This is my review of all of the modules that I took for Yr 1 Sem
1:
HE1001- Principles of Microeconomics (3AU)
Lecturer: Associate Professor Eko Riyanto
Tutor: Ms. Jayasri Dutta
Course Assessment
Quiz 1
15%
Quiz 2
15%
Class Participation
10%
Final Examination
60%
Principles of Microeconomics is 1 of the foundation courses
taken by all yr 1 Economics students during semester 1. Prior economics
knowledge is not required for this course but it is highly recommended to read
up before hand if you do not have a background in economics as knowledge of key
concepts such as demand and supply is the key foundation to fundamental
concepts in this course. Being good at calculations (dealing with algebraic
manipulation and basic calculus) is extremely useful for this course,
especially dealing with utility and production functions. This course also
introduces game theory applied in economics which I feel is very interesting
(One can learn how to win games using backward induction and other sorts of
techniques! :-)) Quite a few people might have the misconception that economics
in university will be somewhat similar to JC economics (Essay based format) but
this is certainly not true :/. Examination format is mostly in the form of
short structured and calculation questions. The 2 quizzes given is in the form
of 10 MCQ questions so in a way, one must be careful as getting even 1 question
wrong will cost 1.5% of the entire grade O_O! For my year, finals was very
calculation intensive(~80% of the paper is based on calculations imo.). A lot
of people were thrown off guard with the rigorous algebraic manipulations.
However, all in all, quite a manageable module if you do your tutorials
consistently and clarify doubts with your teaching assistant. My lecturer
is very detailed and dissects concepts meticulously. So if you manage to
get him as your prof, try not to skip his lectures or at least his
recorded lectures. My tutor is a nice lady who knows her material well. Not
recommended as an extra elective unless you have prior economics knowledge.
Note that the bell curve can be pretty steep too as most people taking this
course has a background in economics.
HE1002- Principles of Macroeconomics (3AU)
Lecturer: Assistant
Professor Laura Wu Guiying
Tutor: Loh Han Zhou Lyon
Course Assessment
Final
examination:
60%
Tutorial presentation: 20%
Quiz:
10%
Participation: 10%
Principles of Macroeconomics, like microeconomics, is a foundation
module for economics students in year 1. But it has very weak ties with
microeconomics (it is a whole different subject matter but some economic
concepts do apply across disciplines.) Like microeconomics, being comfortable
with basic algebra and basic calculus is important here. A background in
economics will help greatly as well. For example, aggregate demand and
aggregate supply are important concepts in this course so being familiar with such
concepts will provide you with an advantage in understanding the various
chapters in this module such as monetary and fiscal policies. I would say the
most difficult part of this course is the chapter on money supply as it is
difficult to understand how money supply can be altered without increasing it's
physical form. There is only 1 quiz for this course which is a 10 question MCQ
quiz .There is tutorial presentations so every week, every group will be
assigned a question each week.and 2 team members will present their answers in
front of the entire class (certainly a good way to train our presentation
skills :p). Attendance is taken every tutorial with participation marks taking
up 10% of the entire grade so it is extremely unadvised for one to skip tutorial
as marks on presentation and participation will be lost. My tutor is very
knowledgeable and experienced having worked in MAS before. He is also very
approachable so it is easy to clarify any doubts we have. My lecturer is a very nice lady who constantly encourages us by giving inspirational quotes.
She explains economic concepts well and always encourages us to clarify any
doubts we have. She also posted the names of top scorers for the quiz and even
offered to reimbursed us money we spent on coffee if we get an A for this mod
O_O!!. I think she is joking but it sure was motivational :P. Because of
her excellent teaching methodology, this module is one of my favorite modules
XD. The final paper set by her was also extremely manageable as it consisted of
mostly tutorial questions that we have attempted before. But, it made the bell
curve very steep though with every careless mistake being extremely costly. All
in all, an very manageable module if one does all the tutorials and revise all
the lecture notes and tutorials. Like HE1001. I wouldn't recommend it
as an extra elective unless you have prior economics knowledge.
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