Login

Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

March 19, 2024, 06:01:06 pm

Author Topic: University of Melbourne - Subject Reviews & Ratings  (Read 1729234 times)  Share 

0 Members and 4 Guests are viewing this topic.

happyhappyland

  • Victorian
  • Forum Leader
  • ****
  • Posts: 802
  • Respect: +22
Re: University of Melbourne - Subject Reviews & Ratings
« Reply #45 on: October 15, 2011, 09:50:48 am »
+6
Subject Code/Name: BLAW10001 Principles of Business Law [PBL]  

Workload:  2 hours Lectures a week with tutorials which are done by yourself in your own time (averages around 1-2 hours a week if you want to get a good mark)

Assessment:  Three Semester tests at 15% and end of year exam at 55%; All multiple choice

Lectopia Enabled:  NO!!!

Past exams available:  NONE!!!

Textbook Recommendation:  You have to buy the subjects tutorial book and "textbook". The tutorial book allows you access to the online tutorials.

Lecturer(s): Theres one dude that plays weird music during the breaks. His not that great, really boring

Year & Semester of completion: 2011 Semester 1

Rating:  0.5 Out of 5

Your Mark/Grade: (Optional) 74

Comments: Give your overall opinion of the subject, lecturers, assessment etc. and a recommendation, plus anything else which you feel is relevant.

Dont do this subjects, its terrible. The low contact hours and multiple choice assessments might attract you but there is ALOT of rote learning where you memorise cases and regurgitate them. Very pointless subject, it is more LAW than actual COMMERCE (e.g. Accounting or economics subject) and I would not suggest doing it unless you are doing an Accounting Major where you have to complete it.
2011: Bachelor of Science (Melbourne)

Slumdawg

  • Victorian
  • Part of the furniture
  • *****
  • Posts: 1531
  • Respect: +65
Re: University of Melbourne - Subject Reviews & Ratings
« Reply #46 on: November 25, 2011, 11:10:25 pm »
+8
Subject Code/Name: MKTG10001 Principles of Marketing 

Workload:  1 X  two hour lecture per week, 1 X one hour tutorial per week

Assessment:  One essay based on a marketing concept found within a newspaper article (10%), creating an entire marketing plan for the Windows 7 phone *cough dodgy marketing there cough* (30%), exam consisting of 4 essays (60%).

Lectopia Enabled:  Yes, with screen capture.

Past exams available:  No, they didn't give out past exams. However, Simon gave out 3 practice questions to give a feel for his type of essay questions.

Textbook Recommendation:  Marketing 8e by Kotler is prescribed, it's definitely needed for both assignments (or at least I definitely relied on them to help deepen my understanding of the topics I needed to write on). But I'd probably just borrow it for the assignment because it's probably not necessary for much else, although it is nice to have a good reference guide because the notes can be very brief.

Lecturer(s): Prof. Simon Bell - He was fantastic. Very engaging and I liked his sense of humour. He used really great examples and I actually enjoyed attending his lectures. (Note: Semester 1 and summer semesters have completely different lecturers - Simon is only for semester 2)

Year & Semester of completion: Semester 2, 2011.

Rating:  5 Out of 5

Your Mark/Grade: H1

Comments: Well firstly I have to say this subject was organised extremely well. We were constantly kept aware of various updates via the LMS and the tutorial content really helped revise the material covered in lectures (as did the assignments). In contrast to other subjects where the tutorials, pracs, assignments, etc. aren't really related to the exam/lectures or each other, I felt like there was a lot of cohesiveness between everything done in the subject which was a refreshing change!

The lecturer was really great and made me enjoy the subject even more. Although prepare your printer for a big ink burner because his lecture notes have pictures on EVERY slide apart from the opening slide which just features the title of the lecture. It kinda annoyed me because the pictures got in the way of writing notes on the slides, but apparently he's a really visual person so you just gotta deal with it. They're also quite brief so you need to constantly annotate your lectures notes otherwise at the end of the semester when you're revising it'll make your life a lot harder!

