CNModules

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NM2209: Dr Jung Eun Hwa

Module: NM2209

Year Taken: Y2S2 2016

Lecturer: Dr Eun Hwa

Difficulty Level: 3

Workload: 2

Comments for Module: This module sounds interesting and does have some interesting content but it is structured poorly. On sundays, we submit discussion question for readings (to ensure we do them), on tuesdays we go through the readings in the lecture and in tutorials, groups present on the readings. So the readings are done 3 times which is very repetitive. I feel that the module lacks depth, and is simply a regurgitation of the reading. The are an average of 2 readings per week of mostly research paper and I find that its an ineffective way of bringing across the topics for the module. Research paper only sheds light on a particular aspect of a topic, so its not very exhaustive. I wish the lectures and tutorial added more value to the content rather than going through the readings over and over again. It was an 8am lecture and I couldn’t find the motivation to go for lectures when I already did the readings…. 

Rating for Module: 2

Comments for Lecturer: She’s very friendly but her accent is quite thick. Video example she shows in lecture are very outdated (2008 seems like a few years ago but its actually 8 years ago and technology has changed drastically over the years) and she is not very in touch with technology today. She is pretty focused on the theory aspects and does not account for the changing new media climate which is disappointing.

Rating for Lecturer: 2

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NM2207: Lonce Lamar

Module: NM2207

Year Taken: Y2S1

Lecturer: Prof Lonce Lamar

Difficulty Level: 5

Workload: 5

Comments for Module: Very challenging for me personally. Take this if you want a challenge. The module covers HTML, CSS and Javascript so its very useful to know. But the workload is pretty intense if you don’t get it quickly. Work can pile up very quickly so be prepared to put in work. Lectures are all online but don’t let it fool you because you’ll probably need to rewatch the videos a couple of time to fully understand it. This module is all project based so its critical that you keep up from the very start. If you lag behind, you really fall behind. 

Rating for Module: 5 

Comments for Lecturer: He is incredible - very passionate, helpful and knowledgeable. Always opens his doors for consultation. During class he walks around with a TA to help everyone which is great for such a hands-on module. 

Rating for Lecturer: 5

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NM2219: Dr Elmie

Module: NM2219 Principles of Communication Managment

Year Taken: 1

Lecturer: Dr Elmie

Difficulty Level: 3

Workload: 2

Comments for Module: Workload wasn’t that heavy, readings were manageable plus some group presentations here and there. (But group work might be tough if your group mates aren’t cooperative)

Rating for Module: 3

Comments for Lecturer: Lecturer is friendly and approachable. But his lectures can be a little confusing at times.

Rating for Lecturer: 3

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NM2203: Tracy Loh

Module: NM2203

Year Taken: 2015 Y1S2

Lecturer: Dr Tracy Loh

Difficulty Level: 3/5

Workload: 4/5

1 Individual Assignment (Essay – 2 parts)

1 Group Project (proposal, creatives) + presentation

1 Final (MCQ, Essay)

Rating for Module: 3.5/5

Comments for Module:

Super content heavy, but super useful, especially if you want to do PR in the future. One of the seniors described it as a level-3000 disguised as a level-2000. And according to the Prof herself, she doesn’t need to bell-curve the results because the grades automatically fall into a bell-curve. Intensive module, and I would encourage people to take it if you want some training! Be sure to keep up with tutorials, as they really facilitate in your understanding of the concepts covered. And go for consults – some concepts are similar enough to cause confusion, and it’s always easier for the prof to explain in a smaller group. I enjoyed working with my group (and hopefully they with me), but it was difficult especially with the lack of time (we were the first group to present). We really met up constantly (at Starbucks, some bench, someone’s house), so teamwork is key!

Rating for Lecturer: 4/5

Comments for Lecturer:

Dr Loh speaks really fast to finish what she wants to cover, but not to the extent that you will get lost. Concepts are not hard to grasp, but the sheer amount of information we get each week can be overwhelming at times. She often shows us videos of good PR campaigns, and it definitely helps to illustrate the concepts! Finals wasn’t easy, but I was rather amused with the references to Harry Potter.

