Taught by: A/P Tok Eng Soon
Content (Structure/Organization): 2
This course did not have a well-defined week-by-week course structure or schedule, and its Canvas page was not well-elaborated (Canvas is rarely used for this course). Often, I did not know what was to be covered the following weeks, as we were often informed what was next lesson by lesson.
Accessibility and Assessment: 4
I would preface this review by stating that I did have some background knowledge from pre-university. Nevertheless, I think the professor did a good job in making this course accessible to students of all backgrounds. He did a very good job in using layman terms, avoiding the use of scientific jargons, in explaining concepts, and supplements teaching with in class experiments and activities to help students visualise and comprehend the concepts.
Manageability of Workload: 4
One assignment that may consume time is the group project, where we are expected to create a video and submit reports. This is dependent on how well your group works efficiently together and have common times to meet up outside of class.
Ease/Difficulty of Attaining Grades:
Due to the class covering concepts in material science, chemistry and physics, there is not an even playing field, especially when some students can have pre-university background in chemistry or physics. As someone who only did A Levels H1 Physics, I found myself struggling more on the quantum physics concepts (not covered in H1 Physics), but had a easier time with concepts related to chemical bonding, structure and melting points with my background in H2 Chemistry.
Someone who is better at calculation-based science questions, similar to the ones found in pre-university Chemistry and Physics exams, will also excel better, as the amount of calculations involved in the tests will penalise those who make careless mistakes in calculation. The lack of an excellent command of the English language will not inhibit a student from scoring good grades as long as they are able to explain concepts clearly in questions (eg. 'Why does X have a higher melting point than Y?')
As a good portion of the grades are based on test scores, there is little agency for the professor's harshness/leniency to affect a student's grade.
The difficulty of this course is no harder (and in my opinion even easier) than a science class at the pre-university level.
Learning Value/Recommendation: 3
As someone not in a STEM-related degree programme or career, I likely will not apply the course learnings in the future. Regardless, it is a good exposure to science and scientific experiments. I saw the value of this course in being something different from my 'normal' classes, and enjoyed the learning process of picking up something outside of my major.
About the Instructor:
The professor explains scientific concepts very well, targeted at people who have no background in science. He deliberately avoids the use of scientific jargon to be fair to everyone, instead using layman terms that can be understood by all (for instance, 'nearest neighbour' when describing atoms in chemical bonding and structure).
The professor is also very dedicated to teaching. He would transport heavy equipment from the Faculty of Science to the NUSC classroom in order for us to conduct experiments. Rather than simply handing out marked test papers for the final test, he arranged for us to collect them personally at his office, where it would go through the paper and explain our mistakes. The professor's diligent commitment to making the learning experience better for students makes the learning worthwhile.
Additional Comments/Word of Advice:
While students with a pre-university background in Chemistry and Physics will definitely have an advantage due to understanding of concepts such as bonding, structure, melting points, light, waves and quantum physics, this course is made accessible for all, and one can excel in this course based on diligently studying and revising what is taught. That being said, a non-Chem/Phy background student may just need to study more to be on par someone with that natural advantage. Please also have a scientific calculator for this course.
Content (Structure/Organization): 4
Course is very structured, Prof Tok breaks down complex physics concepts into very manageable and easy to understand parts, so that even students from non-STEM backgrounds can follow along. He might tweak / reduce some parts of the syllabus as the semester goes along, but usually this is done in advance and the class is informed so that everyone is still clear of what will be taught or tested.
Accessibility and Assessment: 4
Prof is really good at simplifying concepts, and he uses classroom experiments, props and analogies (e.g Ping pong balls) to visualize ideas which was really helpful. Personally coming from an FASS background, I could follow along the weekly content, and Prof is open to answering clarification questions during and outside of classroom hours.
Manageability of Workload: 3
Relatively okay, most of the assignments are group projects and he gives ample time during classroom hours for groups to get started too so if your group is efficient, there is not much need to dedicate a lot of extra hours outside of lesson time to complete them. In fact, some of the group assignments are meant to be handed in by the end of the lesson, which eases the take-home workload for students.
