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Uni Stuff => Universities - New South Wales => University of Sydney => Topic started by: Natasha.97 on February 20, 2018, 05:37:34 pm

Title: USyd Unit Reviews
Post by: Natasha.97 on February 20, 2018, 05:37:34 pm: (https://i.imgur.com/XJidGDk.png)

USYD Unit Reviews

This thread is a collection of unit reviews and ratings for the University of Sydney. If you wish to ask about a particular review, use the general chat thread or message the person who wrote it 😊

We encourage everyone to review any/all courses they have taken, even if other reviews for the course already exist. The more reviews we have, the more useful this collection will be! :)

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Note: The views expressed in these reviews are those of the authors and do not represent the opinions of the university or ATAR Notes. Keep in mind that despite best efforts, information provided may not be accurate.

Index

Click the spoilers below to see the available reviews for each faculty (this index will be updated regularly) 😊

Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

MCGY1008 Harmony and Analysis 1, MCGY1009 Harmony and Analysis 2
MCGY1001 Aural Perception 1A, MCGY1002 Aural Perception 1B

Faculty of Business

Faculty of Dentistry

Faculty of Engineering and Information Technologies

Faculty of Health Sciences

Faculty of Medicine

Faculty of Nursing

Faculty of Pharmacy

Faculty of Science

Last update

Template

Use the following template for your reviews! Just copy and paste into the reply ;D

Code: [Select]
[b]Subject Code/Name:[/b] [url=insert link here]SUBJECT CODE - SUBJECT NAME[/url] Insert the UOS outline for the subject, and replace SUBJECT CODE SUBJECT NAME with the appropriate details) [b]Contact Hours:[/b] Specify how many lectures, pracs/workshops, tutes etc. and their duration [b]Assumed Knowledge:[/b] Prerequisite courses/highly recommended courses [b]Assessment:[/b] Give a rough/detailed outline of the various assessment methods, and if possible, their weightings. [b]Lecture Recordings?[/b] Yes, Yes but audio only, No [b]Notes/Materials Available[/b]: If possible, provide links to any resources available to help with the subject. [b]Textbook:[/b] What is the textbook? In your experience, is the textbook required, recommended, or completely useless? [b]Lecturer(s):[/b] List your lecturer(s) [b]Year/Semester of completion:[/b] EG - 2016/2 [b]Difficulty:[/b] Out of 5 [b]Overall Rating:[/b] Out of 5 [b]Your Mark/Grade:[/b] If you wish to provide it [b]Comments: [/b] Give your comments on all aspects of the course (keep it objective!)
Here is a duplicate version of the templates without the descriptions, for the sake of convenience in copying and pasting. Use the above descriptions as your reference :)

Code: [Select]
[b]Subject Code/Name:[/b] [url=][/url] [b]Contact Hours:[/b] [b]Assumed Knowledge:[/b] [b]Assessment:[/b] [b]Lecture Recordings?[/b] [b]Notes/Materials Available[/b]: [b]Textbook:[/b] [b]Lecturer(s):[/b] [b]Year & Semester of completion:[/b] [b]Difficulty:[/b] [b]Overall Rating:[/b] [b]Your Mark/Grade:[/b] [b]Comments: [/b]
Title: Re: USyd Unit Reviews
Post by: angewina_naguen on January 05, 2020, 09:21:00 pm: Subject Code/Name: MCGY1008 Harmony and Analysis 1, MCGY1009 Harmony and Analysis 2

Contact Hours: 1x 1 hour lecture, 1x 1 hour tutorial

Assumed Knowledge: For MCGY1008: Ability to read musical notation including treble and bass clefs, and knowledge of scales, intervals and triads in tonal music. I would recommend completing AMEB Fourth Grade or an equivalent to it. For MCGY1009: MCGY1008

Assessment: Assignments (35%), online quizzes (10%), examination (55%)

Lecture Recordings? Yes; they are uploaded after the lecture is delivered.

Notes/Materials Available: None

Textbook: Workbook for Harmonic Practice in Tonal Music 2nd Edition (Robert Gauldin)

Lecturer(s): Lewis Cornwell

Year & Semester of completion: 2019, Semester 1, 2

Difficulty: 3.5/5

Overall Rating: 3.5/5

Your Mark/Grade: MCGY1008: 77 DI, MCGY1009: 76 DI

Comments: This subject was the cause of most of my stress this year. I entered Harmony having what I thought was a decent amount of knowledge about classical music harmony but I was completely shocked coming into my first few weeks of MCGY1008 and realising how behind I was from everyone else. MCGY1009 was a lot better experience-wise because I changed my study strategy for the subject completely so although I scored just a bit lower, it at least did not feel like a fluke.

The assessments make sense but I am not a fan of the online quizzes. I had to put a reminder for myself to do them just to ensure I could get a guaranteed good mark for that 10% in the unit. The assignments also got progressively easier over time but my results still fluctuated depending on the topic. I hope this is something that I can tackle better next year. I found the final exam great structurally and easy to prepare notes for but definitely could have revised better for it in hindsight.

At the end of the day, I think both units are really beneficial and important to the study of music. Despite my complaints and concerns throughout the semester on whether I would be able to get by in it, I managed to come out of both MCGY1008 and MCGY1009 feeling somewhat accomplished. I do think that Lewis is one of the best lecturers at the Con and I only wish I did him more justice with how I performed. My tutor Peter though was really amazing and left me some great inside jokes and roasts in my feedback which motivated me to try harder (though I really just could not get out of the habit of having parallel fifths). I hope I can look back at my experience with fondness long term and am interested to see what is in stall for Harmony 3!
Title: Re: USyd Unit Reviews
Post by: angewina_naguen on January 06, 2020, 04:03:02 pm: Subject Code/Name: MCGY1001 Aural Perception 1A, MCGY1002 Aural Perception 1B

Contact Hours: 1x 1 hour Lab, 1x 1 hour Solfege tutorial

Assumed Knowledge: For MCGY1001: You will complete a Music Skills Evaluation prior to the semester for streaming purposes. For MCGY1002: MCGY1001

Assessment: For MCGY1001: Weekly Lab tests (25%), weekly Lab assignments (15%), Solfege tutorial assessment (15%), Lab examination (25%), Solfege examination (20%). For MCGY1002: Weekly Lab assignments (15%), Non-Western transcription (15%), Lab examination (30%), Solfege tutorial assessment (15%), Solfege examination (25%).

Lecture Recordings? None

Notes/Materials Available: None

Textbooks: Manual for Ear Training and Sight Singing 2nd Edition (Gary S. Karpinski), Anthology for Sight Singing (Gary S. Karpinski and Richard Kram). I would also highly recommend Solfege des Solfege (Adolphe Danhauser) which I obtained when I first started singing and still use today as supplementary warm-up material.

Lecturer(s): None; you will be assigned with a tutor for both classes. I had Andrew Faleatua for both Lab and Solfege in MCGY1001 and MCGY1002.

Year & Semester of completion: 2019, Semester 1, 2

Difficulty: MCGY1001: 3.5/5, MCGY1002: 3/5

Overall Rating: 4/5

Your Mark/Grade: MCGY1001: 86 HD, MCGY1002: 92 HD

Comments: Aural Perception in first year has been quite the ride. I came in having very basic sight-singing and terrible dictation skills and have come out of the units a lot more confident in both. I was streamed into 1A and B, instead of doing 1 and 2, which worked out nicely for me because it allowed me to take things slowly and really hone in on all the foundational aspects of solfa that I missed out on in high school. Our classes were also smaller so there was more individual attention given to us. I personally preferred solfege classes over lab which reflected in how much more willing I was to practise sight singing over completing extra dictations on top of what I was assigned to do. Balancing equal commitment in AP across both is something I hope to improve for this coming year.

The weekly assessments for AP were quite friendly and super chill. My tutor provided advice for me all the time when I asked him and this communication ultimately amounted to my success in the subject. Similar to Harmony, the final exams are worth a ridiculous amount and regular revision/practice helps a tonne in the long run. I always attempted at least one unseen sight-singing example and dictation exercise from the books outside of the ones we were assigned to check if I could properly apply the concepts elsewhere. Doing more of this during the week would've been beneficial and could potentially have elevated my marks even higher.

While in the moment I dreaded it the most, the non-western transcription was perhaps the assignment I most benefitted from in this subject. My biggest criticism of solfa is how it doesn’t accommodate for all types of music. I liked that the course coordinator was aware of this and made us critically reflect on the effectiveness of the system, especially when it fails to capture the musical idiosyncrasies of other cultures. It was a pain to complete and I still have the shakuhachi melody from the assignment looping in my head but I gained heaps from it.

I really enjoyed AP despite the morning classes (9am start was huge yikes) and had a fantastic tutor who motivated me to do well. He always framed everything in a really positive and growth-oriented way which pushed me to want to improve independently. The skills I learnt in AP have been transferrable in many other aspects of my study at the Con such as choir and my other musicology subjects. I’m interested to report on the leap from 1B to 2 over the next semester.
Title: Re: USyd Unit Reviews
Post by: angewina_naguen on January 08, 2020, 04:49:27 pm: Subject Code/Name: MCGY1019 Musicology Workshop 1, MCGY1020 Musicology Workshop 2

Contact Hours: 1x 2 hour seminar; every fortnight, you will also attend the Musicology Colloquium Series talks as part of the unit.

Assumed Knowledge: None

Assessment: For both: Reflective journal (40%), participation and short tasks (20%), End of Semester presentation (40%).

Lecture Recordings? None

Notes/Materials Available: None

Textbook: Compulsory readings are allocated each week, along with your own resources based on your elected research topic for the semester.

Lecturer(s): Alan Maddox

Year & Semester of completion: 2019 Semester 1, 2

Difficulty: 3/5

Overall Rating: 3.5/5

Your Mark/Grade: MCGY1019: 78 DI, MCGY1020: 78 DI

Comments: I chose to do MCGY1019 and MCGY1020 as electives because they supported my principal study/major (musicology) and my future aims to pursue research of some kind in music education (though funnily enough, they're now the core units of the musicology principal study so it actually worked out in my favour that I did it). I really enjoy reading, thinking and discussing ideas which is perhaps why I found this subject well-designed for me. The class was small because our major is quite niche which meant we were all comfortable and good friends by the end of the year.

In terms of assessments, I felt like the presentations were nightmares. I fell out of love with my research topic for Semester 2 for a long period of time and found it challenging to get myself back on my feet. It's a completely different vibe presenting to a doctor in your field who literally specialises in your research area of interest than it is to tutor, teach or lecture so although I had lots of people saying to me it shouldn't have been "that bad", it was still nerve-wrecking. I also learnt after Semester 1 to not do my weekly reflective journal entries last minute and this greatly reflected in my marks in the end. While I started to hate reflective writing at many points in the subject, and in other subjects I'll review later where I also had to complete reflective journals, it was really helpful to consider the benefits I found from each week's seminar and actively linking it to my own research aims. I was also praised by my lecturer for my "riskier" arguments and critiques of the readings which was a bonus because it definitely helped me feel like my views were validated and valued.