Throughout the semester you might be feeling the subject content is quite easy (that's what most of us thought), however Simon doesn't like people making fun of his subject so he makes sure the exam is a real challenger. It had 7 essay questions, to which you must only write on 4. However given you only have 2 hours this isn't a lot of time. The thing that makes his questions difficult is that he takes multiple seemingly unrelated topics and puts them together into a question and expects you to be able to link and integrate various areas all in 30 minutes. Crazy huh! I felt quite overwhelmed when I was told of the exam format but when revising I made sure I constantly tried to link various concepts. True to form, the exam featured interestingly tied in topics like segmentation, co-creation and marketing communications all in the one question (which were 3 various topics taught at very different times throughout the semester). So it was actually quite difficult and really tested your understanding of the material rather than your ability to regurgitate facts and definitions. If you hate essays or aren't good at them then definitely avoid doing marketing in semester 2 (I think the exam format is different for summer and definitely for semester 1 which features no essays!).

The two assignments seemed easy enough although were marked extremely harshly with almost half the class merely receiving a pass grade. They need to include copious references, good links between topics, a good layout and other various nit picky things which your tutor will outline (follow these extremely carefully). The one thing here that is extremely irritating is that the second assignment is a group one, of course some people in the group had very different standards and produced pretty average work. Given its heavy weighting I had to spend many extra hours fixing up other sections, which was very frustrating. My tip, only pair up with people you know have similar goals in the subject as you. My group unfortunately featured people aiming for passes in the subject which is fine but not when it affects your own grades.

Overall this subject has been my favourite one this year. I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to get a basic understanding of marketing. I think the knowledge gained is very useful and has helped me gain a different perspective on the entire field of study.
« Last Edit: November 28, 2011, 02:28:37 pm by Slumdawg »
2010 ATAR: 98.35 - Psychology [50] Media Studies [47
2011-'13: Bachelor of Biomedicine [Neuroscience Major] at Melbourne Uni 
2014-'17: Doctor of Medicine (MD) at Melbourne Uni 


QuantumJG

  • Victorian
  • Part of the furniture
  • *****
  • Posts: 1748
  • Applied Mathematics Student at UoM
  • Respect: +82
Re: University of Melbourne - Subject Reviews & Ratings
« Reply #47 on: November 28, 2011, 05:52:13 pm »
+5
Subject Code/Name: PHYC30017 Statistical Physics 

Workload:  2-3 1 hour lectures per week, 1 1 hour problem solving class

Assessment:  2 assignments (worth 10% each), 3 hour exam (worth 80%)

Lectopia Enabled:  Yes, with/without screen capture. Wouldn't rely on lectopia since the lecturer also uses the white boards.

Past exams available:  Yes (~10, although the subject went under another name "620-322 Statistical Physics Advanced (prior to 2009)")

Textbook Recommendation:  You don't have to buy a textbook, but Statistical Physics an  Introductory Course is recommended if you're rusty with thermal physics

Lecturer(s): Dr. Andy Martin

Year & Semester of completion: Semester 2, 2011

Rating:  4/5

Your Mark/Grade: Will update when mark is released.

Comments: Statistical physics is an interesting field of physics that I intend to go further with in my studies of mathematical physics in masters. The subject takes thermodynamics and quantum physics and merges them together so you can study how bulk matter behaves at low temperatures (i.e. T 0K) and how quantum mechanics becomes so important. The subject is essentially an introduction to condensed matter physics. The problem solving classes weren't that useful since you're put into a lecture theatre and solve problems on your own.
« Last Edit: July 19, 2014, 06:36:18 pm by alondouek »
2008: Finished VCE

2009 - 2011: Bachelor of Science (Mathematical Physics)

2012 - 2014: Master of Science (Applied Mathematics/Mathematical Physics)

2016 - 2018: Master of Engineering (Civil)

Semester 1:[/b] Engineering Mechanics, Fluid Mechanics, Engineering Risk Analysis, Sustainable Infrastructure Engineering

Semester 2:[/b] Earth Processes for Engineering, Engineering Materials, Structural Theory and Design, Systems Modelling and Design

