Anonymous AY25/26 Sem 1

About the Instructor (Dr Derek Ho):

Prof. Derek Ho is an amazing prof. He is knowledgeable of the content and he often does it in very fun and light ways that makes it more of a breeze to understand computational concepts. He's also extremely willing to meet you to advice on your work. 

Content (Structure/Organization): 

I think the curriculum is well-structured. It makes sense how one week flows to another. I think more importantly, pay attention to the algorithm thinking (flowcharts/data diagrams). These are important to fully appreciate what the assignments (especially the group project) is looking out for. 

Manageability of Workload: 

The assignments are well-spaced. On normal weeks, this wojld be a mangeable workload, but it can pick up particularly at the weeks before the 2 tests. In general, plan your schedule well and this course will be fine. 

Ease/Difficulty of Attaining Grades:

A is hard, but an A- is doable. Grading by prof is fair as long as it is evident you have placed effort into the assignments. 

Learning Value/Recommendation: 

For those who prefer to learn technicalities behind computational concepts (ie coding), I highly recommend CS1010 instead as NPS does very/if not no coding at all (although you are exposed to it). If you want a course that can explain algorithms in a way that is rather interesting and understandable for those with no prior experience, this would be a fairly enjoyable course. 

Tan Liang Rong (@Liangrong03) AY25/26 Sem 1

About the Instructor (Dr Derek Ho):

I think Prof Derek tried his best. Unfortunately, NPS feels more a lecture every week rather than a proper discussion seminars. Prof Derek is real chill, and nice guy in explaining the content.

No complaints about him, he's clearly really interested in teaching this area and tries to make class engaging despite the content.

Content (Structure/Organization): 

It is a well-structured course. I don't think there was any topic that was really difficult to grasp as someone with little background or interest

However, I felt like there was not enough space for discussion, I think NPS does not make full use of the fact that:

1.) It is a small group seminar

2.) It is led by a Prof who is an expert in their field.

The content was so simple, that at times, I could not understand why a Prof with a PhD in Quantam Physics was sitting in a classroom telling me about CPUs, Bitcoin and UI/UX design when a TA would suffice.

I also did not understand why I had to take 4h a week to attend 2, 2 hour long slide presentations. This felt closer to a 1K CHS mod, and did not live up to the rigour that I had expected for an NUSC course.

Manageability of Workload: 

Incredibly light. Beyond the seminars, the only thing that took time was the group project, which was fairly simple.

Ease/Difficulty of Attaining Grades:

Incredibly hard, this is one of the few mods (along with GEA) that I would recommend SU-ing or putting in enough work for an A-, an A requires you to score near full marks (if not full marks) on all assignments and tests, and is merely a test of rote learning rather than an actual attempt at gauging one's attempt to think computationally.

Learning Value/Recommendation: 

As mentioned, little to nothing. Whatever I learnt was nowhere near enough to justify the 4h a week this course demanded out of my life. It's not deep enough to really apply whatever that was learnt either practically to one's career or academically if one actually wanted to pursue CS as a field of study.

You learn more out of the FREE edX CS50x (or CS50P) course about how to think computationally rather than this mod. I feel like this course should get the NSS treatment in allowing each prof to tailor the content to their own fields.

Additional Comments/Word of Advice:

You can overload with this mod.

Anonymous (1) AY24/25 Sem 1

About the Instructor (Dr Derek Ho)

I believe Professor Derek Ho did a great job explaining the difficult concepts to non-computer science students through uses of analogy. Prof definitely put in effort in facilitating a lively class discussion. 

I like how Prof Derek is always willing and happy to organize consultation sessions throughout the semester. It was very useful for the group projects and assignments. 

Content (Structure/Organization)

Personally, I find the course curriculum quite structured with each few weeks focusing on a topic and some of the following topics, in some way, builds on the knowledge learnt previously. However, the courses' practical aspect, i.e. the students learning how to code, is not very effective. More emphasis can be directed to these aspects of the course.  

Manageability of Workload

Nearer to assessments/exams I spent more than 4 hours whereas on a usual week I spend maximum one hour to go through the concepts learnt in class. I believe the workload for this module is very manageable compared to other 2k mods. 

Ease/Difficulty of attaining grades

I think achieving an A- is quite manageable as like other NUSC courses but getting an A is hard. I got an A- for this module and I was upper quartile for every exam and assignments (except for one assignment where i got 3 points below the median) - but I do not know how much I got for the group project and I think we did quite ok. So, getting an A is hard but A- is still ok.  

Learning Value/Recommendation

7/10, would be better if we could learn more about coding 

Anonymous (2) AY24/25 Sem 1

About the Instructor (Dr Derek Ho)

Prof Derek did a great job at cultivating a classroom that was conducive for learning and he was always welcoming to new questions that we might have.