The subject's design really allowed for diversity in content (we had a different topic every seminar, ranging from Spanish liturgical music to musical earworms) and reflected the eclectic nature of musicology as a discipline as a result. The MCS talks were super interesting and have helped me become a better lecturer myself here with AN over time. Overall, I'm really going to miss doing these units and having Alan who is literally the most awe-inspiring person at the Con. Beyond these units, I'm hoping to carry on the skills I learnt in the course and the thirst for knowledge and enquiry it inspired in me into the rest of my degree.
Title: Re: USyd Unit Reviews
Post by: angewina_naguen on January 10, 2020, 12:34:47 pm: Subject Code/Name: ENSE1041 Choir 1, ENSE1042 Choir 2

Contact Hours: 1x 3 hour rehearsal; there are also additional rehearsals and a performance night during Special Projects Week (Week 10).

Assumed Knowledge: For ENSE1041: You will complete a short pitch and range test before rehearsals for voice placement.

Assessment: Continual assessment of professional demeanour and ensemble skills demonstrated during rehearsals and performances (100%).

Lecture Recordings? None

Notes/Materials Available: None

Textbook: None; you borrow the score for whatever work is being studied and performed for the semester from the Con library before the first rehearsal.

Lecturer(s): Elizabeth (Liz) Scott

Year & Semester of completion: 2019, Semester 1, 2

Difficulty: 2/5

Overall Rating: 4.5/5

Your Mark/Grade: ENSE1041: 78 DI, ENSE1042: 87 HD

Comments: I enrolled in these units to fulfil my mandatory performance and ensemble units for the degree. I knew I was going to enjoy choir because I've been in choirs all my life and was really excited to do the subject for credit. I was also keen to sing more extensive works, as most of the songs I did in high school were at most five minutes long. For 2019's program, we did Handel's Dixit Dominus, Alice Chance's Fiat Lux for Semester 1 and the Con's very own Paul Stanhope's Jandamarra for Semester 2.

The nature of assessment is still a little strange to me. To pass the subject, you need 100% attendance at rehearsals. From then on, it's consistent observation on Liz's end to determine how well you carry yourself. Performance involvement, expression and enthusiasm are the criteria they look out for but to this day, I have no idea what the difference between a DI and HD for this unit is. That being said, as long as you're not bludging and you've come to the performance well-rehearsed/ready to go, there's no way you can possibly fail this subject. I am curious though as to how choir is assessed so perhaps this is something I should ask Liz myself some time next semester.

Choir was definitely amongst my favourite subjects from 2019 because it allowed me to do what I love most: sing. I loved all the works we got to perform, despite some of the slightly sadder alto parts I had to just accept was necessary for good voice leading and the rest of the harmonies to sound phenomenal. It was an amazing experience to perform with the orchestra and to sing with some of the most talented vocalists in the state, making a whole term's worth of afternoon rehearsals and commitment worth it. Liz Scott had a huge role in the success of the SCM choir this year; she's probably the best conductor in Sydney and one of my favourite people on this earth. Working under her weekly was a privilege and I've learnt so many fun choir warm-ups, techniques and pedagogical/ensemble directing strategies from her. I will only do Choir 3 next year but I may decide to join as a non-credit student for Semester 2 because I just loved this subject so much. Super hyped to see what we have in store this year!
Title: Re: USyd Unit Reviews
Post by: angewina_naguen on January 13, 2020, 02:18:46 pm: Subject Code/Name: MCGY2613 Music in Modern Times

Contact Hours: 1x 2 hour lecture, 1x 1 hour tutorial

Assumed Knowledge: Ability to read music notation.

Assessment: Mid-semester test (20%), 1500 word essay (35%), tutorial preparation (10%), final examination (35%).

Lecture Recordings? Yes; they're uploaded on the day after the lecture but slides are available for view well in advance.

Notes/Materials Available: None

Textbook: None; scores are available in PDF form/can be borrowed every week and different readings are assigned for each week.

Lecturer(s): Rachel Campbell, Philip Eames

Year & Semester of completion: 2019 Semester 1

Difficulty: 4/5

Overall Rating: 5/5

Your Mark/Grade: 81 DI

Comments: This unit is a compulsory history subject for education students and *spoiler alert* the one subject I feel everyone should be made to do because it was F A N T A S T I C. I did modernism in Prelim and HSC for every single one of my subjects except for Music 2 but that just made this unit even more satisfying because I was able to draw knowledge from everything else and combine it with my love for music history. I placed a pretty high difficulty rating because it was definitely hard but that made things so much more rewarding at the end.

Doing the assessments for this subject was a challenge. Tutorial preparation was intense with lots of question and analysis but I was lucky I had the day off before the day I had my tutorial to do it properly. MCGY2613 were the best tutorials I attended this year and I always felt like I was being intellectually stimulated. The exams required heaps of revision to do well in and I only wished I had tried harder in my finals. They relied more on your ability to argue and present a logical point, rather than just identifying musical techniques being used which I much preferred. As for the essay, I found this the most enjoyable assessment to complete (how nerdy, I know). I really enjoyed writing about the works I chose and was happy with my performance in it, along with the subject overall.

As you can already sense, loved this unit and was definitely my favourite subject for the semester alongside MUED1007 which I will review later. For the hundredth time, this subject also proves how great the staff are at the Con. Philip was definitely my favourite history lecturer I've had so far and I would take any subject he picked up in a heartbeat. He had memes in his slides, played the examples he used in the lecture live for us to hear and was very helpful when I bombarded him with questions about the essay. I severely missed doing MCGY2613 in Semester 2 and would highly recommend every Con student to study it. It was a thrill and I would live through all the blood, sweat and tears again to experience the growth I did from completing it ;D
Title: Re: USyd Unit Reviews
Post by: angewina_naguen on January 14, 2020, 09:52:44 pm: Subject Code/Name: MCGY1031 Musical Worlds of Today

Contact Hours: 1x 2 hour lecture, 1x 1 hour tutorial

Assumed Knowledge: None

Assessment: Tutorial participation (20%), critical response (20%), essay (40%), final examination (20%).

Lecture Recordings? Yes

Notes/Materials Available: None

Textbook: None; you are provided with weekly readings to do online. I, however, would highly recommend the book Being Australian: Narratives of National Identity (Catriona Elder) which I found a great supplementary text to read and use for the essay assessment.

Lecturer(s): Rachel Campbell and other guest lecturers

Year & Semester of completion: 2019 Semester 2

Difficulty: 3/5

Overall Rating: 2.5/5

Your Mark/Grade: 90 HD

Comments: This subject is a compulsory history unit for education students and is taken by pretty much everyone at some point in their degree at the Con. Having previously seen above how greatly I felt about MCGY2613, I felt like this subject didn't really get a fair shot from me because in my eyes, it never lived up to how fantastic the history I did in Semester 1 was. Coming into it, I was already quite apprehensive but over time, I came to really not enjoy it.

The assessments were really poorly coordinated and communicated with us. I know the unit of study outline exists and yes, I did read it, but there was almost no mentioning of our critical response until the tutorial the week before it was due (meanwhile, Phillip reminded us literally a month in advance for our MCGY2613 assessments to get them done). On top of that, I really did not enjoy doing the essay, largely because I was comparing it to how much more originality and creativity I could offer in my MCGY2613 one but also to an extent because (and this is going to sound super horrible but I would like to be honest) I felt like even I could write a better question. The guidelines for that essay were also vague and although I did well, I was still confused about it after getting my marks back. As for the exam, I'd have to say it was the most chilled I have ever been for one. It didn't require much studying if you had revised during the semester but I still had to conduct extra research to build my notes because we hardly covered anything about the set works in the actual tutorials.

I do have to say most of my negative feelings stem from the inconvenience this unit had for me in the semester; both my lecture and tutorial followed 9am 2 hour seminars so the unit wasn't in an ideal place to be appreciated by me from the get go. If I'll give the subject one point of praise, it'd be the lecturers they chose for the individual topics. Since the topics were so diverse, I was really glad they chose to bring in experts in those fields to speak about them. I particularly enjoyed Clint's lectures and felt like I learnt valuable lessons in them. While I didn't come out of this subject saying "I would love to do it again" (in fact, it's probably the subject I'm feeling the least inclined towards), I can recognise that it taught me to contextualise music more and to consider the cultural discussions that emerge from contemporary music-making practices. I have submitted most of these thoughts in my survey so I hope they review the subject carefully and improve it because it has potential to be a formidable history subject at the Con with better organisation and direction.
Title: Re: USyd Unit Reviews
Post by: angewina_naguen on January 15, 2020, 11:02:26 pm: Subject Code/Name: MUED1010 Key Ideas in Music Education, MUED1005 Key Approaches in Music Education

Contact Hours: 1x 2 hour seminar

Assumed Knowledge: None

Assessment: For MUED1010: Peer teaching assessment (50%), weekly ePortfolio reflective entries (50%). For MUED1005: Peer teaching assessment (50%), sight reading test on chosen instrument (25%), weekly ePortfolio reflective entries (25%).

Lecture Recordings? Yes; all classes are recorded and uploaded on the day.

Notes/Materials Available: None

Textbook: None; there are no set textbooks but I would recommend getting doing the supplementary readings to enhance the reflections you have to write.

Lecturer(s): James Humberstone and other guest lecturers

Year & Semester of completion: 2019 Semester 1, 2

Difficulty: 4/5

Overall Rating: 4/5

Your Mark/Grade: MUED1010: 73 CR, MUED1005: 85 HD

Comments: These are the foundation units music education students do as an introduction into pedagogy and practical methods for teaching. KIME and KAME were similarly structured with six weeks of training in a particular method (Orff and Kodaly respectively) and the rest looking at contemporary pedagogies and other ways of learning and teaching music. They're 3 credit points so it only has a two hour class per week but that being said, demanded a lot of work and attention for me to do well in.

The assessments are hugely weighted as you can see above which forced me to think and start early. The ePortfolio reflections were really difficult to do because not only did it have to be sophisticated and critical each week, but they also needed to look professional. I'm not fantastic with technology so my entries were quite bland and uninspiring for the first semester which is also perhaps why I was significantly dragged down results-wise. I also suspect incorrect referencing was a reason for this shock (it was alluded to in my feedback and most of my cohort members also lost marks for it). I really learnt from this in Semester 2 so I spent much more time on them, incorporated a variety of academic sources and readings and ended up getting a HD for the portfolio section of my mark. I also picked up ukulele this semester in this unit and have become quite attached to my uke Edwood. The sight-reading assessment was more of a jam session which I loved and although I made a few slips up, I felt good coming out of it. As for the peer teaching assessments, I did well in both and really pushed myself with Kodaly by choreographing my own dance and arranging an accompaniment part on my ukulele (which is why I'm taking the AKC this year!) to get my mark into a HD. I felt like the five minutes restriction we got ended up being really helpful because it forced me to be creative and present my best teaching forward. These assessments have shaped me well as an educator thinking about and applying ideas and approaches to education.