QuantumJG

  • Victorian
  • Part of the furniture
  • *****
  • Posts: 1748
  • Applied Mathematics Student at UoM
  • Respect: +82
Re: University of Melbourne - Subject Reviews & Ratings
« Reply #48 on: November 28, 2011, 06:15:07 pm »
+4
Subject Code/Name: MAST30029 Partial Differential Equations 

Workload:  3 x 1 hour lectures, 1 x 1 hour tutorial

Assessment:  1 50 minute mid-semester test (20%), 3 hour exam (80%)

Lectopia Enabled:  No

Past exams available:  1 past exam, 1 practice exam and 1 past mid-semester test

Textbook Recommendation: None

Lecturer: Assoc Prof Antoinette Tordesillas

Year & Semester of completion: Semester 2, 2011

Rating:  4/5

Your Mark/Grade: Will update when mark is released

Comments: PDE's is an exceptionally important subject for Applied Maths. The subject covers 6 areas: Method of Characteristics, Fourier Series, Separation of Variables, Fourier Transforms, Laplace Transforms and Green's Functions. I thouroughly recommend attending the tutorials, since Antoinette and another tutor go around helping you.
2008: Finished VCE

2009 - 2011: Bachelor of Science (Mathematical Physics)

2012 - 2014: Master of Science (Applied Mathematics/Mathematical Physics)

2016 - 2018: Master of Engineering (Civil)

Semester 1:[/b] Engineering Mechanics, Fluid Mechanics, Engineering Risk Analysis, Sustainable Infrastructure Engineering

Semester 2:[/b] Earth Processes for Engineering, Engineering Materials, Structural Theory and Design, Systems Modelling and Design

QuantumJG

  • Victorian
  • Part of the furniture
  • *****
  • Posts: 1748
  • Applied Mathematics Student at UoM
  • Respect: +82
Re: University of Melbourne - Subject Reviews & Ratings
« Reply #49 on: November 28, 2011, 06:44:30 pm »
+5
Subject Code/Name: MAST30024 Geometry 

Workload: 3 x 1 hour lectures, 1 tutorial

Assessment:  3 assignments (20%), 3 hour exam (80%)
 
Lectopia Enabled:  No

Past exams available:  1

Textbook Recommendation: This webpage has all resources Craig gave us

Lecturer(s): Dr. Craig Westerland

Year & Semester of completion: Semester 2, 2011

Rating:  5/5

Your Mark/Grade: Will update when mark is released.

Comments: I absolutely loved this subject! It covers Basic Topology, Classification of Surfaces, Differential Topology, Differential Geometry and Riemann Surfaces. Although the subject finished on a bad note with the exam being significantly harder than last year's, though this year is only the second year the subject has run.
2008: Finished VCE

2009 - 2011: Bachelor of Science (Mathematical Physics)

2012 - 2014: Master of Science (Applied Mathematics/Mathematical Physics)

2016 - 2018: Master of Engineering (Civil)

Semester 1:[/b] Engineering Mechanics, Fluid Mechanics, Engineering Risk Analysis, Sustainable Infrastructure Engineering

Semester 2:[/b] Earth Processes for Engineering, Engineering Materials, Structural Theory and Design, Systems Modelling and Design

QuantumJG

  • Victorian
  • Part of the furniture
  • *****
  • Posts: 1748
  • Applied Mathematics Student at UoM
  • Respect: +82
Re: University of Melbourne - Subject Reviews & Ratings
« Reply #50 on: November 28, 2011, 07:23:48 pm »
+4
Subject Code/Name: MAST30026 Metric and Hilbert Spaces 

Workload: 3 x 1 hour lectures, 1 tutorial

Assessment:  2 assignments (20%), 3 hour exam (80%)
 
Lectopia Enabled:  No

Past exams available:  1

Textbook Recommendation: None

Lecturer(s): Prof Hyam Rubinstein

Year & Semester of completion: Semester 2, 2011 (hopefully)

Rating:  3/5

Your Mark/Grade: Will update when mark is released.

