This topic-based course develops quantitative reasoning skills through a structured analysis of an important but accessible problem, imparting to students the appreciation that, for many questions/issues, a quantitative analysis can provide the insight and clarity that complements and moves beyond what might be gained through a qualitative approach. This course uses the searching of romantic relationship as an example to demonstrate the usefulness of quantitative reasoning. Students will learn to use survey and data analysis to validate some claims about dating, and to investigate dating strategies from mathematical modelling. The cross-discipline potential of quantitative methods will be reviewed.
Student Reviews
Anonymous AY23/24 Sem 2
About the Instructor
very friendly and patient, prof chan is quite effective during consults one-to-one
Content (Structure/Organization)
there is a rough structure but each week's content is not always built on the previous week's work.
Accessibility
very beginner friendly to learn basis statistics functions in excel
Manageability of Workload
relatively light, heaviest to handle will be the project workload
Ease/Difficulty of Attaining Grades
as long as you consult Prof when you have doubts and stay on track for the assignment deadlines, he is quite liberal with grading
Learning Value/Recommendation
could have learnt more technical skills in that period but its light workload and fun topic made it my most enjoyable course for the semester
Ryan Quek Wei Heng (@nayrri555) AY21/22 Sem 2
About the Instructor
I think that Prof is well-versed in the subject's domain, but sometimes I get confused when I don't understand his phrasing for certain questions.
Content (Structure/Organization)
Not much to say. Feels quite standard with Prof assigning some short readings and maybe the occasional group discussion in class. The mod revolves around the different statistical tests. If you took H2 maths in JC, the mod would be relatively accessible with your pre-existing knowledge of statistics.
Manageability of Workload
Fairly light workload. Although there are some potential difficulties that individuals might face when it comes to gathering survey responses for assignments and the group project.
Basic Excel skills, Quantifying Qualitative values, Various statistical tests (T-test, Z-test, Hypothesis testing, Chi-Square test for independence & Chi-Square test for goodness of fit)
Ease/Difficulty of Attaining Grades
I did not get a good grade for this module, so this might be slightly biased. Overall, this sem was graded by 2 assignments, mid-term exam, group project, individual infographic, class participation.
I would say that your grade is influenced the most by your mid-term exam results. Other graded components are problematic as Prof tends to be very liberal with awarding marks for the 2 assignments.
The really confusing part would be trying to understand how you received that particular score for your graded component. With lots of ambiguity, I would say that achieving good grades is challenging.
Learning Value/Recommendation
Doing engineering, so some of the things covered felt repeated. I think the most useful portion was Quantifying Qualitative variables, and putting that skillset to use when preparing for the group project.
Additional Comments/Word of Advice
Feel free to ask other who took this mod previously for their assignments if you need help. From my experience this sem, I believe he did not really change the assignment much.
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Zachary Wong Jiann Tsong (@jiacurry) AY19/20 Sem 1
About the Instructor
His topic is very interesting and he tries his best to make his lessons enjoyable. However, to be honest I think most people spend most of their time surfing their laptops.
Content (Structure/Organization)
Most of the things tested are basic statistics, but he touches slightly on game theory and mathematical modelling.
Accessibility
For someone that had 0 prior exposure to such topics along with no idea how to write academic papers, it was very manageable, just make sure that you go in with an open mind
Manageability of Workload
2 homework assignments which might take some time to do, one group project which is slightly time consuming and one midterm which is slightly stats heavy
Additional Comments/Word of Advice
Low-ish workload but to score you really have to understand what he is looking for because he marks solely on that.
Ng Jia Yeong (@jy_jaywhy) AY19/20 Sem 1
About the Instructor
Prof Chan is very friendly and willing to offer help for students who have trouble with understanding and with the homework he assigns us. However the method of grading students could be improved.
Marks received for the midterms and individual assignments were not well-differentiated (most students received marks in the 90% range);
He graded the group presentation based on the SLIDES rather than the PRESENTATION itself.
Content (Structure/Organization)
This mod basically introduces stats and reasoning through quantitative data through the topic of love and attraction. The prof's slides mostly only contain the learns without the elaborations/explanations of concepts so I had to refer to online resources and the textbook he references for a full understanding of what he was teaching us. Fortunately the reference textbook is detailed and provides sufficient explanations of the concepts (imo). Even his in-class explanations, I feel, could be deeper. Be prepared to do online research on your own to understand the stats concepts.