Overall, these subjects were really enjoyable. My only issue was perhaps the inconsistencies in marking that were experienced and felt by all the students throughout this year but I do think that's something being actively revised right now. Other than that, we always have so much fun dancing, jamming and singing in these units. I've really been able to bond with my cohort members because of these units and I'm excited to do more music education units with them in the next three years ;D
Title: Re: USyd Unit Reviews
Post by: angewina_naguen on January 19, 2020, 11:03:20 pm: Subject Code/Name: MUED1007 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Music

Contact Hours: 1x 2 hour seminar

Assumed Knowledge: None

Assessment: "Sell the song" task (40%), co-composition project (60%).

Lecture Recordings? Depends on the week; some weeks were recorded for assessment purposes.

Notes/Materials Available: None

Textbook: None; you are provided with readings in PDF form each week. I would recommend reading anything and everything Elizabeth Mackinlay. Her research aligns significantly with this unit and her papers were my main sources of research material for the reflective essay after the co-composition project.

Lecturer(s): Thomas (Tom) Fienberg

Year & Semester of completion: 2019 Semester 1

Difficulty: 3/5

Overall Rating: 5/5

Your Mark/Grade: 85 HD

Comments: Despite the unit's title not really reflecting this, "Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Music" is heavily designed for education students. MUED1007 was geared towards thinking about cultural tensions and issues in the contemporary classroom and exploring how we can use music as a means to understand and resolve them. This unit is also taken by second year students but as part of my major, I had to do this in first year and I'll have to say I'm really glad I did.

The assessments we had for this unit looked really confronting from first glance but was broken down into smaller components worth 5% to 30%. Other than perhaps the peer teaching assessment and choir, the "sell the song" task was the only other performance assessment I had. I felt like this was a great task because it encouraged myself and my partner Helen to do heaps of research into the song, practise consistently and to even email (and get a response!) from Jessica Mauboy herself. It was a really liberating experience to also perform something pop at the Con and I overall felt like the assessment was immensely enjoyable. As for the co-composition project, I struggled with certain parts of it like the transcription and the collaborative workshop (I was slightly nervous about contributing ideas since my peers were all second years) but the essay was by far the most fun assessment I've done in uni so far. It really allowed me to reflect and write critically, whilst still injecting my personal voice and flair into it. MUED1007 really nailed assessment on the head and I came out of the course feeling a lot more confident in my ability to empathise and lead music education in a cultural framework.

As I previously spoilt, this was my favourite subject alongside MCGY2613. I learnt so many meaningful things in this unit and I felt like I've grown more as a person from it. I've even created a playlist full of music supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander musicians in Australia and still listen to it frequently. My credit for succeeding in this unit needs to go to Tom who I was really close with. My highlight of the whole semester was when we, along with another one of my classmates, went for drinks and saw Baker Boy at the Oxford Factory. I felt like I was able to apply everything I was learning and discussing in MUED1007 into real life and had a very fun time then. Tom was super responsive to all my questions, pushed me to think more critically and made me feel welcome amongst the second years. A lot of the effort I put into the unit was because of his excellent teaching and I hope he gets permanently hired as the lecturer for this subject. I definitely miss doing this unit but I've found myself doing my absolute best to keep what I learnt alive from it in my daily life and I hope this will be even more so when I head out to teach.
Title: Re: USyd Unit Reviews
Post by: angewina_naguen on January 20, 2020, 08:16:34 pm: Last one ;D

Subject Code/Name: MUED3603 Composition in Music Education

Contact Hours: 1x 2 hour seminar

Assumed Knowledge: None

Assessment: Arrangement (30%), digital content for student composition (20%), final composition project (50%).

Lecture Recordings? Yes; they are usually uploaded a day or two after the seminar.

Notes/Materials Available: None

Textbook: None; we hardly worked from a textbook. There were further readings you could complete if you wanted to support your studies if you wished.

Lecturer(s): James Humberstone

Year & Semester of completion: 2019 Semester 2

Difficulty: 4/5

Overall Rating: 3/5

Your Mark/Grade: 71 CR

Comments: I knew I would come out of MUED3603 having mixed feelings; on one hand, I think it's a fantastic unit that tackles a key issue in how music is taught in schools today but on the other, it really had to grow on me. This is a compulsory subject for music education students and is usually taken in third year but I had to take it as part of my first to make room for my principal study later on in my degree. Between this and MUED1007, this was definitely more of a challenge for me and lacking two years of experience really put me at a disadvantage.

I found that the assessments themselves were well-designed for the unit, similar to how I felt about MUED1010 and MUED1005. I did so much supplementary reading for this unit to get myself into the credit range because I knew without critical analysis and literature reviews, my performance was going to be greatly affected. I personally found the first task the most fun and due to the intensity of the other two, I had to really force myself to work productively for the time I allocated in my study schedule to get quality work churned out. I like how it was periodically assessed (we had to submit drafts and attend check-in meetings with James) because it kept me on track but beyond the theoretical ingenious of the assessments, I had many moments where I just dreaded doing anything.

If there's one thing the unit did do successfully, it's that it converted my views on composition. I didn't particularly enjoy it in high school and if anything, would make a hundred excuses to avoid doing it as often as I could. As a result, I was also really afraid of the prospect of having to teach it in the future since I myself am not the greatest composer. After doing MUED3603, I was equipped with plenty of useful skills and resources from studying this unit and although my results weren't as great as I would've liked, I definitely gained a lot of insight from this subject. James is awesome and continues to prove to me why music education at the Con is the best thing that's happened to me and how honoured I am to be studying under a total genius. Overall, I hope the skills I gained from this unit will be transferrable into my future classrooms and I'm excited to see what 2020 has in stall for me!
Title: Re: USyd Unit Reviews
Post by: angewina_naguen on June 02, 2020, 03:50:38 pm: Subject Code/Name: MUED1008 Fundamentals of Teaching

Contact Hours: 1x 2 hour seminar

Assumed Knowledge: None

Assessment: Research reflection (30%), Lesson planning and assessment (40%), Online teaching resource (30%).

Lecture Recordings? Yes; they are uploaded by the evening of the day the seminar is on.

Notes/Materials Available: None

Textbook: Teaching: Challenges and Dilemmas 5th Edition (Susan Groundwater-Smith and Robyn Ewing). There will also be other set readings provided in PDF form relevant to the week.

Lecturer(s): Rachel White

Year & Semester of completion: 2020 Semester 1

Difficulty: 3.5/5

Overall Rating: 4/5

Your Mark/Grade: 85 HD

Comments: Only having one education subject this semester really allowed me to channel all my energy into MUED1008. This is a compulsory unit for music education students that is typically taken in second year but is actually now moved to first year after they changed the enrolment program earlier this year. Since the course is theory-heavy, I found the subject quite enjoyable and helpful in filling some of the gaps that KIME and KAME left last year.

The assessments for this unit were well-designed and manageable. I found the written reflection the easiest to do and performed the best in it because I knew I thrived more in writing-based tasks and dedicated a good amount of time to it. The lesson plans were definitely a challenge for me because I was really indecisive about everything and the idea of being marked for how I design content was daunting but I was happy with the mark I received at the end of the day. We were also meant to do a group teaching assessment but given COVID-19, Rachel had to change the assessment to accommodate for social distancing. I found the online teaching resource fun to make and gave a great avenue for me to exercise my creativity. In terms of assessment feedback, Rachel was perhaps one of the fairest markers we've had so far and while I was initially shocked with how I went for the lesson plans in particular, her comments justified the marks she gave me and I could definitely see where I could improve in the future.

Overall, this unit did exactly what its premise outlined and it was to provide us with the fundamentals to teach and to understand how to teach. The readings were a little extensive but they did spark some interesting questions and discussions for us during the classes. It was huge shame that we had to do the majority of this unit online because I know that Rachel had multiple group activities that would have been only possible to do in person. I really enjoyed having Rachel as a lecturer for this course as well; she was responsive to emails, had invaluable insight for all the topics we covered and a great sense of humour. What I liked most was how the assessments were created with applicability in mind and I am excited to use some of them in my first prac next year.
Title: Re: USyd Unit Reviews
Post by: kauac on June 26, 2020, 11:04:57 am: Subject Code/Name: CHEM1111 Chemistry 1A

Contact Hours: 3x1hr lectures, 1hr tutorial, 3hr practical (though online it didn't take as long, and wasn't every week)

Assumed Knowledge: HSC Chemistry

Assessment: Pre Lecture Quizzes (10%), Tutorial Quizzes (15%), Lab Work (15%), Final Exam (60%).

Lecture Recordings? Yes! Each stream is recorded, so you can listen to your own lecturer!

Notes/Materials Available: Revision and practice resources were provided throughout the semester.

Textbook: CHEMISTRY 3E, Blackman et al.

Lecturer(s): Varied according to stream. For my stream: Brendan Kennedy and Peter Harrowell

Year & Semester of completion: 2020, S1

Difficulty: 3/5

Overall Rating: 4/5

Comments:

This was a really well organised unit, and I was impressed with the communication and support with the switch to online learning. We asked for further resources, and they provided!

As for content, a lot of this unit was revision of HSC Chemistry, but going into some areas in a bit more detail. There was a whole section on quantum numbers which was new - I found this a bit conceptually challenging, but rewarding to learn! Overall, it was an enjoyable unit to take and I know I learned a lot!
Title: Re: USyd Unit Reviews
Post by: kauac on June 26, 2020, 11:53:33 am: Subject Code/Name: BIOL1008 Human Biology

Contact Hours: 2 x 1hr Lectures, 3hr practical/workshop a week.

Assumed Knowledge: HSC Biology

Assessment: post-module quizzes (10%), Living Data (25%), scientific report (20%), skills test (5%), final exam (40%)

Lecture Recordings? Yes.

Notes/Materials Available: none

Textbook: Van Putte, C., Regan, J. and Russo, A. Essentials of Anatomy and Physiology, McGraw Hill or any anatomy & physiology textbooks. (I didn't really use a textbook).

Lecturer(s): Too many to name them all :)

Year & Semester of completion: 2020, S1

Difficulty: 1/5

Overall Rating: 5/5

Comments:

I really loved this unit! There was some revision of HSC bio content, but also many new things to learn - particularly about the liver, pancreas and immune system. We were introduced to many different health conditions and learned about their symptoms and treatment. The assessments were creative and interesting to complete! The coordinators were helpful and supportive in enhancing online leaning. It was a shame we couldn't do face-face practicals, but every effort was made to make online practicals as engaging and helpful as possible.
Title: Re: USyd Unit Reviews
Post by: kauac on June 26, 2020, 12:10:58 pm: Subject Code/Name: BIOS1163 Speech Science

Contact Hours: 1x 2hr lecture, 1x 1hr lecture, 1 hour practical, 1hr tutorial a week.