Ease/Difficulty of Attaining Grades:
Think so long as you understand the fundamentals and the concepts well, you will be able to answer the questions Prof gives in his assignments and tests! Put in a bit of extra effort for tasks and assignments, and he will recognize it:)
Learning Value/Recommendation: 4
Quite useful as an introduction to Nanotechnology, you will gain some understanding of physics concepts, but individual mileages vary, if you are interested, you can always explore more in-depth articles and content yourself, and Prof is happy to answer your additional questions.
About the Instructor:
Really knowledgeable and experienced Prof who has been teaching for quite a while already! I really appreciate how he really ensures that his course is accessible to students from different majors, and the effort he makes to bring in classroom experiments and link things learnt in class to daily life.
Additional Comments/Word of Advice:
solid mod!
Name: Naaman (@tannaaman)
Content (Structure/Organization):
My review should be taken with a pinch of salt, since prof Tok reorganized it for an online semester. Frankly, I would have preferred more structure, because it felt a lot like he was winging it most of the sem. The module’s curriculum is structured as two lectures a week, occasional homework assignments, one group project (that’s really time consuming) and one final assignment (that’s a little hard). Learning outcomes wise, I’m not sure I learnt anything new, frankly, because like I said in the accessibility part, he REALLY dumbed the mod down. It was also largely unclear what he was trying to teach us, or how the different chapters fit together. All in all, pretty unorganized, but if you don’t mind it and would like a manageable workload, this is fine.
Accessibility and Assessment: 4
I’d say it’s reasonable accessible. Do note however that my review is for his first online semester, and he HEAVILY cut out content. For the most part he breezes through the content without going deeply into it (which in my opinion is quite a shame). In a private chat he mentioned that he did so as he was afraid student’s wouldn’t be able to follow over the less effective online learning environment, and so decided to reduce the difficulty of the mod. I’d go so far as to say the content taught in class was close to primary school style (here’s some examples, tada). That said, the assignments were not dumbed down, and could be challenging depending on your background. All in all, reasonably accessible, and from what I heard about this mod in previous sems, it’s manageable even when not dumbed down. Prof Tok is also really nice.
Manageability of Workload: 4
I’d say when there were no major projects or assignments, the mod is literally just the two lessons in that week because homework could be finished in ~25 minutes if you just referenced his slides. The main project took a ton of time though, because we collected data and had to do a lot of self learning to figure out the concepts he glossed over in class. It was fun though. The final assignment also took a lot of my time (though we were given three weeks), mostly because a lot of the concepts weren’t properly taught in class, so it involved a lot of self reading and research. This was the lightest mod I took all sem though, so overall I’d say it was pretty okay.
Ease/Difficulty of Attaining Grades:
I’m writing this before results are released, but I’m pretty confident of an A. I’d say it’s manageable to get an A, and relative to other USP mods I’ve taken so far (Don’s WCT, EdLow’s QR), it’s the easiest (excluding the wildcard that’s USS).
Presence of Technical Learning:
Almost none, for this iteration of the module. Most equations were glossed over. The assignments were more dependent on grasping and being able to explain the intuition than working things out numerically.
Learning Value/Recommendation: 1
Very little if you’re an engineering or science student. Might be a little harsh, but I think this iteration was dumbed down to the point that several of my classmates felt like he was treating us like kids. So, there’s that. My view: if you’re decent at A level physics, this will be a breeze. If you have no background, it will ironically be tricky because sometimes his explanations skip steps even though the concepts are really manageable. Tl;dr, take this mod if you want a chill time, not if you want to learn and stretch yourself.
About the Instructor:
He’s very, very nice. He made a lot of effort to (try to) engage us, but it was really awkward. His one-on-one chats where we submitted work were nice though, because he’d ask about how you found the mod, etc etc. Good dude, can’t say he’s the best teacher. Again, to be fair, he may have intentionally skipped a lot of teaching for fear of confusing students in an online learning environment (because he’s apparently used to teaching with a whiteboard), so take what I say with a pinch of salt.