Comments: First of all, this subject is not for the faint of heart. It is an intense subject that last year replaced two subjects (metric spaces and linear analysis). The highlight of this subject was that Hyam (probably the best mathematicians at Melbourne University) taught it. The subject essentially builds on what was taught in Real Analysis and linear operators in Group Theory and Linear Algebra.
2008: Finished VCE

2009 - 2011: Bachelor of Science (Mathematical Physics)

2012 - 2014: Master of Science (Applied Mathematics/Mathematical Physics)

2016 - 2018: Master of Engineering (Civil)

Semester 1:[/b] Engineering Mechanics, Fluid Mechanics, Engineering Risk Analysis, Sustainable Infrastructure Engineering

Semester 2:[/b] Earth Processes for Engineering, Engineering Materials, Structural Theory and Design, Systems Modelling and Design

Russ

  • Honorary Moderator
  • Great Wonder of ATAR Notes
  • *******
  • Posts: 8442
  • Respect: +661
Re: University of Melbourne - Subject Reviews & Ratings
« Reply #51 on: November 28, 2011, 08:11:33 pm »
+7
Subject Code/Name: Living Longer: A Global Diagnosis

Workload:  1 lecture a week (2 hours), 1 tute a week for 10 weeks

Assessment: 
10 weekly blogs, 300 words = 3% each
'wiki' presentation on a research article = 10%
tutorial mark = 10%
Research Report/Essay = 50%

Lectopia Enabled:  Yes, with screen capture

Past exams available:  N/A

Year & Semester of completion: Semester 2, 2011

Rating: 4/5

Your Mark/Grade: ~H1

Comments: redacted, PM me with questions if required
« Last Edit: July 22, 2016, 06:54:25 pm by Russ »

mikee65

  • Guest
Re: University of Melbourne - Subject Reviews & Ratings
« Reply #52 on: November 28, 2011, 08:53:25 pm »
+5
Subject Code/Name: Introductory Microeconomics

Workload:  2 lectures a week (50 minutes each), one tute every week (50 minutes)

Assessment:  Lets start off with my favourite

10% tutorial participation :)

10% Assignment 1

15% Assignment 2

5% Mid semester online MCQ test

60% End of semester exam


Lectopia Enabled: Yes, with screen capture

Past exams available:  Yes ranging beyond the scope of the current style and content of the course, ie, IMO its not worth working past 2007 papers,

Solutions are usually provided for 4 years worth of exams prior to the year the subject is taken. (Some solutions will explain MCQ answers, some wont)

Textbook Recommendation:  Gans, King and Mankin 'Principles of Microeconomic' is a must, Microeconomics: case studies and applications by Jeff Borland is optional IMO, however I would recommend it because solutions for problems therein are provided on the LMS.


Lecturer(s): Mr Gareth James (S2), Prof Jeff Borland (S1) (Try to get your copy signed to embellish your ebay advertisement)

Year & Semester of completion:
Semester 2, 2011

Rating: 4.5/5

Your Mark/Grade
: H1

Comments:

Firstly, I recall some students having reservations about taking this subject because Jeff Borland (S1) wont be their lecturer, I will try to dispel this mentality.

This is a subject that everyone can succeed in, ie, obtain a H1,

The resources available to students are almost excessive, via the LMS students have access to: Complete lecture notes posted a week in advance, excerpts from various textbooks pertinent to subject matter, complete solutions to Borlands book, review questions posted every week covering that weeks material with complete solutions, an 'online tutor' which answers any questions about the course and its contents (troubles with questions in exams, lecture notes ect) usually within 24 hours (I strongly advise you make use of this service (the respondent gets paid for his troubles so he welcomes any question, no matter how stupid ;) )) and finally tutorial notes (unfortunately no solutions provided as these get recycled year to year, however the online tutor will answer you if your question is specific and researched)

Outside the LMS: 'pit-stop' tutorials, a dedicated room is announced via LMS, times are provided and students are able to arrive with their qualms to be discussed with a live tutor, finally the lecturer has consultation times during which you may discuss problems with the course or any other concerns.