Assumed Knowledge: None.

Assessment: Mid Semester Exam (30%), Quizzes (10%), Final Exam (60%).

Lecture Recordings? Yes. Though there was often a delay in uploading.

Notes/Materials Available: none

Textbook: JA Seikel: Anatomy and Physiology for speech, language and hearing 4th Edition - didn't use this at all.

Lecturer(s): Too many to name! :)

Year & Semester of completion: 2020, S1

Difficulty: 3/5

Overall Rating: 3/5

Comments:

This unit was geared towards speech pathology students, but still very interesting to learn as someone not studying speech path. Communication was a bit tricky at times, but we got through the semester okay. It was cool to study such a diverse area of topics: anatomy, physiology, speech physics and respiration.
Title: Re: USyd Unit Reviews
Post by: kauac on June 26, 2020, 12:21:48 pm: Subject Code/Name: CSCD1034 Linguistics and Phonetics

Contact Hours: 1x 2hr lecture (grammar), 1x 1hr lecture (phonetics), 1hr tutorial a week.

Assumed Knowledge: None

Assessment: Transcription exam (25%) grammar exam (25%), final exam (50%)

Lecture Recordings? Yes.

Notes/Materials Available: Practice Transcription Audio Files, Grammar Handbook, Phonetics Handbook

Textbook: Fromkin, V., Rodman, R., Hyams, Amberber, M., Cox, F., Thornton, R. (2015). An Introduction to Language (Australia and New Zealand 8th edition) Thomson Educational, Victoria.

Lecturer(s): Gregory Flannery

Year & Semester of completion: 2020, S1.

Difficulty: 2/5.

Overall Rating: 5/5

Comments:

This was a really fun unit, and I definitely learned about language! Greg was really passionate about what he was teaching, and I think that definitely inspired me to learn! There were a few glitches with the online assessments, but were promptly addressed. I loved the phonetics tutorials, and learning to transcribe phonemically felt more like a hobby than a requirement for the unit.
Title: Re: USyd Unit Reviews
Post by: angewina_naguen on July 13, 2020, 11:15:06 pm: Subject Code/Name: MCGY2010 Harmony and Analysis 3

Contact Hours: 1x 1 hour lecture, 1x 1 hour tutorial

Assumed Knowledge: MCGY1009

Assessment: Weekly assignments (50%), final examination (50%)

Lecture Recordings? Yes. I did MCGY2010 during COVID-19 so the lectures were pre-recorded but usually, they are uploaded after the lecture is delivered.

Notes/Materials Available: None

Textbook: Workbook for Harmonic Practice in Tonal Music 2nd Edition (Robert Gauldin)

Lecturer(s): Lewis Cornwell

Year & Semester of completion: 2020 Semester 1

Difficulty: 3/5

Overall Rating: 3.5/5

Your Mark/Grade: 78 DI

Comments: MCGY2010 builds on from everything that was covered in MCGY1008 and MCGY1009. The delivery of learning is consistent with the two previous units and had a great sense of continuity. I had a different tutor this semester which I was quite concerned about at first but Marcus was equally great at responding to emails and roasting me in my assignment feedback. I also found MCGY2010 one of the smoothest transitions to online learning out of all of my subjects. Initially, I found the Zoom tutorials quite challenging to stay engaged in but by forcing myself to print out the worksheets and actually participate in the classes, I ended up gaining a lot out of them.

As for the assessments, I actually am really relieved that weekly quizzes were not a part of this unit. I found these super stressful to complete in MCGY1008 and MCGY1009 so to only have to worry about the assignments and the exam was a relief. I also liked how Lewis made the exam open-book but still provided a time limit for us to submit it because it was basically just like every other Harmony exam but done from the comfort of my own home. The only assignment I really disliked was the "fugue fortnight", as I have now dubbed it, because it was a total nightmare. It was my worst mark out of all my assignments and dragged my final result down like crazy. Moral of the story is that I can appreciate good counterpoint; I just can not write it myself. Otherwise, MCGY2010 was far more enjoyable than last year's Harmony units because I knew what I was doing and learnt from my mistakes.

Overall, I think MCGY2010 was enjoyable and rewarding to do. Minus the fugue and canon weeks, everything else was a dramatic improvement for me from the previous semesters so I left the course feeling more confident in my analysis skills. As always, we owe a huge deal of the subject's success and enriching program to Lewis' delivery and effective communication with us via email and Canvas. I am keen to see how what we have learnt in the unit will translate into our final Harmony subject next semester ;D
Title: Re: USyd Unit Reviews
Post by: angewina_naguen on July 14, 2020, 10:37:59 pm: Subject Code/Name: MCGY1003 Aural Perception 2

Contact Hours: 1x 1 hour Lab, 1x 1 hour Solfege tutorial

Assumed Knowledge: MCGY1002

Assessment: Weekly Lab assessments (25%), weekly Solfege assessments (15%), Lab examination (35%), Solfege examination (25%).

Lecture Recordings? Yes; the tutorials were pre-recorded because of COVID-19.

Notes/Materials Available: None

Textbooks: Manual for Ear Training and Sight Singing 2nd Edition (Gary S. Karpinski), Anthology for Sight Singing (Gary S. Karpinski and Richard Kram).

Lecturer(s): None; you will be assigned with a tutor for both classes. I had Anthony Hamad for Lab and Alex Chilvers for Solfege.

Year & Semester of completion: 2020, Semester 1

Difficulty: 4/5

Overall Rating: 3/5

Your Mark/Grade: 0 UC; due to COVID-19, I received a Unit Continuing indicator, instead of a traditional grade.

Comments: Doing this unit of study during COVID-19 was quite the struggle. With the shift to online learning, the unit's reliance on in-class attendance for everything to run smoothly was really tested this semester. I already found the jump from MCGY1002 to this unit significant prior to quarantine so not having face-to-face classes proved to be a challenge. I think it could have been better handled but I also understand that it was difficult given the unique circumstances we are in.

The changed assessment and examination procedures did help to an extent. It was really tedious and time-consuming scanning my homework for Lab and recording the exercises for Solfege but the flexibility of when we submit the assignments was great. I established for myself a routine of submitting them a day before which granted me a little more sleep on the morning Lab was usually due on and to only have to worry about watching the tutorial for Solfege. I felt like the final exam was poorly scheduled though because I had mine right in the middle of two other subjects and we were notified fairly last minute about it. Conducting it over Zoom also was not particularly the best move either because of my internet being difficult. Otherwise, I am glad they decided to make this unit UC instead of pass/fail or keeping the traditional grading system because despite the other problems with the unit, I did feel like a lot more stress that could have come from this unit was avoided.

I personally feel a bit worried about going into Aural Perception 3 given how I barely managed to get through this unit. I do commend Anthony and Alex's efforts to make the content as comprehensive as possible with the added challenge of navigating online learning and I appreciated the responsiveness to my questions over email. I hope our classes will be conducted in person next semester because it will make a world of a difference and will help me experience and apply the skills we use in the unit better.
Title: Re: USyd Unit Reviews
Post by: alisontungmy on July 16, 2020, 12:44:45 am: Subject Code/Name: MATH1902 Linear Algebra(Advanced)

Contact Hours: 2x 1 hour lecture, 1x 1 hour tutorial

Assumed Knowledge/Pre-requisite: HSC Extension 2 or 90 in HSC Extension 1

Assessment: 2x 5% assignment, 1x 10% assignment, best 10 of 12 weekly WebWork quizzes(10%), final exam(70%)

Lecture Recordings? Yes, lectures were pre-recorded into different parts due to COVID

Notes/Materials Available: Lecture notes from lectures are modified and uploaded

Textbook: David Poole, Linear Algebra: A Modern Introduction(did not use)

Lecturer(s): Nathan Brownlowe

Year & Semester of completion: Sem 1 2020

Difficulty: 4/5

Overall Rating: 5/5

Your Grade: Credit(screwed up final exam, was getting a mid DI average before that)

Comments: Didn’t know what to expect when enrolling into advanced stream at first, but it is worth it! It was different and new compared to high school maths(for whoever who see this in the future, you would have done some linear algebra in the new syllabus) and the lecturers and tutors made it easy to understand. It was also very helpful that the teaching team is almost always on Ed forums solving and answering our question, providing tips for assignments etc.

The assignments requires critical thinking and a great grasp and application of different concepts, which was quite challenging for me at first. But after looking at the normal level tutorial questions and assignments, which were quite straightforward compared to advanced, I decided to stay in advanced to challenge myself (and since it is first sem, why not just give it a go?), also meeting like minded people who loved maths.
Note: lectures go more in depth compared to normal level unit
Title: Re: USyd Unit Reviews
Post by: alisontungmy on July 16, 2020, 10:33:31 pm: Subject Code/Name: MATH1921 Calculus of one variable(Advanced)

Contact Hours: 2x 1 hour lecture, 1x 1 hour tutorial

Assumed Knowledge/Pre-requisite: HSC Extension 2 or 90 in HSC Extension 1

Assessment: 2x 5% assignment, 2x 10% quizzes, final exam(70%)

Lecture Recordings? Yes, lectures were uploaded around the usual lecture times due to COVID

Notes/Materials Available: Lecture notes from lectures are modified and uploaded, typed lecture notes also available on canvas and Kopystop

Textbook: Daniel Daners, Lecture Notes for MATH 1921/1931:. Available in print from KopyStop, 55 Mountain St, Broadway. (Available free on Canvas, only used this mostly)
Michael Spivak, Calculus, reference covering advanced topics
Gordon Monro, Proofs & problems in calculus, reference on how to think about proofs
James Stewart, Calculus, reference for routine exercises

Lecturer(s): Daniel Daners

Year & Semester of completion: Sem 1 2020

Difficulty: 4/5

Overall Rating: 5/5

Your Grade: Distinction

Comments: Had the same initial feelings as linear algebra, Didn’t know what to expect when enrolling into advanced stream at first, but it is challenging and fun! It picked straight up from where the extension 2 syllabus ended(future students might find some overlap in high school and this unit due to the new syllabus. The discussions on Ed forums and the tutorial questions were challenging(but having detailed tutorial solutions were very helpful to understand where I get confused.

Not needing to wake up for 8am lectures due to COVID was great(while also messing up my daily study schedule by catching up at a different time ahaha)

The assignments again requires critical thinking and a great grasp and application of different concepts, which was quite challenging for me at first. Persistence and constant practice were really important as all of the assignments were challenging, and sometimes no one gets full mark in quizzes and in the final exams. Overall if you loved calculus in high school and have a passion for maths, you will enjoy this unit :D
Note: lectures go more in depth compared to normal level
Title: Re: USyd Unit Reviews
Post by: alisontungmy on July 16, 2020, 11:36:48 pm: Subject Code/Name: BIOL1996 Life and Evolution(Special Studies Program)

Contact Hours: 2x 1 hour lecture(with Advanced), 1x 3 hour lab(with BIOL1998 Human Bio SSP)

Assumed Knowledge/Pre-requisite: 90 or above in HSC Biology

Assessment: Lab book(5%), Pre lab quizzes(5%), MtDNA report(30%), Wildlife forensics presentation(20%), Final exam(40%)

Lecture Recordings? Yes, pre recorded due to COVID

Notes/Materials Available: none

Textbook: Knox, B., Ladiges, P., Evans, B. & Saint, R. (2014) Biology: An Australian Focus 5th Edition. McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd, Sydney.

