Taught by: A/P Ali Namazie
Name: Cyndi (@cyriya)
Content (Structure/Organization):
Quite structured
Theoretical physics
Accessibility and Assessment: 2
Quite difficult for one with no mathematical or physics experience
Manageability of Workload: 3
Moderate
Ease/Difficulty of attaining grades:
Typically an A- if you try
Learning Value/Recommendation: 4
Introduces me to concepts I would not look into otherwise
About the Instructor:
Knowledgeable but not super engaging
Content (Structure/Organization):
its organised at the end but a lil rush cos of holidays
no technical at all just math and google
Accessibility and Assessment: 1
its hard
Manageability of Workload: 2
its tough if you have other stuff on at the time and dont understand the weeks topic
Ease/Difficulty of attaining grades:
it depends on your cohort and who you go against. my sem was tough cos i went against a lot of physics student when i have no clue about physics
Learning Value/Recommendation: 2
i enjoy physics (well used to) so glad to touch upon some higher level physic module
About the Instructor:
hes uh interesting, he tries his best but he drones on and on and on. sometimes the lessons are incredibly dry and he cracks some weird joke.
Additional Comments/Word of Advice:
dont take if you cannot tolerate a bad grades/ if you have bad mathematical skills
Name: Ong Wee Marcus (@mehcoos)
Content (Structure/Organization):
The module is structured into lectures/seminars, tutorials, group projects, and essays. As per the title of the module, the content is split evenly into 3 chapters (Space, Time and Matter). Each lecture introduces you to a new topic and for homework, you will be required to do the tutorial questions for that topic on that week. Group Projects and essays depends on the Prof's timetable.
Accessibility and Assessment: 2
Several concepts of JC + Secondary School level physics and mathematics are required (Basic Kinematics + Dynamics). If you have some background in Mathematics (E.G last touched mathematics or physics in Secondary School), the concepts required can still be learnt on your own free time.
Manageability of Workload: 5
The workload for the module is very little. 1 Essay for midterm and 1 Essay for Finals. Students will need to do a few tutorial questions every week and there will be slides for you in case you forget some of the formulas! There are 3 group projects which are quite light in workload as well.
Ease/Difficulty of attaining grades:
You will need to score well in your tutorials and group projects to get an A- or above. The class size is also often quite small (less than 10)
Presence of Technical Learning:
This module provides you a very good introduction into the history of... Space, Time and Matter in the field of Physics. While there are not as many points of discussions compared to other modules, the module offers students insight into various discussions that scientists engaged in.
Learning Value/Recommendation: 2
There isn't much space/time dedicated to being a better inquirer aside from the essays and forum posts. I found that most of my learning value comes from understanding how science evolves the way that it does.
About the Instructor:
The Prof is extremely knowledgeable with the content. Although, the delivery of the content is lacking and often difficult to listen to his lectures, there are slides that you can always refer to.
Additional Comments/Word of Advice:
Many people have mixed feelings about this module. However, if you are looking for a science inquiry with light workload or have some interest in Space, Time and Matter, this module would be a good one to undertake! Do take it with a friend though as lectures often get dull/difficult to listen to.
Name: Ruizhong (@C_Ruiz)
Content (Structure/Organization):
The content in Space, Time and Matter deals with basic trigonometry in the first few weeks, then moves on to Newtonian mechanics by the middle part of the semester and toward the tail end of the module, calculations for space-time dilation will be made and expected.
If any of these terms are unfamiliar to you, do not, under any circumstances, take this module. This is not a module where your interest in the stars and the sky is vindicated. This a module that will take those interests and flush them down the toilet bowl of boredom and sheer soullessness.
This is also not a module where you will be able to pick up the content and understand as you go along. There simply isn't enough time for that. DO NOT take this module if your math or physics background is poor, because you will suffer over the entire semester just trying to keep up. Every week Professor Namazie brings up a new mathematical concept that is then made irrelevant or unused by the next. You could attend the first and last lecture, and know roughly the same amount afterward, because none of the concepts are interconnected, or are taught in such a way that they might as well not be. I use the word taught here liberally, because the monologues he gives on the content are droning at best, and utterly soul draining at worst.
Accessibility and Assessment: -
Manageability of Workload: 2
Physics and Math concepts are used left, right and centre, to an almost impossible degree to keep up with in the tutorial questions if you didn’t already know them. Key concepts that need to be properly explained like Gaussian curvature are explained in a “matter-of-fact” manner that makes it anything but. Group projects are also part of the assessment but they serve little purpose in helping you understand the content, and are in fact a waste of time and effort. Add in Namazie's penchant for asking convoluted, poorly-phrased questions, and you may get the answer, but not in the way he wanted.
For instance, we were tasked to calculate the height of a building using trigonometry and rough approximation as one of our first group projects; the Professor, in asking the question, did not specify that we were not supposed to stand near the base, which was what every single group ended up doing and presented because it was the most straightforward method. This basically voided the entire experiment, and made no contribution to learning beyond showing how intelligence, when unable to communicate itself to others, can in fact be very, very stupid.
The module outline and the Professor may claim that it is not technical (and some snobbish Science students may claim that it really isn't; I had tutorials with one such person, and it was 2 hours of eye-rolling every week), but the simple fact is that math plays a central role in the assignments and workload. Do not try to fluff, because getting a zero for an assignment is not uncommon. Assignments can also be given ad hoc, with little official confirmation unless you email the professor, which is troublesome especially when each of his tutorials have questions that can take hours to do. This is a trend that continues across the 13 weeks, across all tutorials.
Learning Value/Recommendation: 1
About the Instructor:
Professor Namazie has a great grasp of Physics and Mathematics. The problem is students like me do not. The way he bridges this divide is neatly summarized with one of his phrases that he uses so often “and so on and so forth”. I cannot account for the number of times I considered dropping out of USP during his lessons. The lack of proper pedagogy puts the necessary understanding for this module far out of the reach of any not already attuned to Physics and Mathematics.
Another thing to consider is that Namazie rarely ends on time, which was my pet peeve when I took his module. This is particularly irritating when he takes his time to monologue during class, and can drone on and on. Even if you must take this module, make sure you don’t have another class after this one, because you definitely will be late otherwise. Imagine someone explaining the history of a physicist that will never come up again in subsequent lectures for 20 minutes. Imagine that comes at the end of class. Imagine the history being on a slide, and the monologue comes directly off it. If you’re the type of person who enjoys this type of lesson style, go ahead and enjoy the module.
Additional Comments/Word of Advice:
In a sense I am glad I took this module. In future, if I take a class anywhere approaching the boring and technical environment of UNL2201 Space, Time and Matter, I would drop it at the first instance instead of needlessly enduring it for 13 long weeks. Take this module only if you want to know how bad USP classes and Professors can be, because this is likely one of the lowest rungs, if not the lowest, in both categories. I’d rather take WCT again than do this module.
If you believe that the humanities are inherently more boring than physics and math, try Space, Time and Matter because you will come to understand that the claim is patently false. Take this mod to appreciate the humanities more, because everything about it captures what is still wrong with science education in general. Utterly soulless, uninspiring and tepid.