What does this mean? THE LECTURER IS SUPERFLUOUS, you could literally stay at home with half of the support system this subject provides and scrape a H1.

Points on assessment: The 10% for tutorial participation can be considered 'in the bag' unless of course you arrive late (or not at all) and sit unresponsive with your back to the class, the tutor doesnt expect nervous excitement and arcane factoids about economics, just pay attention and you'll be fine.

A word about assignments, generally the course material can be considered relatively 'easy' which is why these puppies are marked quite harshly (I got ~50% on one), please due your research and read the question, I cant stress that enough, If you answer the question completely and close to correctly it leaves little room for the tutor (who marks your assignments) to justify marking you down, if you argue with them enough as did I, they will bend. For assignment 2, bear in mind that originality is key, leave the mundane classical textbook examples behind and do some research (this will make sense once you read the abstract)

The 5% MST can also be considered 'in the bag', this is basics,

A word on the exam, the bulk of the exam (75%) is written, as such, please make sure your explanation consider all perspectives of the question, are sharp succinct and to the point, no waffle, be expected tho complete the script book with your panicked hand writing in 90 minutes, finally USE DIAGRAMS there's nothing like a diagram to illustrate your arguments.

Finally, really, like the tutorials, questions from the exam are recycled, past exams indubitably are the best indicator of future exams, so do as many as you can and understand every single question that is asked, if you don't there's plenty of support networks available to help you understand the error of your ways and lead you back to a righteous path, on that pious note I will end before my hands fall off.
 
« Last Edit: November 28, 2011, 08:57:23 pm by mikee65 »

dc302

  • Victorian
  • Part of the furniture
  • *****
  • Posts: 1031
  • Respect: +53
  • School: Melbourne High School
  • School Grad Year: 2009
Re: University of Melbourne - Subject Reviews & Ratings
« Reply #53 on: November 29, 2011, 02:55:34 am »
+5
Subject Code/Name: MAST30021 Complex Analysis

Workload: 3 x 1 hour lectures; 1 x 1 hour practice class

Assessment: 4x assignments 20%; final exam 80% 

Lectopia Enabled:  No

Past exams available:  Yes

Textbook Recommendation:  Didn’t use one.

Lecturer: Alex Ghitza and Paul Norbury

Year & Semester of completion: 2011, Semester 1

Rating:  4/5

Your Mark/Grade: 88

Comments: This subject is quite interesting, and has a fair balance of pure and applied maths. It is not as ‘annoying’ as real analysis and much more fun. In terms of difficulty, the subject is fairly easy as long as you keep up to date and make notes. Since you do not receive premade notes, going to lectures and writing notes yourself is not only important, but also very handy in not falling behind. In doing so, I only had to memorise some of the theorems and do some practice problems (there is a whole practice booklet to do) and it was fine. The first few assignments were tricky but the exam was very doable (and quite similar to past exams).
2012-2015 - Doctor of Medicine (MD) @ UniMelb
2010-2011 - Bachelor of Science (BSc) majoring in Pure Mathematics @ UniMelb
2009 - VCE [99.70] -- Eng [43] - Methods [44] - Chem [44] - JapSL [45] - Spesh [45] - MUEP Jap [5.5]

dc302

  • Victorian
  • Part of the furniture
  • *****
  • Posts: 1031
  • Respect: +53
  • School: Melbourne High School
  • School Grad Year: 2009
Re: University of Melbourne - Subject Reviews & Ratings
« Reply #54 on: November 29, 2011, 03:02:23 am »
+5
Subject Code/Name: Accelerated Mathematics 2

Workload: 4 x 1 hour lectures; 1 x 1 hour practice class

Assessment: Midsem 10%; a few assignments 10%; final exam 80% 

Lectopia Enabled:  Yes

Past exams available:  Yes

Textbook Recommendation:  Didn’t use one.