Lecturer(s): too many to list(they were all great), unit coordinator: Ros Gloag

Year & Semester of completion: Sem 1 2020

Difficulty: 2/5

Overall Rating: 5/5

Your Mark/Grade: Distinction

Comments: This unit was amazing! All levels of this unit(1006,1906,1996) share the same lectures but what differs was the lab content and assignments. The lecture content overlaps quite a bit with HSC Biology so I didn’t find it hard to study for.
SSP didn’t have a mid-semester test unlike Advanced and normal, and the labs are more focused on the microbiology side(with DNAs) compared to the other 2 levels which is more focused on flora and fauna etc. I wish I can take all levels of this but i can’t :(
It was sad that we couldn’t complete much labs on campus, I would have loved analysing my own maternal ancestry through my MtDNA, but Ros, Madeleine and lab demos did a great job with online teaching. They gave very detailed and useful feedback for assignments which will be useful in future science assignments and presentations. I loved this unit so much :D
Title: Re: USyd Unit Reviews
Post by: alisontungmy on July 18, 2020, 08:42:45 pm: Subject Code/Name: EDUF1018 Education, Teachers and Teaching

Contact Hours: 1x 1hr lecture, 1x 2hr tutorial

Assumed Knowledge: n/a

Assessment: Weekly reflections(60%), Critical Narrative(40%) (a group assignment was cancelled and weighting was re-distributed)

Lecture Recordings? Yes, lectures are pre recorded due to COVID

Notes/Materials Available: N/a

Textbook: n/a, but there are required readings every week available on library website

Lecturer(s): too much to list

Year & Semester of completion: 2020 sem 1

Difficulty: 3.5/5

Overall Rating: 4/5

Your Mark/Grade: Distinction

Comments: A lot of interesting content about pedagogies are covered, it was interesting that certain pedagogical practices are always around us in school.
Although there are relatively less contact hours for this unit, the readings and weekly 300 word reflections takes up quite some time(it is hard to be concise, and I’m not a great writer)
Note that different tutors have different requirements for the weekly reflection, most wants a pure analysis of readings+lectures, while others want an interweaving analysis of readings+lectures+tutorial+real life examples(mine wanted the later)
Some lecturers repeat the content in the required readings, which was quite boring, but other lecturers did well by further exploring those pedagogical theories.
To be honest I didn’t expect the huge amount of writing and analytical thinking needed for this unit, I can say that I spent more time on this unit compared to my 6cp science units oops. Overall it was fun but it did made me doubt if I should transfer to B. Sci/M. Math science(as I hate writing)
Sorry for the lack of structure in comments XD
Title: Re: USyd Unit Reviews
Post by: alisontungmy on July 18, 2020, 09:08:04 pm: Subject Code/Name: GEOS1001 Earth, Environment and Society

Contact Hours: 1x 2hr lecture, 1x 2hr computer lab

Assumed Knowledge: n/a

Assessment: Poster(15%), Group presentation(15%), Essay(30%), Final Exam(40%), tutorial participation(0% but marks can be deducted if you did not submit practical maps)
Lecture Recordings? yes, lectures were delivered live on zoom and recorded due to COVID

Notes/Materials Available: N/a

Textbook: no

Lecturer(s): Bree Morgan, Bill Pritchard, Damian Field, Sabin Zahirovic

Year & Semester of completion: 2020 sem 1

Difficulty: 3.5/5

Overall Rating: 3.5/5

Your Mark/Grade: Credit

Comments: This was a fun unit overall, it covers the surface of various geological concepts and some political geography related to climate change. Some lecturers were quite dry, which made the 2hr straight of lecture dreadful XD. All the lecturers were quite nice and helpful tho.
The tutorials were...not so great off-campus. Being off campus made the already slow ArcGIS even more slower. One single click took 5 minutes to load and it took me 7 hours to finish a practical once. It also takes up a lot of storage space on my computer so it made my computer even slower. But otherwise, the practical concepts were fun(despite the horrible app)
Note: The poster and essay had quite a close due date, so start doing it whenever possible.
Title: Re: USyd Unit Reviews
Post by: angewina_naguen on July 23, 2020, 10:23:15 pm: Subject Code/Name: ENSE2043 Choir 3

Contact Hours: 1x 3 hour rehearsal; this was adjusted due to COVID-19 though and all rehearsals were independently conducted.

Assumed Knowledge: You will complete a short pitch and range test before rehearsals for voice placement. I did Choirs 1 and 2 last year which meant I was already placed in my voice part.

Assessment: Continual assessment of professional demeanour and ensemble skills demonstrated during rehearsals and performances (90%), Warm-up assignment (10%).

Lecture Recordings? None

Notes/Materials Available: None

Textbook: None; you borrow the score for whatever work is being studied and performed for the semester from the Con library before the first rehearsal.

Lecturer(s): Elizabeth (Liz) Scott

Year & Semester of completion: 2020, Semester 1

Difficulty: 4/5

Overall Rating: 2.5/5

Your Mark/Grade: 82 DI

Comments: This semester, we did Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Requiem as our core repertoire for choir. Prior to the semester, I was involved in another choir which did Joseph Haydn's Requiem and the resemblance between the two still amazes me. I was initially excited to sing the work and have another semester of ensemble skills development but COVID-19 really jeopardised my experience of this unit.

The assessment for this unit was more formal than last year's. Due to the pandemic, we had to submit recordings of the allocated movements for the week. I tried to approach it with as much enthusiasm as possible and to give the whole shift to online learning the benefit of the doubt but the routine became incredibly tedious, energy-draining and even, to an extent, a nuisance. Finding a quiet place to complete the recording was a challenge because no matter where I was, there was always noise coming from either in or out of the house. I also am a huge perfectionist so each recording took an insane number of takes (the most difficult movement took me 74 times to perfect) to get through the movements with everything pitch perfect. Factor in as well the time I spent uploading and re-uploading (if it failed the first time) each video and I ended up spending an entire day just on this one unit. I did like completing the warm-up assignment because I felt like it gave me the opportunity to exercise my creativity and it allowed me to make an educational resource that I could use as a choral conductor myself one day. I also liked how it was something that was graded with an actual criteria, rather than based off abstract judgements like the rest of the marks I received/did not receive for my participation in the ensemble.

In short, this is not how choir is supposed to be at the Con and while I did find fun in singing the Requiem through each week, it was the worst of my units to do in quarantine. The only reason why I did not it rate it lower was because of how kind, responsive and encouraging Liz and the rest of the creative team who were in charge of the unit were with me. Choir really is one of those subjects that loses its effectiveness when conducted remotely and I hope next semester's students who enrol in it have a far more enjoyable experience aligning with the true joy that choir can give someone.
Title: Re: USyd Unit Reviews
Post by: angewina_naguen on July 24, 2020, 10:20:35 pm: Subject Code/Name: MCGY3602 Understanding East Asian Music

Contact Hours: 1x 2 hour seminar

Assumed Knowledge: None

Assessment: Academic blog post (20%); Class participation (30%); Major essay (50%).

Lecture Recordings? Yes; they are usually uploaded after the class but due to COVID-19, they were often pre-recorded.

Notes/Materials Available: None

Textbook: None; set readings are assigned on Canvas for each week and can be retrieved from the USYD library.

Lecturer(s): Catherine Ingram, Lewis Cornwell and weekly guest lecturers

Year & Semester of completion: 2020, Semester 1

Difficulty: 3/5

Overall Rating: 4/5

Your Mark/Grade: 94 HD

Comments: For this semester, I took MCGY3602 to fulfil my mandatory musicology ethnographical studies unit for my principal study. Unlike the other musicology units I have taken at the Con so far, this unit challenged myself and my peers to explore music with a variety of ways of thinking, especially those beyond the eurocentrism that had, for most of us, been ingrained as a result of our musical training and upbringing. The unit focuses on Chinese, Korean and Japanese music, with weekly guests that are invited based on the topic we were covering for the week. I initially came into the unit quite nervous and only really being familiar with the popular music of these cultures, and to an extent the traditional music of Japan because of my mum, but found myself engaging deeply with the diverse range of genres and musical styles explored in the unit.

For a 6cp unit, MCGY3602 was very light in workload and, to an extent, felt more like a 3cp subject. This made my experience taking it in quarantine really pleasant because I only had to focus on getting a reading (which was roughly 20-30 pages long) and maybe four discussion questions done each week. We were also assigned to do one in-class presentation based on one of the readings. I chose to do mine on the music in Akira Kurosawa's Ran which was heaps of fun because I actually studied it in Year 11 for English. Having the opportunity to analyse the music and to draw connections between it and the concepts we were learning about in class was highly beneficial for developing my critical analysis and thinking skills. I also enjoyed visiting the White Rabbit Gallery again for my first assignment and combining my passion for art with musical analysis. The only heavy aspect of this unit was the major essay which was 3000 words. I struggled with choosing the right works to explore at first because of how broad the essay questions were but found my footing, partially because I knew at last what I was doing but also because of the ever-increasing closeness of the deadline. Overall, the assessments were fun to complete and I have no regrets for the subject in terms of how I conducted myself with the work we had in it.

In hindsight, I wish I had asked more questions in class because we had many interesting and engaging guests come in to workshop with us. I felt like this was what made the unit so effective and moving for us as students. Catherine is also quite quiet and reserved from first impression but she was a highly inspiring lecturer and offered us many opportunities to exercise our creativity in this unit of study. I would strongly recommend anyone who has spare room in their degree at the Con to take this unit which will not only change how you experience music, but also how you appreciate it.
Title: Re: USyd Unit Reviews
Post by: angewina_naguen on July 24, 2020, 11:10:25 pm: Subject Code/Name: MCGY2612 Music of the Classical and Romantic Eras

Contact Hours: 1x 2 hour lecture, 1x 1 hour tutorial

Assumed Knowledge: The ability to read musical notation and basic knowledge of music theory.

Assessment: Essay (30%); Tutorial assignments and participation (30%); In-class tests (10%); 1 x 2hr exam (30%).

Lecture Recordings? Yes; these were usually uploaded after class but due to COVID-19, they pre-recorded and uploaded the night before instead.