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NM1101E; Lonce Wyse

Module: NM1101E

Year Taken: 2014 Y1S1

Lecturer: Dr Lonce Wyse

Difficulty Level: 3/5

Memory work + Take note of videos the lecturer shows in his slides

Workload: 3/5

3 Assignments (1 Individual, 2 Group)

1 Midterm – 25 MCQ

1 Final – 90 MCQ

Rating for Module: 3/5

Comments for Module:

NM1101E is an exposure module, so it introduces the 3 areas of interest in CNM – communication management, interactive media design and media studies. Our 3 assignments were split accordingly:  design a PR proposal (goals, objectives, strategies, evaluation), website design and citizen science project proposal (interview + transcript). For many students who chose to specialise in a certain track in CNM, it is not a fair depiction of what CNM is really like. But it does serve to show the possible options you could possibly specialise in afterwards. Like many other exposure modules, it’s mostly breadth over depth, and there’s many things/names/events to remember, so be prepared to memorise.

Rating for Lecturer: 3/5

Comments for Lecturer:

I remember Dr Lonce for his coffee and newspaper – he will take some time to introduce relevant events that appeared on the news. It can get boring, and it is not heavily tested (to the extent that I can’t remember what he shared with us oops). I sometimes find it hard to follow his lectures as I am unfamiliar with his accent, but I heard he’s a lot more engaging in tutorials. 

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NM3234: DEBALINA DUTTA

Module: NM3234

Year Taken: 2015 Y2S1

Lecturer: Debalina Dutta

Difficulty Level: 2/5

Workload: 3/5

Comments for Module: initially I thought this was a module where you can learn how modern leaders establish their leadership online through social media through case studies and analysis, but it just makes up a small part of this module. This module is quite theory based, you learn a variety of theories regarding leadership. Attendance for lectures are counted so…no skipping lectures! The bulk of the grade come from a group project, where you interview a leader and analyse their leadership qualities etc. There is a mid terms, but it’s open book. Markers are generally very generous with marks. 

Rating for Module: 3.5

Comments for Lecturer: Dr Debalina is very approachable, making it very easy to ask her questions. She even provides cards for us during each lecture, which we have to submit after every lecture (which is how they take attendance) and can include any questions that we have regarding the lecture. She replied to each and every card so, very kudos! Sometimes she apologise for making us read boring readings, which I find it unnecessary. But she’s great overall, and I really like her teaching style

Rating for Lecturer: 5/5

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NM2207: Lonce Wyse

Module: NM2207 Computational Media Literacy

Year Taken: Y2/S1

Lecturer: Lonce Wyse

Difficulty Level: 3.5/5

Workload: 3.5/5

Comments for Module:

This is a new module that started this semester, which introduced us to the basic terminologies of the web, as well as coding with HTML, CSS and Javascript. I took this module with negligible coding background, but I thought that the pace and teaching style made the learning process easier. There are no lectures, just weekly online videos - most of which are walkthrough videos where you can code along with the Prof’s examples. The tutorials are 1.5 hours each week, during which the Prof will pair you up with a partner to work on an in-class exercise. 

There were several weekly assignments (worth 5% each), most of which were pair work with different partners. Besides the weekly assignments (total 40%), there was a paper quiz (15%), and a final assignment (30%) where we had to create a game/design app/interactive story and put it up on the web.  It can be very frustrating and stressful when you are stuck with your assignment, especially when you have no idea why your code isn’t working, and sometimes it could be just due to a missing bracket.

Rating for Module: 4/5

Comments for Lecturer:

A great thing about the module was that Prof Wyse encourages collaboration and learning from one another. During tutorials, Prof and the two TAs will go around class to guide you when you have any doubts. However, they will not ‘spoon-feed’ you, but instead give you little hints so that you can go through the thought process yourself, which is really important! 

Rating for Lecturer: 4/5

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NM4204: Tony SEE

Module: NM4204 Ethical Issues in Emergent Technologies

Year Taken: 2015 Sem 1

Lecturer: Prof. Tony See

Difficulty Level: 4/5

Workload: Light (2/5)

Comments for Module: Prof See engages the class in deep philosophical thought and often challenges us to think deeply about the salient effects and consequences techonology has on our lives, especially on our autonomy and privacy. You would learn to build your own evaluation and knowledge of new and nascent technologies like nano- and bio-technology based on classical ethics theories like the consequentialist, deontological and virtue ethics. There are only 2 essays and 1 group presentation for the assessment aspect. You would also have to participate actively in class discussions and are expected to contribute to the IVLE forum weekly.