Lecturer: Barry Hughes

Year & Semester of completion: 2010, Semester 2

Rating:  3/5

Your Mark/Grade: 87

Comments: This subject is basically Real Analysis with Applications (and some calculus 2). It is an introduction to the rigor of higher university maths, and introduces concepts important to many areas of mathematics. It particularly helped me in my major of Pure mathematics. Real analysis itself is a prerequisite to 3 out of 4 maths major specialisations, as well as the physics and mathematical physics majors, so you can see how important it is. In terms of difficulty, it can be said to be quite hard, but there does exist a point of enlightenment, and once you cross that, the subject becomes rather easy.

I did not like the lecturer—he made me fall asleep so I stopped going to lectures. Every lecture, a lecture notes sheet is handed out so that alone is enough to keep up to date. Doing exercises throughout the semester is highly recommended, but understanding the concepts is more important.
2012-2015 - Doctor of Medicine (MD) @ UniMelb
2010-2011 - Bachelor of Science (BSc) majoring in Pure Mathematics @ UniMelb
2009 - VCE [99.70] -- Eng [43] - Methods [44] - Chem [44] - JapSL [45] - Spesh [45] - MUEP Jap [5.5]

dc302

  • Victorian
  • Part of the furniture
  • *****
  • Posts: 1031
  • Respect: +53
  • School: Melbourne High School
  • School Grad Year: 2009
Re: University of Melbourne - Subject Reviews & Ratings
« Reply #55 on: November 29, 2011, 03:10:08 am »
+5
Subject Code/Name: Vector Calculus

Workload: 3 x 1 hour lectures; 1 x 1 hour practice class

Assessment: 4x assignments 20%; final exam 80% 

Lectopia Enabled:  Can’t remember..

Past exams available:  Yes

Textbook Recommendation:  Didn’t use one.

Lecturer: ...(didn’t go to lectures)

Year & Semester of completion: 2011, Semester 1

Rating:  1/5

Your Mark/Grade: 92

Comments: Although perhaps largely due to my bias (being a pure maths major), I found this subject extremely boring, though very easy. Just looking through the lecture notes I knew this wasn’t the subject for me. Vector calculus teaches students about the applications of 2 and 3-variable calculus, in finding quantities such as volume and mass of solids. It is used primarily (I believe) in fields such as mechanical engineering, and is useful to know when studying areas of mathematics like complex analysis and geometry. The work is VERY formulaic, so once you know how to do one type of question, every other question that is similar becomes easy. It is considered to be the ‘maths methods’ of second year by maths enthusiasts (heh). Studying for this subject is of course therefore, quite simple as long as you understand the concepts.

ALSO NOTE: The ‘partial notes’ you receive are NOT partial. They are FULL notes with the solutions in white font. My friends and I became aware of this the night before the exam...although it didn’t make much difference as there is a question book with answers, so doing that is sufficient replacement from doing the examples in the lectures.
2012-2015 - Doctor of Medicine (MD) @ UniMelb
2010-2011 - Bachelor of Science (BSc) majoring in Pure Mathematics @ UniMelb
2009 - VCE [99.70] -- Eng [43] - Methods [44] - Chem [44] - JapSL [45] - Spesh [45] - MUEP Jap [5.5]

tek

  • Victorian
  • Adventurer
  • *
  • Posts: 14
  • Respect: +4
Re: University of Melbourne - Subject Reviews & Ratings
« Reply #56 on: December 01, 2011, 11:40:19 am »
+4
Subject Code/Name: GENE30004 Genetic Analysis

Workload:  1x1 hour lecture per week, 1x3 hour prac per week, and 1x1hour journal club/tutorial per week

Assessment:  30% prac reports/questions, 30% exam, 15% problem assignments, and 25% journal club assessment (5% oral and 20% written)   

Lectopia Enabled:  Yes, without screen capture

Past exams available:  Yes, however the newer topics make the earlier exams less relevant