Notes/Materials Available: None

Textbook: A History of Western Music 9th Edition (J. Peter Burkholder, Donald Jay Grout, Claude V. Palisca)

Lecturer(s): David Larkin

Year & Semester of completion: 2020 Semester 1

Difficulty: 4/5

Overall Rating: 5/5

Your Mark/Grade: 89 HD

Comments: If I could give this subject a 10/5, I would. This subject is compulsory for all classical students and music education majors to take in their degree. Despite my history of not being particularly fond of all the mandatory units I have been made to do, MCGY2612 has been hands down my favourite subject yet that I have done in university.

The assessments for this unit were difficult but intellectually stimulating. I chose to write about Mendelssohn's Italian Symphony for my tutorial assignment which I started researching for, as advice from an ex-student, as soon as the semester commenced. This really enabled me to develop a stronger grasp on the critical issues surrounding the work and to approach my assignment with more control. For my essay, I chose to write about the exotic portrayals in Bizet's The Pearl Fishers and Rimsky-Korsakov's Antar Symphony. The question was not only a thrill to respond to, but I also felt validated by the end of the unit because I took a fairly controversial argument in my essay and managed to have it approved, I assume since there was no criticism in the feedback for it, by my lecturer. I think a good unit of study should push for students to explore radical ideas and challenge accepted ways of understanding music and to inspire students to think bigger. The exams for this unit, while a total nightmare to study for because of the enormous amount of content, were great for differentiation purposes. My only qualm about the way assessments were conducted was using ProctorU for the final exam. A number of students were affected by this which meant they had to retake the exam and having to not accidentally make yourself look suspicious was just added pressure even if our exams were submitted successfully. Everything else about this unit was highly successful.

You could not imagine anyone more excited than I was to study this subject. I dedicated my entire Monday night to just completing my tutorial preparation and even doing extra reading to answer some of the general knowledge questions David asked in the tutorials. I chose to make MCGY2612 worth my time and effort and it paid off well not just with my result, but also my newfound confidence in my knowledge of Classical and Romantic music. Considering I was told by my distance education teacher in Year 11 that I was going to struggle in university if I could not handle Music 2, this unit felt like a destiny I was always meant to fulfil. All of this came down to David Larkin who really lives up to his name as being one of the best lecturers at the Con. I was fortunate to have him as a tutor as well and he responded to all my enquiries with immense help. His feedback for my assessments was also very detailed and I overall owe him the success and enjoyment I had in this unit. This unit has inspired me to take on another historical studies unit next semester for my principal study and if I were given the option to redo it, I would. In summary, I had nothing of an amazing experience in MCGY2612 and hope anyone else who picks it makes the most out of it too.
Title: Re: USyd Unit Reviews
Post by: angewina_naguen on January 29, 2021, 11:46:17 am: Subject Code/Name: MCGY2011 Harmony and Analysis 4

Contact Hours: 1x 1 hour lecture, 1x 1 hour tutorial

Assumed Knowledge: MCGY2010

Assessment: Weekly assignments (50%), final examination (50%)

Lecture Recordings? Yes. I did MCGY2011 during COVID-19 so the lectures were pre-recorded and are uploaded before the time of the lecture. Tutorials were not recorded though.

Notes/Materials Available: None

Textbook: Workbook for Harmonic Practice in Tonal Music 2nd Edition (Robert Gauldin)

Lecturer(s): Lewis Cornwell

Year & Semester of completion: 2020 Semester 2

Difficulty: 3.5/5

Overall Rating: 4/5

Your Mark/Grade: 81 DI

Comments: MCGY2011 was the final compulsory Harmony and Analysis unit I needed to complete to qualify for my degree and really brought all the knowledge I gained in the previous three units together. I had heard from multiple people that this was the most satisfying and fulfilling Harmony unit and having done it, I can definitely see why!

I took this unit online because of the pandemic still restricting the number of people available on campus but adapted quickly to learning the content since it was very much an extension of what we already knew. I also found that taking this unit remotely made the presence of a proper routine even more important than ever. I made it part of my week to spend time actually printing out my assignments which were usually handed to us in person for classes and doing the exercises in the workbook to consolidate my knowledge as I progressed through the course. I did have a week or two where I had to request an extension to get my weekly assignments done but Lewis was super understanding and always gave me adequate time to submit my work at its best. However, the final exam was really difficult, more so than the ones for the other units. While it was open-book, it was still under timed conditions which I think was a good way of going about it but it didn't exactly mean the exam was easier. Perhaps it was more challenging for me especially because I was also in the middle of my first teaching placement at the time and had less time to revise for it amidst all my lesson planning and prac work. I'm proud of my result for this unit though and am glad that my consistent effort during the semester paid off in helping me finally get above 80.

My thoughts about the unit have changed so much since my first review of MCGY1008. I now value the subject so much more and almost wish I had room to take Advanced Harmony in my degree. I'm definitely going to miss Lewis' wit and humour and am hoping I'll be able to make him proud when I am in a school and teaching counterpoint for the first time to my own students. I hope everyone who takes this unit finds their reasons to enjoy it because I certainly did!
Title: Re: USyd Unit Reviews
Post by: angewina_naguen on January 31, 2021, 08:11:58 pm: Subject Code/Name: MCGY1003 Aural Perception 3

Contact Hours: 1x 1 hour Lab, 1x 1 hour Solfege tutorial

Assumed Knowledge: MCGY1003

Assessment: In-class solfege exercises (20%), Transcription assignments (30%), Oral examination (50%).

Lecture Recordings? Yes; the lectures were pre-recorded because of COVID-19 and were uploaded by the morning of the class. Tutorials were conducted on Zoom and not recorded though.

Notes/Materials Available: None

Textbooks: Manual for Ear Training and Sight Singing 2nd Edition (Gary S. Karpinski), Anthology for Sight Singing (Gary S. Karpinski and Richard Kram).

Lecturer(s): Alex Chilvers

Year & Semester of completion: 2020, Semester 2

Difficulty: 4/5

Overall Rating: 4/5

Your Mark/Grade: 73 CR

Comments: MCGY2004 was run entirely online when I was enrolled in it due to the pandemic. I found that it was highly successful in execution and a really enjoyable unit overall.

Usually, Aural Perception classes are conducted as two tutorials with Lab (melodic dictation) and Solfege. However, the unit was changed instead to being a theory-based lecture and a practical tutorial which blended Lab and Solfege together. I actually preferred this system because it meant I was thinking about the applications of all the aural skills together. The pre-recorded lecture for 9am also meant I could watch it the night before and more time to sleep in/do my readings for the classes I had during the day. I also liked that we had transcription assignments and tutorial tests, rather than weekly homework to submit like in MCGY2003. The course content itself though was quite difficult and each week felt like an absolute overload of information. I still struggle with pitching the octatonic scale now and I had been trying to sing it for the full twelve weeks I was studying the unit. I found the exam really challenging at the end of the course but I attribute this to not revising as much as I could have during the semester and trying to cram all my study in the final weeks leading up to it. It is also a bit unreasonable, in my eyes, for 20 minutes of assessment to be worth 50% of the grade and I suspect most of my performance in the unit was affected negatively because I was so underprepared for that exam.

Despite these minor complaints which really are only present because of my own poor time management, MCGY2004 was a fun and beneficial unit. One thing I valued to a great extent was how Alex selected diverse examples for the unit's repertoire. I loved how he went from using 70's and 80's music to illustrate secondary dominants, to having us analyse the chord progressions for a Juice WRLD song. I felt that this demonstrated how the skills developed in Aural Perception can be applied to the music that I listen to and will ultimately be teaching more of in the classroom. I am looking forward to my final Aural Perception unit this coming semester and seeing how it will compare to this one!
Title: Re: USyd Unit Reviews
Post by: angewina_naguen on January 31, 2021, 10:03:17 pm: Subject Code/Name: MCGY2615 The Ultimate Art: 400 Years of Opera

Contact Hours: 1x 1 hour lecture, 1x 2 hour tutorial

Assumed Knowledge: MCGY2611 or MCGY2612 or MCGY2613 or MUSC1506

Assessment: Three module tasks (60%), Final essay (40%).

Lecture Recordings? Yes; the lectures were presented live and uploaded afterwards for viewing. The tutorials were also run live and recorded.

Notes/Materials Available: None

Textbooks: Cambridge Introductions to Music Opera (Robert Cannon)

Lecturer(s): Alan Maddox, David Larkin and Michael Halliwell

Year & Semester of completion: 2020, Semester 2

Difficulty: 3/5

Overall Rating: 4.5/5

Your Mark/Grade: 89 HD

Comments: MCGY2615 was my final principal study unit for my major in Musicology which I chose to fulfil the mandatory Historical Studies component of my degree. After greatly enjoying my time in my foundation units for musicology, I decided to choose this elective to take which I figured would be both strongly useful for my own performance practice as a classical singer and challenging for my academic study.

I took this course completely online and found that it was organised and run efficiently. Having three different lecturers at first was a bit of a concern for me because I really value consistency but I think it was the best way to run this unit since each tutor specialised in the period of history they were covering. I especially enjoyed the 18th century week and 19th century weeks in this course because they felt like a natural extension from MCGY2612 last semester. I personally did not use the textbook much in this course other than to complete the assigned readings for each week. Otherwise, it was only really handy when it came to my assessments and even then, I preferred to find my own resources for the more niche operatic works I chose to analyse. As for the actual assessments, I liked that we had options for each module task so we could play with our strengths and present work that was reflective of our own interests. I think my other units should adopt this as well. Furthermore, you were not marked on tutorial preparation which took off a lot of pressure for me each week and I could adjust how much I prepared for each class depending on the number of readings I had to do and my commitments to other subjects. The marking turnaround for this subject was quite slow compared to everything else I took this semester but my lecturers were understandably in the middle of major research projects themselves to do.

I most appreciated the compassion of my tutors in this unit. I was generously granted extensions for three out of the four tasks which enabled me to handle each task with care and perform to my best. I was fortunate that they were sympathetic to my situation and am forever grateful for the feedback I was provided after each assessment which has helped my academic writing improve drastically. There were so many fond memories I made in this unit. I enjoyed the Break Out room discussions with my classmates, the Die Meistersinger watch party that was held at the end of the semester and I overall think it was so worth it. I am glad I was able to take this unit since it only comes around every two years and I hope that I can continue to engage with operas and the issues surrounding them in the future.
Title: Re: USyd Unit Reviews
Post by: angewina_naguen on February 01, 2021, 11:50:08 am: Subject Code/Name: MUED3031 Teaching Jazz in Secondary Education

Contact Hours: 1x 2 hour seminar

Assumed Knowledge: None; MUED3031 is best taken in second year onwards though because the skills you gain in Harmony and Analysis and Aural Perception are transferrable into this unit.

Assessment: Philosophy of instruction (20%), Peer teaching workshop and resource kit (50%), Reflection on jazz pedagogy (30%).

Lecture Recordings? Yes; the recordings for each seminar were uploaded by the end of the day of the class.

Notes/Materials Available: None; all the readings and resources for this unit were provided on Canvas for us to access.

