Friday, December 5, 2014

CM8012 Introduction to Forensic Science

Lessons:
Weekly lectures

Assessment:
Polling 5%
Graded MCQs 75%
Case studies (Peer-to-peer marking) 20%

Description:

A MOOC online module which gives you the basics of Forensics Science, including blood, fingerprinting, firearms, and a variety of real-life case study.

The lectures can be watched at your own pace. However, you have to take part in a polling at the start of the week. The polling is similar to tutorial participation marks, you just have to poll and you will get your marks regardless of whether you gave the right or wrong answer. The poll is just to get an insight of what people understand about the topic before listening to the lecture.

You have to complete 3 sets of MCQs, each 25%. There are a total of 3 tries given for each MCQs, so it is very likely to get full marks for all of them. Each set of MCQs cover the topics in the previous weeks, for example, MCQ Set A cover content from Lecture 1 to 3, Set B covers Lecture 4 and 5, etc.

For the case studies, you will be given background of the case and a series of illustrated diagrams of the scene. You will have to apply the knowledge from the lectures to answer the questions. The case studies will be peer-marked anonymously by a few other students, and you will have to mark case studies of other students. Rubrics will be given. The important part of case study is to answer logically, with thorough explanation and substantiation.

Do note that this module is NOT equivalent to CM8002 Forensic Science. This is a 2AU module, and you can choose to take it as UE or GERPE (STS). If you decided to take it as GERPE, you will have to complete CM8022 Applications of Forensics Science, which is 1AU, in order to fulfil the 3AU requirement for GERPE (STS). I did not take CM8022 so I am not sure about its content, but I do know that it is a 3-hr weekly lecture in-class, so you have to take it during subsequent semester. However, if you decided to clear it as UE, completing CM8022 is optional, but remember that CM8012 is just 2AU, so you may have to take a 4AU module to balance out, or overload your UE credits.

Another note to remember is that you MUST sign up for signature track if you want to credit transfer. More instructions will be given on how to sign up for signature track.

HP3901 Cultural Psychology

Lessons:
2 hr lecture + 1 hr tutorial

Assessment:
Class Participation 10%
Mid-term 15%
Group Presentation 15%
Finals 60%

Exam Format:
Midterms - MCQs
Finals - MCQs + Essays

Description:

This module is about the differences between different cultures with respect to various psychology topics such as interpersonal attraction, morality, perception, etc.

Readings are quite heavy, with each chapter ranging from 30 to 50 pages. But similar to all other psychology modules, it is a MUST to read the textbook.

Lectures come in handy because it provides a good summary for the textbook, thus, giving you an idea of what to focus on for your exams. There are also a few content in the lecture that is not covered in a textbook. Also, demonstrations of experiments and videos will also be shown during the lecture.

Tutorials include extensions of the content taught in lectures, and also discussion questions and simple hands-on for the experiments. The content taught in the tutorial are not tested in the finals, but it does give you a more complete view for the topic.

For the group project, each group will have to think of a phenomenon that is different between cultures. You will have to do thorough research on it and present it in the final tutorial class. The presentation format will be in the form of a research poster.

For the mid-terms, because it is MCQs, not much memorising needed. It is more important to understand the concepts. For the finals, the essays are actually short-answer questions. Memorising may be required, but I do feel that understanding is more important. This is because most of the content rest upon the underlying principle of individualism VS collectivism so you can actually understand the rest of the content much better. However, what you do need to memorise may be the experiment procedures and results, definitions. Do note that you do need to read BOTH textbook and lecture slides for the exams, especially finals.

HP8004 Coping With Cultural Transition

Lessons:
3 hr lecture

Assessment:
Mid-term 30%
Finals 70%

Exam Format:
Midterms - MCQs
Finals - Fill-in-the-blanks + Essays

Description:

This module covers aspects of culture shock, intercultural training and puts focus on various context such as business, international students, media, etc. It is a Liberal Studies/Liberal Arts GER-PE under Psychology.

Readings consist of only the lecture slides and handouts for every chapter. There is no assigned textbook.

Lectures are supposed to be 3-hr each, but most of the time it ended within 2.5 hours. Some content in the lecture slides are not covered in the handout so it is good to attend the lecture, otherwise it may be hard to understand the points written in the lecture slides.

For mid-terms, there are only MCQs, so not much memorising needed. Be sure to know which are the main points (e.g phases of culture shock) and definitions. Bell-curve can be quite steep for MCQs so it is important to study for it.

For finals, there are fill-in-the-blanks which most test how well you remembered the main points. The questions usually serve as good cues to remember your answer if you studied well enough. For essays, the questions can range from 5 to 20 marks. You may be required to draw out diagrams given in the lecture slides, and much memorising is needed for the essays. There are also a few application questions which test your knowledge for the specific contexts of acculturation.

Since this is a cultural transition module, you do need to know about the differences between cultures (e.g. individualism VS collectivism) and this can form a framework to understand the topics that focus on specific contexts of acculturation.

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

HP2600 Cognitive Psychology

Lessons:
2 hr lecture + 1 hr tutorial

Assessment:
Class Participation 5%
Mid-term 20%
Group Presentation 15%
Finals 60%

Exam Format:
Midterms - MCQs
Finals - MCQs + Essays

Description:

This module focuses on the mechanisms of cognition. Topics covered include memory, attention, reasoning, problem-solving, etc. The content is rather heavy and will require quite a lot of memorisation.

Readings consist of weekly readings from assigned textbook, which is compulsory as exams is based mostly on textbook.

Lecture is recorded, and it covers content that are not found in the textbook. I actually find recorded lectures more effective as the professor speaks kind of fast, but you need self-discipline to listen online lectures..

Tutorials include a weekly quiz (not graded) and discussion of the quiz questions. Later part of the semester will also include group presentation. You will also need to do up a summary for that week's lecture and bring it to tutorials.

Group presentation will be done in pairs or threes. You are required to analyse a secondary article in terms of credibility, accuracy, etc, and also discuss the primary article on which the secondary article is based. You may also be required to do a in-class demonstration of the experiment that you have researched on.

Mid-terms consist of 70 MCQs, and is mostly based on the textbook. Finals consist of 80 MCQs and 3 long-essays. So you do need good time management skills for this. MCQs consist of a lot of application, whereas the essays will require memorisation, but more importantly, understanding. You will be required to give examples, show your knowledge of the concepts, and experimental procedures.


HP2500 Personality Psychology

Lessons:
2 hr lecture + 2 hr tutorial (on alternate weeks)

Assessment:
Class Participation 5%
Mid-terms 30%
Group Presentation 15%
Finals 50%

Exam Format:
Midterms & Finals - MCQs, Fill-in-the-blanks, short-answer questions

Description:

The module is about studying of personality from various perspectives.

Readings consist of weekly readings from the assigned textbooks. The workload for the readings are quite manageable but may need more thorough elaboration since it's quite abstract. Application skills in relating the content to personality is important.

Lecture content are mostly found in textbook, but it provides a good summary of the content.

Tutorials consist of group discussion and for the later part of the semester, group presentations.

Group presentation will be done in groups of 3 or 4. You will be required to analyse the personality of a famous figure from the various perspectives. No written reports required.

For the exams, it is better to understand the theories more than memorising, which applies only for important terms. Short-answer questions will require you to remember the concepts and apply the perspectives to real-life.