks for it. -_- How stupid am I to have done so badly sighs.

Finals was similar to midterm, except that it is entirely closed book so remember to memorise the mechanisms!

CM3041 | PHYSICAL AND BIOPHYSICAL CHEMISTRY 2 | 3 AU | CORE
Midterm - 40% (restricted open book)
Finals - 60% (restricted open book)

This course is almost entirely calculations, the most used constant would be the Planck's constant HAHA. There are quite a few formulas to know too. The lecturer was saying how a few years ago, the top student scored 90+ % for the final exam, and the second student only scored 70+. When asked how did he managed to get such high marks, he said that he attempted all the questions from the Atkins and the David Ball textbooks. Sooooo you all can try this too xD. Oh the worked solutions for the Atkins textbooks exercises can be found in the NIE library so go take a look if you feel hardworking. We were allowed to bring 2 or 3 (I forgot) A4 cheat sheets to the exams. Mid term was in week 11 and tests both the first and second part of the course.


CM3062 | CHEMISTRY AND BIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY LABORATORY 4 | 3 AU | CORE
Lab reports - 50%
Finals - 50%

Finally got my hands on some senior lab reports for reference YASSSS. Those were a great help when I do my lab reports omg. Most of the experiments required full reports, with proper data tables and figures and graphs. But the lab sessions are quite relaxing since all of them were groupwork and the sessions usually ended early. Doing the lab reports was quite tedious so try to finish them early as I spent at least 7 hours for each report even with senior reports as reference.
For the final exam, take note of everything in the lab manual and remember how to apply the equations used. I remembered there was one experiment that involved knowledge from CM3041 so its better to take them together I guess.

ST9001 | INTRODUCTION TO SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY | 3 AU | UE
Midterm
Presentation
Individual project
Weekly reflection

I took this course mainly because it fits into my timetable HAHA. Don't be fooled by the title cos it is definitely not a science course. I feel like this course is the most tiring and requires the most effort. Firstly, the weekly readings were about 100+ pages each, and we had to write a one page reflection about the readings so can't really read everything last minute. Attendance is compulsory and we discussed the readings during tutorials. We mainly discussed about the development of science and technology from the past to present, so it requires a lot of thinking on our own.
The midterm was based on the key points from the readings, but there is just so many things to read x_x. For presentation, we were given the topics to be discussed every week and we had to choose one topic to present on a week. For the individual project, we had to write a multimedia essay on a webpage, which basically meant an essay with pictures and maybe videos or music? Sounds difficult right, shouldn't have taken this course :(


ST9001 | ASTRONOMY - STARS, GALAXY AND COSMOLOGY | 3 AU | UE
Midterm 1 - 20%
Midterm 2 - 20%
Final - 60%

I saw many reviews on this course so shall not say much here. This course is really content heavy and actually I took this also because it fitted into my timetable nicely. One interesting thing about this course is that there were 3 stargazing sessions where we could use the telescope to view the planets at night. I went for one but there were too many people there so didn't manage to see much. It is really up to one's personal preferences whether to take this course~ All the tests were in MCQs but still too hard for me. Dx