Textbooks: None

Lecturer(s): Christopher Coady, Alexander Hone

Year & Semester of completion: 2020, Semester 2

Difficulty: 3.5/5

Overall Rating: 5/5

Your Mark/Grade: 87 HD

Comments: MUED3031 is a compulsory unit that Music Education students are required to qualify for the degree. I was actually scheduled to take this unit in 2019 but chose to wait a year and enrol in it alongside my friends who did it last year. I'm really glad I made this decision and took Composition in Music Education instead in my first year which helped me navigate well through this course.

This unit was run online for the first three weeks in which we did a jazz history and thinking about jazz pedagogy crash course with Chris Coady. The remaining weeks of the semester were taken on campus with Alex Hone running a practical approach to teaching jazz in high schools. I thoroughly enjoyed this structure for the unit because it meant we were provided with a comprehensive overview of the subject matter from a theoretical, historical and cultural perspective before diving straight into the music and methods of teaching itself. The assignments were a nice balance between written, reflective writing and practical resource-making and content creation that will be useful for us on our secondary school placements in the next two years. For the peer teaching workshop, I really appreciated that we were given the option to work in pairs because it definitely was easier to do and perform well in with a partner to share the workload with. I basically have no faults for how this subject was run at all and the nature of its assessments. I think the unit coordinators did a fantastic job at maximising what we could gain from the unit given the unique circumstances of the pandemic.

As a student with next to no jazz experience prior to the unit, I found it difficult at times to grasp some of the more complex content in the class and felt really conscious about my ability level as a performer/improviser. That being said, the class was highly welcoming and growth-oriented which made me feel comfortable with making mistakes and asking questions. I am hoping to possibly audit another Chris unit next semester when I have more free space in my timetable because I was so inspired and fascinated by jazz history by the end of his weeks of teaching. I also felt blessed to have Alex as a tutor; his sense of humour, professionalism and approachability made him a hit with our cohort. Another side note about this unit is that it often runs in the evening from 5:30pm-7:30pm which might seem a bit inconvenient but it was so worth the travel and the late finish. I almost wished some weeks we could stay the whole night! I hope future students also find the level of enjoyment I did in this unit and find their own way of harmonising jazz with their identity as a music teacher through it.
Title: Re: USyd Unit Reviews
Post by: angewina_naguen on February 01, 2021, 03:11:01 pm: Subject Code/Name: MUED1009 Psychology of Learning and Instruction

Contact Hours: 1x 1 hour lecture, 1x 1 hour tutorial

Assumed Knowledge: None

Assessment: Tutorial presentation (25%), Collaborative learning task (20%), Quiz (25%), Essay (30%).

Lecture Recordings? Yes; all classes were run live and recordings were uploaded by the end of the day.

Notes/Materials Available: None; all the readings and resources for this unit were provided on Canvas for us to access.

Textbooks: Educational Psychology: Constructing Learning 6th edition (D. McInerney & Valentina McInerney)

Lecturer(s): Deborah Chadwick

Year & Semester of completion: 2020, Semester 2

Difficulty: 4/5

Overall Rating: 2/5

Your Mark/Grade: 72 CR

Comments: MUED1009 is a compulsory unit for Music Education students and is the first of two educational psychology classes we have to take. I don't really like complaining and being critical for no reason but this unit was really upsetting. I was told by a lot of people in the cohorts about me that this would be one of the best units I would take in the degree and it was far from being a unit I enjoyed, let alone my favourite.

This unit was run entirely online this semester but while I honestly want to attribute this as the key reason why the subject was unsuccessful, there were just so many other things that went wrong that I could only give my lecturer the benefit of the doubt from the fact that it was conducted remotely. Firstly, the assessment tasks were incredibly demanding and unreasonable. Four tasks, of which three involved major research and two being presentations, is already too much to work within what is supposed to only be a 3 credit point subject. Our first task which asked of us to have a presentation, resource and script was due in the third week of semester when we had hardly gone through any content. The marking in this subject was so jarring and inconsistent; it is no wonder only a small handful of people managed to get Distinctions in it. The essay question was horrible (I could rant for hours about this but I won't) and I received next to no feedback explaining why I barely passed the assessment. I felt so much stress because of this unit in terms of the workload alone but the classes themselves were just as disappointing. The content was okay but I was really disengaged throughout the semester. The textbook is outdated, the slides have definitely been recycled and I felt as though I learnt more from doing outside research and making my own notes in preparation for the quiz than from the actual course itself. To top all of this off, I had never been so unimpressed by a lecturer ever. I was okay with Deborah not being experienced in online teaching but it didn't help that she chose to be uncooperative with students who raised concerns to her, act passive aggressive to us after our quizzes and treat us poorly due to her own struggles with navigating Zoom. I am sympathetic to her because last semester was such a challenge for all of us but unlike her, my other lecturers were humble, compassionate and helpful.

Overall, my final impressions of the unit are rather negative and I am slightly dreading my second educational psychology unit this semester. However, I am hoping to put my performance in MUED1009 aside and to work harder so I can improve. I hope having Deborah in person this semester will also increase my engagement in her classes because I strongly believe in second chances and look forward to reporting about Adolescent Behaviour and Development with more positive remarks.
Title: Re: USyd Unit Reviews
Post by: angewina_naguen on February 02, 2021, 01:57:05 pm: Subject Code/Name: MUED2302 Classroom Management

Contact Hours: 1x 2 hour seminar

Assumed Knowledge: MUED1010 or MUED1005 or MUED1009 or MUED1008

Assessment: Student well-being hub journal entries (40%), Problem solving exercise (20%), Classroom Management plan (40%).

Lecture Recordings? Yes; all classes were run live and recordings were uploaded by the end of the day.

Notes/Materials Available: None; all the readings and resources for this unit were provided on Canvas for us to access.

Textbooks: None

Lecturer(s): Jennifer Rowley, Tom Fienberg

Year & Semester of completion: 2020, Semester 2

Difficulty: 3/5

Overall Rating: 4.5/5

Your Mark/Grade: 98 HD

Comments: MUED2302 is a new unit that was added to the enrolment pattern for Music Education students in 2020. After feedback from previous cohorts about the importance of dedicating time to classroom management, this course was created and designed to prepare us for the challenges that may arise in a contemporary music classroom.

The classes ran online and are supposed to be two hours in length. However, a majority decision from our cohort changed this to one hour intensives which ended up being more effective. This meant that we were concentrating fully for the entire duration of the class but that we were also not spending an unnecessary amount of time doing extra reading or preparation that would have been probably required for a second hour. I enjoyed the blended approach to learning about classroom management from both theoretical perspectives and practical strategies for application. The course content was also varied in what we covered (wellbeing, mobile phone use and handling of instruments are some examples of what we discussed), and updated to what classroom management involves today. The assessments for this unit were also reasonable for what was a 3cp unit and examined the subject matter of the course well. I particularly liked that our last assessment was to devise an actual classroom management plan because it not only encouraged me to reflect more deeply about my own philosophy and beliefs about what managing a class means to me, but also because I now either could use it in a school or have it as a model for future CMP's I might need to write when I'm out teaching.

My experience in this unit was really positive overall and it definitely shows with how insanely high my final result was. I have to say it definitely exceeded my expectations because I thought it was going to be way worse since it was the first time this course was run, it was done entirely online and it also was the reason why I had to overload last semester. Despite the circumstances that I was taking this unit in, I found that it was run with high levels of professionalism. I really appreciate the depth of feedback I received for the assessments and how considerate Jennifer and Tom were towards the learning difficulties and stress many of us were going through during the semester. I only wonder what it would have been like in person and I definitely think one thing the unit might choose to take on board in future is to have an observation of a class component embedded within it. I felt that I was quite overwhelmed on my first placement with just how different classroom management looked in my particular school so perhaps a week or two where students are asked to analyse a teacher's strategies (whether it be video recorded or in person, though I imagine the first for logistical reasons) and evaluate them in relation to the theories we explored in the unit. Otherwise, I came out of this unit feeling far more confident and open to the challenges that might come with classroom management and I hope its impact will continue to be felt as I enter my next two years of the degree.
Title: Re: USyd Unit Reviews
Post by: angewina_naguen on February 02, 2021, 10:05:40 pm: Subject Code/Name: MUED2605 Children, Music and Educational Settings

Contact Hours: 1x 2 hour seminar

Assumed Knowledge: MUED1008

Assessment: Reflection on the syllabus and manifesto statement (20%), Programming and lesson planning (40%), Peer teaching (40%).

Lecture Recordings? None; classes were not recorded and the latter half of the semester was attended live in person.

Notes/Materials Available: None; all the readings and resources for this unit were provided on Canvas for us to access.

Textbooks: None

Lecturer(s): Jim Coyle

Year & Semester of completion: 2020, Semester 2

Difficulty: 3.5/5

Overall Rating: 5/5

Your Mark/Grade: 88 HD

Comments: MUED2605 is our first Teaching Methods unit which is focused on primary music education. This unit is taken in preparation for Professional Experience 1, typically incorporated in the unit but was instead separated into a three week block after the completion of the course. My review of this unit will be split into my experience within the course itself and how the course influenced my first teaching placement at my assigned public school.

This unit was run remotely for seven weeks and in person for the remaining five of the semester. The online weeks were structured as one hour intensives which gave us more opportunities to work in small groups and contribute meaningfully to discussions in class. There weren't heavy readings to do in the class and what we prepared for each class ended up being relevant to the lesson itself. Our classes in person were very similar to MUED1010 and MUED1005 with us learning songs targetted towards different stage levels (Early Stage 1, Stage 1, Stage 2 and Stage 3) and doing small group teaching exercises. Our assessments in this unit were all practical and useful. The peer teaching task was really daunting to prepare for but the fifteen minutes went by fast because it was so much fun. We also had many important discussions about cultural diversity, classroom management and repertoire selection in this class that are all critical issues worth negotiating in our practice as music educators in the 21st century. Every class was highly engaging and only affirmed just how ready I was to get into a school and start sharing all the songs and enjoyment that I myself received in the course.

MUED2605 enabled a natural transition for me into my first teaching placement which I completed at Dee Why Public School. I did my placement directly after the end of the teaching period for USYD for three weeks (this overlapped with STUVAC and finals). While it was not the most ideal time to be staying away from home and embarking on what would be some of the most intense (and sleepless) days of my life, I was fortunate to be placed at a school despite the circumstances and found myself making a second home out of the school quickly. The school uses Orff-Schulwerk pedagogy which MUED1010 and this unit have both prepared me well for and this reflected particularly in my lesson planning and delivery of content during my teaching. I also made a conscious effort to incorporate music of different cultures and genres during my time teaching at Dee Why which I felt helped me form really meaningful connections with the students and deepened their understanding of the significance of music to their lives, others and wider society. My best classes were with Year 5 in which we did World Music and my highlight of my placement was delivering a lesson on Aboriginal mission songs. This class was not only an example of just how well MUED2605 prepared me for teaching primary music but also was a culmination of my learning in the Music Education degree overall.