Rating for Module: 3.5/5

Comments for Lecturer: Prof See is very accommodating in terms of extending the deadine for submission of papers. He will also attempt to simplify complex theories patiently but I thought he could give simpler readings or at least roughly dissect the tough readings a litte before giving it to us to read as it would save us an incredible amount of time and unnecessary headaches.

Rating for Lecturer: 3.5/5

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NM3219; Francesca Nathan

Module: NM3219 Writing for Communication Management

Year: 2015, Y3S1

Professor(s): Francesca Nathan/Nicholas Yap

Difficulty Level: 3/5

Workload: 2/5

Comments for Module: There are 3 individual assignments and a group project. No finals, which is amazing. Problem is, it’s not that easy to score. Basically, you either need to have it in you/be able to write well - concisely and accurately or work really really hard. As you can probably guess, I can’t write that well so I was really struggling in this class.

This module is really useful for whatever you decide to do in the future because it really trains you to write very concisely (i.e. assignments are usually 3 pages long which usually includes situation analysis, your recommendations and/or a press release including the boilerplate ok??) That being said, it’s a good experience and everyone will need writing skills when they graduate. Apart from writing, your research and synthesising abilities will be put to the test so it’s not all about writing well, you also need to analyse.

You have two hour tutorials where you are likely to do short assignments that your tutor prepares that day. Ms Fran also holds writing labs because we sometimes repeatedly make some common errors. So that’s nice. I learned that we shouldn’t use the phrase “as well”. Don’t use it unless you know what it means.

The pace of the class was pretty good though but if you’re like me and you can’t really write then… ya you better work hard or this module won’t help you pull CAP. I would say to use NM2220 for a gauge if you’ve done it. Your assignment scores will probably be similar if you haven’t done a lot to improve your writing abilities. Also, a lot of the content is building up on NM2219. So it’s advisable to complete NM2219 before this class. Don’t bore yourself with the same content by doing them concurrently.

Rating for Module: 3/5

Comments for Lecturer: Ms Fran is the main lecturer and Mr Nicholas took one lecture for this semester. If you’ve taken NM2219, you would know Ms Fran’s teaching style. She’s very structured and precise, which explains the takeaway from the module. I like the structure she has because what she covers is predictable and makes it easier for students to learn. But she can seem irritated when you ask her some questions that she expects you to know… but just ask. You need the grade, just ask. Everything goes back to normal and it’s a no hard feelings kind of thing after the consultation so I guess it’s just how she approaches things. She’s open to give you feedback but make sure you come prepared so it’s more productive. If possible, participate in her lessons too, she will like you a lot more and it will go a long way.

I wasn’t in Mr Nicholas’ class but he took one lecture. I thought he was slightly boring because he was just reading off the slides. 

Rating for Lecturer: 3/5

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NM2104: Iccha Basnyat

Module: NM2104 Qualitative Research Methods

Year: 2015, Y3S1

Professor(s): Iccha Basnyat

Difficulty Level: 3/5

Workload: 3.5/5

Comments for Module: Aiyah this is compulsory mod so no point in rating it but caveat to not take it with NM2103 concurrently because I’ve heard that it’s quite confusing because they are opposites.

Anyway bulk of the boring was in transcribing for the group project. Suggestion: do focus groups if possible so you don’t have to spend a lot of time transcribing. Of course focus group comes with its own set of problems (which you will obviously learn in the mod), but transcribing will be less of a pain.

For group project, pray you get good group mates or it will be hell. You cannot choose your group mates but you can pray.

For exams, Prof Iccha focuses more on applications and understanding. So you don’t exactly have to memorise but know the significance and differences between concepts. Basically make sure you can apply or recall what something is (doesn’t have to be the exact definition). Exams were MCQs and the answers are usually quite close.

Lectures are pretty dry, as with all core modules, but you need to attend them. Try to do your readings, even if it kills you, because it might be difficult to follow in lecture if you’ve never touched your textbook. Don’t wait till the last minute and kill yourself with all the readings.

Although core mods are pretty meh, one thing good about qualitative is that everything is worth something. Unlike quantitative where you pretty much have nothing to write about if your hypotheses fail, you can always draw some connections in qualitative!