Content (Structure/Organization)

I think it was generally well structured and contents were arranged in a really tidy manner across the topics. While there were topics that were quite useful in the learning of the course, there were also topics that were more fluff -- in which it felt like knowledge I could easily gain from simply googling the web. These were not that useful in my opinion, as I do not see myself using it anytime in the future. 

The assessments in particular were closed-book, which hence proved its difficulty as we had to remember many topics for the exam. The department also tested small nooks of information in the topics, which could easily be missed if you were focusing on other aspects of the topic. 

Manageability of Workload

Relatively ok, I would say the crunch really comes when the assignments are due, or tests are upcoming. 

Ease/Difficulty of attaining grades

I guess its quite ok. I feel like if you class part enough, do the assignments well and consult your doubts it should be fine! 

Learning Value/Recommendation

I would say quite useless.... very fluff.

Anonymous (3) AY24/25 Sem 1

About the Instructor (Dr Jonathan Kang)

Prof Jonathan Kang is a good lecturer and explains most of the concepts in a clear and easy-to-understand manner, even to someone who has no prior background in computer science. Unfortunately the class was held during the cursed hours of 6-8pm, which may have contributed to a quieter class atmosphere. He provides a lot of useful feedback and advice for us during consultation hours, and is willing to explain to you everything again if you don't understand it. Probably the most humble, patient, and sincere university lecturer I've ever come across.

Prof Jonathan offers consultations for the assignments, and it may be a good time to ask him for hints on how to complete certain questions in your assignment. He's a very passionate lecturer, and always checks in on how we're doing outside of this class.  

Content (Structure/Organization)

The curriculum is structured to give a broad exposure to the history of computer hardware, algorithms, UI/UX, machine learning and artificial intelligence, networks and internet, privacy & security. There are three components to the continuous assessment (CA): 2 quizzes (15% each), 2 assignments (15% each), group project and presentation (4 milestones worth 5% each), and participation (20%). 

The group project is to create an app. The first milestone is a report on the objectives of your app, the second milestone will be to create a prototype, the third milestone is to use an algorithm (either one that is taught in class or in the list of algorithms) and integrate it with your app, the fourth milestone is the presentation.

The tougher parts are the ML & AI chapters, but I found those chapters to be the most interesting. The course also teaches you how to edit code on Google CoLab, which is an intuitive webapp/software for the group to collaborate and edit code. Even though the code is in Python, no prior programming experience is required. Some intuition may help a lot though. For the UI/UX section, you will also use Figma to create a prototype of an app.

Manageability of Workload

Low workload. I only spent about 2 hours studying for the tests, and scraped by with a median score. The assignments have significantly higher workload, especially the first one since it's about algorithms. Group projects are chill because the report is capped at 2 pages. However, I remember burning the midnight oil with my groupmate to design the UI/UX for the app. Probably the most painful struggle for this course (no thanks to my perfectionist groupmate *cough cough*)

Ease/Difficulty of attaining grades

The hard work pays off for this course, and the bar for hard work isn't that high, given that most students taking this course have little prior experience. The quizzes test your basic understanding of the concepts taught in class, but aren't too challenging. I think scoring well for these quizzes may help you to secure an A for this course, since it is the biggest differentiator in terms of score distribution.

Learning Value/Recommendation

This course is quite useful and valuable for me because I've been interested in learning how algorithms and AI work. They also go through some statistical methods (regression, PCA, Monte Carlo simulations) which can pop up in the quantitative social sciences. Overall, I find the course to be well-organized and beneficial for my own personal learning.

Anonymous (1) AY23/24 Sem 2

About the Instructor (Dr Derek Ho)

Perhaps in-part due to the nature of the content taught, the lessons felt more like lectures than seminars. Additionally, since my section was conducted in a 4-hour block instead of 2 x 2-hour blocks, it was difficult to stay focused throughout the whole duration and engage with the class. Prof Derek does his best to try and facilitate discussions, but I think there were too many limitations to save the class's attention span. 

Content (Structure/Organization)

The content is heavily structured around the requirements of the group projects, so it is important to pay attention to the key concepts introduced. However, this also means that sometimes the organisation of the content suffers because the syllabus is trying to rush into teaching the project-relevant content.

Manageability of Workload

There were quizzes every couple of weeks, technical assignments and the group project. Generally there will be some assignment/quiz every week, but usually it does not take too long to complete the assignments/prep for the quizzes. There were a few quizzes I studied the morning of the quiz and still did ok lol... For the technical assignments, usually they are released 2 weeks in advance, so even if you struggle with the code you should have time to consult the prof or friends.