Textbook Recommendation:  None, the prac manual is provided

Lecturer(s): 6 lecturers. The quality varies but there were no shockers

Year & Semester of completion: 2012 semester 2

Rating:  4.25 out of 5

Your Mark/Grade: H1 85

Comments: This was probably the best and challenging subject offered in a genetics major. As a prac subject there were only 12 lectures which are loosely connected to the pracs. Topics included genetic cloning (not the kind you're thinking of), sequencing and transgenic organisms. I found the lectures interesting and the amount of content was just right. I did not feel overloaded by information, unlike other subjects i've had where they give you slide after slide with wall of texts. That said, it was not an easy subject, there was a lot of assessment during the semester but it was fairly spread out. However for a bioinformatics assignment worth 5% we were practically left in the dark. I spent a few 2 hour sessions using the specific program and by the end of it was in the same position i started in. I was not alone, before the assignment was due, at any given moment there were probably at least 5 people in the medical computer lab attempting it.

i liked the pracs, sometimes it can get a bit repetitive and formulaic, but overall it was a great experience. As a biomed student who didnt do the second year genetics prac subject, there was a slight disadvantages as there was some techniques that i havent done. However these could be picked up easilily, and if you made a mistake you can rely on the class data and the end of the experiment. In my year it consisted of four pracs spread over multiple weeks with some overlap. The assessment was relatively easy. We never had to write a report just answers questions based on the prac.  The demonstrators are nice and helpful, for example when we had a genetics dinner they halved the amount of questions in the report that was due that week. The journal club is where you are given a journal article and you have to give a 12 minute oral and a 2000 word report based on it. This was useful as it makes you learn about the topic in the paper, gives you a general understanding of how papers are written, and is good experience if you want to continue in research where journal clubs are common. As for the exam, around half of it is based on the lectures and half the pracs. There is a lot of recycling, so the best way to study is to look at past exams.
« Last Edit: December 02, 2011, 10:28:12 pm by tek »

tek

  • Victorian
  • Adventurer
  • *
  • Posts: 14
  • Respect: +4
Re: University of Melbourne - Subject Reviews & Ratings
« Reply #57 on: December 01, 2011, 12:22:10 pm »
+7
Subject Code/Name: Genetics MAJOR

Lectopia Enabled:  Yes, without screen capture. department policy to have no screen capture.

Past exams available:  always

Textbook Recommendation:  useful, but not necessary

Lecturer(s): Various

Year & Semester of completion: 2012 semester 2

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Your Mark/Grade: Averaged a H1

Comments: I'm doing things a bit different by reviewing a major, but I think users will find it useful.
Overall I enjoyed the experience. What I like most about the major is that in all of the subjects we were thought concepts and were assessed on how we can use those concepts. There was hardly any rote learning and the lectures weren't overwhelming with information. The genetics subjects are well organised and its people are nice. One weakness they have is the quality of the lecturers. There are a few lecturers who are monotonal and just plain boring (which is exacerbated by their topics). Most were average to slightly above average. The standouts for me were Dawn and Phil. Most of the exams are relatively 'easy', there is a lot of recycling and they always have a swot vac tutorial where you can ask the lecturer for answers to past exam questions.

Overall i found the major to be intellectually stimulating, while its difficulty was easy to mildly challenging. However, as a word of warning, if you plan on doing the major make sure you are interested genetics. A lot of people can find the topics (such as population genetics) boring and struggle to take in the information. If your not interested in genetics, it is probably on the harder side of the majors.
« Last Edit: December 01, 2011, 01:02:54 pm by tek »

tek

  • Victorian
  • Adventurer
  • *
  • Posts: 14
  • Respect: +4
Re: University of Melbourne - Subject Reviews & Ratings
« Reply #58 on: December 02, 2011, 11:10:35 am »
+4
Subject Code/Name: GENE30005 Human and Medical Genetics 

Workload:  3x1hour lectures per week

Assessment: 
5% pedigree analysis/ mcq assignment (used as a review for first year topics)
2x 7.5% midsemester tests made up of MCQs
80% 3hr end of semester exam (MCQ and essay/short answer)