Manageability of Workload
Workload is honestly very light for a QR. Readings aren't crucial for understanding *cough* and the only major submissions are individual assignments and group project deliverables. Interestingly we were asked to present our group project findings in an infographic instead of an essay (unlike some other QRs) which I find easier.
Additional Comments/Word of Advice
Take this mod if you want a chill QR experience; do not take this mod if you want a rigorous learning experience (there are better QRs out there in this respect).
Allison Hoe (@allisonhopee) AY19/20 Sem 1
About the Instructor
He is genuinely open to receiving and acting upon student feedback, eg. when we took the module he had replaced the previous assessment component of writing a paper to designing an infographic.
Not sure if he will be clearer in his marking rubric/ assessment requirements the next time he does this module, but what you can control is how much effort you are willing to put into finding him in person to clarify your doubts (what he is looking for may be different for each run of the module), and ensuring that you did not misinterpret his instructions. He really does his best to answer questions and is very approachable.
Content (Structure/Organization)
The case studies on how people have attempted to apply statistics and quantitative reasoning to answer questions in a romantic context were interesting to learn about, but did not leave me convinced that these theories could actually be applied in real life because love remains such a subjective and unpredictable thing haha. Mathematical formulas were quite manageable to grasp over time, with some overlaps with H2 Math (correlation coefficient, hypo testing and p value), and the prof always made himself available at the end of the class if we needed to clarify any doubts so that was helpful. However, for me as a FASS student I think most of the value in this module came from how we learnt to use some basic excel tools to handle large amounts of data more efficiently, and the take-home assignments gave us a chance to ensure we had grasped these excel skills.
Manageability of Workload
The pre-class readings were generally quite short and not given every week. The 2 take-home assignments were not too demanding--tedious, but not difficult in the sense of having to apply overly complex math concepts. Although the requirements for the assignments were sometimes unclear, this could largely be resolved by approaching him after class to clarify and he is patient in explaining until we understand (recommended to approach him in person rather than to email because he will probably say more and you can double-check what he means on the spot). That said, the marking rubrics remains unclear and he can sometimes penalize for minor things like labelling the slide 't-test' instead of 'f-test' so be sure to pay attention to the small details before submission.
Lee Yang Peng (@yp_lee) AY19/20 Sem 1
About the Instructor
The professor is extremely nice, friendly, and helpful. He's extremely approachable and patient so you can (and are encouraged to) asked for help in assignments/request for him to vet. I'm a huge fan and I actually considered looking at his other works (inquiries, seminars, and even the recent Brainfood topic) but because they're mostly math-and-science-centric they don't really fall under my area of interest. I'm glad this topic is extremely accessible to all so that I could encounter such a cool prof.
Content (Structure/Organization)
The module provides a unique and engaging topic - love and attraction - as a medium to introduce QR concepts. Emphasis on QR concepts. I liked the module because the topics of discussion are relevant to daily life (game theory, 'prisoner's dilemma', social interactions, "optimal stopping problem", etc) and are more easily accessible than the other more technical choices that are available. With that said, please be reminded that the topic of 'soulmate' is simply used as a medium to teach the QR concepts, so there will only be general and brief discussions on each topic of the week before moving on; focus on learning the QR and you will do fine in the module.
Manageability of Workload
Extremely chill module with light and manageable workload. With that said, "light" does not mean "easy". You are still graded on a bellcurve, so if you want the grade, you still must submit quality. Although the previous reviews have pointed out the fact that the marking is quite lenient, they have neglected to commend the professor on his extremely transparent grade distribution. For better or for worse, you will basically know your grade at the end of the module by calculation, therefore eliminating all uncertainty. I hate uncertainty (and I assume most people do too). So, that's a plus in my books. Other modules have a tendency to deliver a nasty (but on rare occasions pleasant) surprise when the final grade is announced. But not this mod. PS: Please study very hard and score well for midterms because it appears to have a decisive factor on your grades and the potential for the largest deviation.
Additional Comments/Word of Advice
This module is awesome and the professor is awesome. I highly recommend that you take it, and best of luck in securing a place in the module because I expect this to be in very high demand.