Rating for Module: 3/5

Comments for Lecturer: I thought she was trying very hard to engage the class but it was difficult because of the content. But she gives out pair or group activities sometimes so that’s fun. It allows us to apply what we’ve just learned. And as mentioned, do your readings, or at least skim through them so you can catch something during lectures.

Rating for Lecturer: 4/5

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NM2104; ICCHA BASNYAT

Module: NM2104 Qualitative Communication Research Methods

Year Taken: 2015 Y2S1

Lecturer: Iccha Basnyat

Difficulty Level: 3

Workload: 3

Comments for Module: This is a compulsory module but I recommend taking it at least after your first semester, because by then you would have become more familiar with reading/writing academic papers and social theories in general. It’s about research methods, so the content isn’t that heavy. Instead, you’re supposed to write a full qualitative research paper in a group — from literature review to data collection to analysis/discussion. The data collection process was painful for me, because I spent so long looking for interviewees (everyone needs five each), who then kept dropping out at the last minute. You need to transcribe your interview word-for-word which is tedious but pretty much mindless labour. It might be helpful to formulate your research question such that your participants are people you have contacts with.  Tutorials were quite relaxed because they were basically just group discussion and consultation sessions. Shobha (the tutor) is great!! She’s very engaging and knowledgable, so you can ask her about any theory you might be using for your project. I hope she gets her PhD soon.  Since the content wasn’t difficult for this module, the bell curve is awful and you need to be careful for midterms and finals! All MCQs but the options can get tricky. 

Rating for module: 4/5

Comments for lecturer: Prof Iccha is very familiar and experienced in qualitative research and explains concepts clearly, although you will need to pay attention in class because she speaks fast. There are in-lecture activity worksheets so it’s a good idea to go for lectures with some friends, or make friends around you! 

Rating for lecture: 4/5 

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NM3235; Sameer Deshpande

Module: NM3235 Corporate Social Responsibility

Year Taken: 2015, Y3S1

Lecturer: Sameer Despande

Difficulty Level: 3/5

Workload: 4/5

Comments for Module: Interesting module if you want to learn how marketing can be used for good. However, lessons get a bit repetitive because content is mostly theory and frameworks. Readings are rather intensive but interaction and class activity is fun and less intense (sometimes).

Classes are mostly student-led. In the class, you will have to do one individual presentation and another group presentation (2 people). You will be asked to summarise key points, provide critiques and facilitate class activity. It will be good if you can synthesise materials from different weeks and suggest real world/applicable class activities that are presented in an engaging way.

Maybe because our class was small, we were able to have rather meaningful interactions and it made learning slightly better haha.

Rating for Module: 3/5

Comments for Lecturer: Lecturer replies to emails quickly. Lessons are mostly student-led discussions and lecturer will add relevant points to discussion. He is also open to feedback and made changes to the teaching mode after our feedback.

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NM3232; TRACY LOH

Module: NM3232, strategic communications: concepts

Year taken: 2

Lecturer: Tracy Loh

Difficulty level: 3/5

Workload: 2/5

Comments for module: an enjoyable higher level PR mod, will require you, along with another 1 or 2 groupmates to lead case discussion for one of the weeks. Class is full seminar style, students will be encouraged to participate by the 20% class participation. Workload is light because u only have one case study presentation and one midterms. Finals will be the death of you if you don’t know how to formulate complete PR programme outline in under 2 hours.

Rating for module: 4/5

Comments for lecturer: Tracy loh will keep her lecture very short and concise, perhaps only 30-40 mins? But bear in mind that she will assume that you have known your theories for more occasion. clear and to the point. Protip: Strategic. Nuff said.

Rating for lecturer: 4/5

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NM2219; FRANCESCA NATHAN

Module: NM2219

Year Taken: 2015 Y1S2

Lecturer: Francesca Nathan

Difficulty Level: 2/5

Workload: 1/5

Comments for Module: very similar to nm2203 except this focuses on more generic PR strategies over social media. I wouldnt recommend taking this and nm2203, it’ll just be wasting your MCs. unless you want to, I don’t know, your life I guess. this would be a good module for people not intending to go down the PR route but are curious to what PR deals with without all the bs. workload was quite chill, just have to do regular readings and ask questions, marks will be given for that. the readings were manageable and useful, so just get down to work and read it.