Lectopia Enabled:  Yes, without screen capture

Past exams available:  Yes

Textbook Recommendation:  none, lecture slides are sufficient

Lecturer(s): Various

Year & Semester of completion: 2012 semester 2

Rating: 4 out of 5

Your Mark/Grade: H1 (88)

Comments: This subject deals with how genetics relates to diseases. This includes specific diseases (eg thallasaemias) and their genetic basis, cytogenetics, cancer, sex determination, transgenic organisms and genetic mapping. As there were a lot of topics, we weren't required to have a deep knowledge of any single one, rather we just needed a general understanding of the genetic concepts. While overall I found the subject to be interesting, there were some topics (and lecturers) to be boring. The assessment was fairly easy. The assignment was basically 1st/2nd year problems/questions and the mcq for the most part weren't too difficult either. The exam was fairly challenging, the majority of the marks were short answer essay type questions, covering the main topics. During my exam review i fell into the trap of answering the past exam questions in my head. In hindsight I should have actually practiced writing and formulating actual answers. As a result I struggled for time in the actual exam.

NOTE: this subject is optional for a genetics major, however most of the people do it anyway. Also this subject is available as a breadth/science elective, but I wouldn't recommend it, as previous genetics knowledge (including third year genetics) helps you understand the topics a lot.
« Last Edit: December 02, 2011, 10:53:18 pm by tek »

Edmund

  • Dr. Ruler Snapper
  • Victorian
  • Part of the furniture
  • *****
  • Posts: 1849
  • Respect: +95
Re: University of Melbourne - Subject Reviews & Ratings
« Reply #59 on: December 02, 2011, 06:04:08 pm »
+4
Subject Code/Name: PHYS30008 Frontiers in Physiology

Workload: 

Weeks 1-3: 9 optional lectures
Weeks 4-5: At least 2 lectures out of 6
Weeks 6-10: At least 10 out of 15 lectures

Assessment:  20% written assignment on Week 4 and 5 lectures, 2 tests in Week 11 (40%), Wiki group project (40%)

Lectopia Enabled:  Yes, with screen capture etc.

Past exams available:  None

Textbook Recommendation:  None

Lecturer(s): Dr. Sheldon Cooper

Year & Semester of completion: 2011 Semester 2

Rating: 2 Out of 5

Your Mark/Grade: H2A

Comments: A rather dry subject that aims to cover several aspects of scientific research in Physiology such as written communication skills, teamwork and collaboration. The first 3 weeks are not assessed in any way and are a total waste of time. Material covered is useless and not worth going to. There are 2 Cardiovascular Health, 2 Muscle & Exercise and 2 Neurophysiology keynote lectures in Weeks 5 and 6. You need to choose 2 different lecture (from different themes) for the assignment. The lectures in Weeks 6-10 are divided into 3 blocks again, 5 CV, 5 ME, 5 NP. There is a test for each of these blocks in Week 11 and you will need to do at least 2 tests. If you choose to do 3, the best 2 will be counted. The 40% Wiki assignment involves getting into groups of 6 and working on a research project that involves reviewing journal articles throughout the semester.

So you may be thinking that it's too easy :P The first 6 weeks or so is fairly laid back. However, workload starts increasing quickly during the Weeks 6-10 period and you will be pressured to keep up with the material in time for the Week 11 tests. You will find that lectures will be similar to the lectures in Semester 1 (CV Health, M & E Physiology, NeuroPhys), but the pace is much faster i.e. 10 semester 1 lectures crammed into 5 lectures. If you haven't done the CV Health, M & E Physiology, NeuroPhys subjects, you will struggle significantly unless you spend extra time going over the lectures and reading the appropriate papers. The tests are difficult even though they assess just 5 lectures.

My advice is that if you are interested in this subject, make sure you have done at least 2 of CV Health, M & E Physiology, NeuroPhys, keep up with the lectures even though you have already covered some of them in your other lectures and don't leave your Wiki to the last week.
2007-2008 VCE ATAR 90.15
2009-2011 BSc (Unimelb)
2012-2015 DDS (Unimelb)

Booksale: Drugs That Shape Society, Forests in a Global Context