Ease/Difficulty of attaining grades

Having prior experience in coding will definitely help. Even though the class does not focus heavily on coding, understanding the computer logic really goes a long way in helping you understand the course content a lot.

Learning Value/Recommendation

Learning value: 7/10 was interesting learning about how computers work and the details behind how computers understand information.

Usefulness: 1/10 did not learn how to code

Additional Comments/Word of Advice

If you need a course to learn how to code, bite the bullet and take CS1010. But if you're just interested in learning about computers, you will enjoy this course

Anonymous (2) AY23/24 Sem 2

About the Instructor (Dr Jonathan Kang)

Prof Kang conveyed concepts very well, even to those who did not have a computing background. 

Prof Kang's ability to explain technical concepts to non-tech background students is commendable. He is engaging during lessons and approachable for consultations, before, in between or after his classes.

Content (Structure/Organization)

The curriculum is comprehensive and is relevant, particularly for non-tech students to understand how computers and computational processes work. The classification of lessons into units and lesson numbers are helpful for organisation. 

I found the technical assignments most challenging. As someone who does not code and does not know how to read code, I am unable to troubleshoot at all of the code fails to run.

Manageability of Workload

Assessments are standardised throughout all professors, and there are no instructor-specific assessments. 

The workload for this course is average among NUSC courses. I found the technical portion of the group assignment most time-consuming, as not everyone in the group is able to work on it (as compared to individual technical assignments where there are in-class examples to use as reference).

Ease/Difficulty of attaining grades

A good grade is achievable by doing well for in-class closed-book tests, which require understanding and some memorisation of jargon names.

Another key factor would be the group project, which involves regular milestone reports and a final presentation. Working well with your group would help your group project perform better.

Learning Value/Recommendation

While I will unlikely use this information in the future, I at least found personal satisfaction in understanding how computers and computational processes work (binary, compression, search and sorting algorithms, cryptocurrency etc.).

Addtional comments/Word of advice

I found the CPS peer tutors very patient, helpful and dedicated. They would explain it in a way that is understandable.

Anonymous (1) AY23/24 Sem 1

About the Instructor (Dr Mikhail Filippov)

He likes to ramble a lot, maybe can cut down on rambling w more discussions and activities? The key concepts were conveyed accessibly except for the crypto part but then again maybe its not his fault.

His teaching style is less lecturing and more discussions. He is very approachable and nice and his background expertise was very helpful in the project, especially on issues of problem solving. On a side note, lowkey is he handsome and he has an addiction to kaya toast. 

Content (Structure/Organization)

It is decently structured, split into topics each with sufficient scaffolding. I found the part on crypto somewhat challenging. 

Manageability of Workload

Somewhat heavy. The project and quizzes took up too much time but then again we didnt need to prepare anything before going to class maybe that is the trade off so I would say ok ish. 

Ease/Difficulty of attaining grades

Yes it is achievable; one just need to absorb the concepts and stuff which is doable. He is generally liberal. Only criticism is that the project milestone grades are opaque which I think shouldn't be since they build off one another -> transparency would allow for better and more valuable feedback. I know one is not supposed to reveal too much % of the grades so maybe can swap with another component? 

Learning Value/Recommendation

Personally not so, I learnt a lot of ideas but not skills and I dont use these ideas for my life or just in general or even like academically sooooooo 

Anonymous (2) AY23/24 Sem 1

About the Instructor (Dr Mikhail Filippov)

I believe that the professor was well versed with the content and facilitated discussion well, allowing for some divergence from content while keeping it controlled. He was also receptive when more challenging concepts appeared, either dumbing it down via analogies or taking more time to explain.

Instruction seems fair and not much complaints. Consultation for group project (on a voluntary basis) was also helpful. 

Content (Structure/Organization)

I think the course does adequately in providing a primer to the various topics in computer science, from commonly used algorithms to concepts such as ui/ux. It also allows students to learn some basic coding concepts though definitely inadequate for anything more than solving basic coding problems. As for assessment, it is done through take home assignments (4 throughout the course though only 3 are assessed),4 short in class quizzes on canvas and a final group project/presentation. Overall, I believe that the take home assignments and quizzes are sufficient in ensuring knowledge is retained of the course materials while the group project was also not overly technical for a non-computing student to approach. Overall I feel that the course was fairly simple and straightforward with healthy intellectual challenge.

Manageability of Workload

Workload feels fairly consistent but not overly heavy. Generally feels on the lighter end of a 2k course.

Ease/Difficulty of attaining grades

I believe that a good grade in this course is not overly difficult. Just pay attention in class and find a good group to work with and you should do alright. Personally got A- while putting in amount of work that is par for course.

Learning Value/Recommendation

Useful for non-computing students to gain insight to computing concepts which can be valuable in the workplace.