Rating for Module: 4/5

Comments for Lecturer: Ms Fran is very detailed oriented. Assignments have to be typed neatly with the correct format, including reading questions. I heard this semester she has taken to give people 0.25 marks because they didn’t follow her preferred format. So take note. 

You have to be super thick skinned when asking question because she can be quite passive aggressive. She’ll answer your question with, “have I not gone through it during lecture? Did you not attend lecture?” and then after you said you attended lecture she’ll be like, “then why do you still not understand it?”. So moral of the story is, heck it. Just ask questions!! I made the mistake of being too embarrassed to continue asking questions, and the concept I was confused about came up for exams. 

I understand her cynicism because it would be unfair for people to skip lectures and think they can stall the class when they asked about content that was covered in lecture. Just feel a bit grieved, and it really deters people from asking questions and learning.  

Rating for Lecturer: 2/5

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NM2220; TAN EE LYN

Module: NM2220 Introduction to Media Writing

Year Taken: 2015 Y2S1

Lecturer: Tan Ee Lyn

Difficulty Level: 2

Workload: 3

Comments for Module: Slight hectic at the start because the first 2 assignments were quite heavy and tedious + I was still quite inexperienced so it was a nightmare. Not gonna lie, the assignments were really tough and I question God on some days. But it was really rewarding to choose a topic to write an article about and I could use it as a legit excuse to interview relevant people about a topic of my interest. If you want you could even write about the gangster or any sketchy scene in Singapore, provided you have contacts and are extremely good at staying alive. I enjoyed it tremendously. And the first 2 assignment were due in week 6 and week 8 I think, when the projects and work haven’t piled up yet so it was quite manageable. In total we have 4 assignments due every other week. the last 2 assignments were chill, and could be done in a day or two, so it got progressively slacker over the semester. Which is good, because the first half of semester was like running a 42km marathon. 

Rating for Module: 5

Comments for Lecturer: Ms Tan is super passionate about her work and experienced. She peppered lectures with a lot of her work and life stories, it was nice to glean an insight into a reporter’s job. Though sometimes she will go off track, and it gets a bit boring. She has a habit of pausing halfway during lectures. Sometimes she provides too many example for one point. Like she’ll be lecturing on press release then she’ll show the class 6 different press release of the same format, talking about the same learning points. But these are just minor quirks, nothing that should put you off this module. 

Rating for Lecturer: 3

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NM3222; ALEX MITCHELL

Module: NM3222 Interactive Storytelling

Year Taken: 2015, Y2S1

Lecturer: Alex Mitchell

Difficulty Level: 3.5/5

Workload: 4/5

Comments for Module: One of the most interesting modules I’ve taken! We had to submit assignments fortnightly (4 assignments in total; this might change for future sems) which was a tad bit heavy, especially if you don’t know how to use the software/can’t get your story working. You’ll need quite a logical mind for this! It took me awhile to get the hang of using the software. The prof uploads tutorials on how to use them though, which are really helpful. I thought the assignments were pretty fun to do (except all the times I couldn’t get my story working). The module uses hypedyn (http://narrativeandplay.org/hypedyn/ check out the gallery for some student works). There are no finals but there is an individual assignment that took up quite a lot of my time, but i really had a lot of fun (and frustration) with it! The profs also recommends us a lot of interactive stories to play as part of our homework which is pretty cool. Very very simply put, lectures are about how to make stories/games engaging from a users’ point of view.

Rating for Module: 5/5

Comments for Lecturer: Lectures can be quuuuuuiiiiite boring but the lecturer is really passionate about what he’s teaching so yeap. He’s really approachable too! 

Rating for Lecturer: 4.5/5

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NM2203; TRACY LOH

Module: NM2203 social media in communication management

Year Taken: 2015 Y1S2

Lecturer: Tracy Loh

Difficulty Level: 4/5

Workload: 5/5

Comments for Module: Very very very content heavy, covered a lot of theories and content. The workload was hell it there was a group assignment, 2 individual essay, and final. No rest throughout the semester. it is a PR mod and I heard it’s what is expected for people in the PR industry, so it would be a good training ground for prospective PR people. Lol, good luck.

Rating for Module: 4/5

Comments for Lecturer: Very theory oriented, pushes you very hard but is always willing to help. Has a dog and showed us photos of her dog. Her dog is super cute!! Her lectures are easy to understand because she provides a lot of examples and explanation. Very approachable person.

Rating for Lecturer: 3/5