One thing I wish MUED2605 could have prepared me better for was teaching children with special needs. I was trusted with a class on my final day of placement which I was incredibly nervous for. I think a week dedicated to teaching special needs classes would enhance the unit a little more. Otherwise, I thoroughly enjoyed this unit and owe a lot of it to Jim. Not only is he now famous for having the fastest turnaround with assessment feedback out of all the lecturers I have had thus far, he was also incredibly approachable, open to being challenged and inspired many of us to be the best we could. I had so much fun in MUED2605 and look forward to reporting about my next Methods class this semester!
Title: Re: USyd Unit Reviews
Post by: alisontungmy on February 04, 2021, 01:21:25 am: Subject Code/Name: MATH1923 Multivariable Calculus and Modelling (Advanced)

Contact Hours: 2x 1 hr lectures, 1x1 hr tutorial

Assumed Knowledge/Pre-requisite: HSC Extension 2 or 90 in HSC Extension 1, MATH1x21

Assessment: 2x 5% assignment, 2x 12.5% quizzes, final exam(65%)

Lecture Recordings? Lectures were held live online using Zoom, and recorded and uploaded onto Canvas

Notes/Materials Available: Lecture notes from lectures are uploaded, typed lecture notes are available for the Modelling part

Textbook: Hugh Luckock, Lecture Notes for MATH1923: Multivariable Calculus and Modelling. Modelling Component only (available in print from KopyStop, 55 Mountain Street, Broadway)
James Stewart, Calculus (Links to an external site.), reference for routine exercise

Lecturer(s): Alexander Fish

Year/Semester of completion: Sem 2 2020

Difficulty: 5/5

Overall Rating: 5/5

Your Mark/Grade: CR

Comments:
This unit has some concepts and theorems carried on from Math 1x21 but it is not a prerequisite to do that before Multivariable. Overall, the teaching team did an amazing job and provided a lot of help, both in tutorials and EdStem forums. Lectures are also well managed and provided great knowledge and basic examples on topics. However, sometimes the difficulty of tutorial question vary quite a bit, which I find it struggling.
The assignments requires speed, critical thinking and a great grasp and application of different concepts. Persistence and constant practice were really important as all of the assignments were challenging, and it is extremely hard to get full marks on quizzes and exams. My final exam was way harder (and a bit longer) than the past papers we were given, which might be due to the fact that our exam is open book, I (and most of the cohort) struggled to finish but the final grade has shown that our marks might have been bumped up (which according to USyd, happens when too many people fail), this seem to be quite common for advanced math subjects.
Overall, this was a fun and extremely challenging experience, and if I can choose again, I would have done the normal version of the subject
Note: lectures go more in depth compared to normal level
Title: Re: USyd Unit Reviews
Post by: kauac on February 10, 2021, 01:31:42 pm: CHEM1112 CHEM1B:

Contact Hours: 3 x 1hr lectures, 1hr F2F or online tutorial, weekly online labs/ lab tasks (~2hr/week), 2 F2F Lab Skills sessions in semester.

Assumed Knowledge: CHEM1111

Assessment: Weekly Lecture Quizzes, 3 Tutorial Quizzes, Spectroscopy Assignment (10%), Lab Quizzes, Lab Logbooks, Open Book Final Exam (55%).

Lecture Recordings? Due to COVID, first half of unit was online live but also recorded lectures. Second half was just recorded lectures.

Notes/Materials Available: /

Textbook: Blackman, Bottle, Schmid, Mocerino and Wille,Chemistry, 3rd Edition, 2015 (John Wiley)

Lecturer(s): Shane Wilkinson & Meredith Jordan

Year & Semester of completion: 2020, Semester 2

Difficulty: 3/5

Overall Rating: 4/5.

Your Mark/Grade: DI

Comments: This was a fitting part 2 to first year chemistry. The unit does spend a lot of time in organic chemistry, so be prepared for that. But this semester seemed to focus more on the applications of chemistry (as compared to CHEM1111, which focuses more on the basics and background of chemistry), which was quite fun to learn about! Both lecturers were very supportive and tried to make online learning as fun and engaging as possible!
Title: Re: USyd Unit Reviews
Post by: kauac on February 10, 2021, 01:51:42 pm: BIOL1007 From Molecules to Ecosystems:

Contact Hours: 2-3 x 1hr lectures, 3hr online practical, optional F2F lab skills session.

Assumed Knowledge: HSC Biology

Assessment: Weekly pre-practical quizzes, 4 post-module quizzes, online lab logbook "Lab Archives", Scientific Report Draft, Peer Review, Scientific Report, Proficiency Assessment, Module Reflection, Open Book Final Exam (35%). Don't let the amount of assignments seem overwhelming - they were all quite little and manageable.

Lecture Recordings? All lectures recorded due to COVID. Often broken up into 2 parts for each lecture.

Notes/Materials Available: Post-module Q & A's and revision questions were provided.

Textbook: There was one, don't think I used it.

Lecturer(s): Too many to list - featured according to their area of work / expertise.

Year & Semester of completion: Semester 2, 2020.

Difficulty: 3/5

Overall Rating: 3/5

Your Mark/Grade: HD

Comments: I still have mixed feelings about this unit. It covered a range of different areas of biology in broad detail, so I guess it was cool to get a bit of insight into these. But as a mandatory unit for someone studying a health-related degree, some parts were definitely interesting but irrelevant (mainly the ecology module). The other 3 modules were about genetics, biochemistry (quite difficult for those with a non-chemistry background, I heard) and health/disease, and went into a bit more detail than high school biology. The lectures could be a bit dry at times though.

The pracs were definitely cool and challenging, however, I found I was spending more time and energy answering the mandatory questions on lab archives than I was actually engaging with the content. I loved the F2F skills session, definitely gave me more confidence going into 2nd year biology. But overall, the unit was well run with coordinators who understood the challenges of online learning and catered accordingly.
Title: Re: USyd Unit Reviews
Post by: alisontungmy on February 10, 2021, 10:08:46 pm: Since Kauac posted about this, I thought I might also do my review on the ssp version of this unit, I have similar comments about the lectures so I might go deeper in the lab component

BIOL1997 From Molecules to Ecosystems (Special Studies Program):

Contact Hours: 2-3 x 1hr lectures, 3hr online practical (2 in-person lab sessions, rest was online)

Assumed Knowledge/Prerequisite : Band 6 in HSC Biology

Assessment: 4 post-module quizzes (6%, only best 3 counted), online lab logbook "Lab Archives" (7%), Calculations Assessment (7%), Lab Skills Assessment (10%), Synthetic Biology project (5%), CellPAINT poster (10%), Research proposal (20%), Open Book Final Exam (35%).

Lecture Recordings? All lectures recorded due to COVID. Often broken up into 2 parts for each lecture.

Notes/Materials Available: Post-module Q & A's and revision questions were provided.

Textbook: There was one, never used it

Lecturer(s): Too many to list

Year & Semester of completion: Semester 2, 2020.

Difficulty: 3.5/5

Overall Rating: 3/5

Your Mark/Grade: D

Comments: It covered a range of different areas of biology, really went from the molecular level to the ecosystem level (like its name). I initially struggled in the biochemistry parts of this unit as I didn’t do chemistry in school, so it took a while to understand some concepts. But as a mandatory unit for someone studying a health-related degree, some parts were definitely interesting but irrelevant (mainly the ecology module). I agree that lectures could be a bit dry at times.

The pracs were challenging. Unlike normal and advanced, our practice were not particularly relevant to the lecture content. Instead, we looked at modelling different proteins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and using synthetic biology skills, we looked at possible/potential ways and methods to try and cure Covid (on a genetic level), and wrote up a proposal on our chosen protein and how it would potential suppress COVID-19 virus. The workload from prac was a lot at the start of the year, (having around 8 questions for pre-lab work and another 10 for post lab, which mostly required external research), this made around 10 people dropping to Normal level, and us complaining to the unit coordinator through the unit survey. They listened to our opinions and reduced our pre-lab work component, and moved the questions into lab time. Overall, it was a fun and challenging experience, I’ve learnt much more about COVID-19 on a molecular level and I enjoyed the labs quite a lot. I do wish that the labs are more linked to the lectures though
Title: Re: USyd Unit Reviews
Post by: kauac on February 11, 2021, 05:06:28 pm: DATA1001:

Contact Hours: 3 x 1 hr recorded lectures (often lectures weren't full length, so usually took ~ 2hr to complete), 2hr weekly lab content.

Assumed Knowledge: None

Assessment: Project 1 & peer review (0% - formative), Group project 2 (15%), Project 3 (15%), final exam (60%).

Lecture Recordings? They were all recorded due to COVID.

Notes/Materials Available: R Guide (produced by unit coordinator)

Textbook: There was one, didn't use it (if you would like the name, it's available on the unit outline on the USYD website :) ).

Lecturer(s): Di Warren and a few others.

Year & Semester of completion: Semester 2, 2020.

Difficulty: 2/5

Overall Rating: 5/5

Your Mark/Grade: DI

Comments:
I had low expectations starting this unit, but I had a lot of fun and learned a lot throughout the semester. The lecture content, whilst fairly interesting at times, could get a little dry. But learning how to use R was where the fun all started! The projects were great for learning more advanced code and challenging myself (and I actually enjoyed doing them!?). My first uni group project was for this subject, and my group worked really well together (but have heard some stories of some challenging groups from other friends doing the subject - so it's a bit of a chance, I guess). There was a phenomenal level of support to assist us in digesting content and learning - forums, q & a's, drop-in sessions (in person and online). Although being more of a "maths" unit, I'm glad I got to do this unit as it will definitely help with experiment design, analysing data and interpreting scientific results and reports for the rest of my science degree!
Title: Re: USyd Unit Reviews
Post by: kauac on February 11, 2021, 05:35:03 pm: MATH1013 Mathematical Modelling:

Contact Hours: 2 x 1hr lectures, 1hr tutorial (F2F or online)

Assumed Knowledge: HSC Mathematics

Assessment: 2 Assignments, 2 Quizzes, Final Open Book Exam (65%).

Lecture Recordings? All recorded due to COVID

Notes/Materials Available: Leon Poladian Lecture Notes for MATH1013 (available on Canvas)

Textbook: I think the above notes were listed as the "textbook".

Lecturer(s): Taji

Year & Semester of completion: 2020, Semester 2

Difficulty: 3/5

Overall Rating: 4/5

Your Mark/Grade: CR

Comments:
After not doing calculus / maths for 2 years, this subject did definitely get intense at times! The subject was well taught and my tutor was really helpful, however, I definitely did feel out of my depth in tutorial group work (so I tended to work by myself). The assignments and quizzes were fair, and even the final exam was fairly similar to previous years' past papers that were provided. It was interesting working through the different models, and some of these actually popped up in one of my science units! The lectures went through many worked examples, and the lecture / tutorial questions were quite engaging. My favourite one was about calculating the time for infiltration of a zombie apocalypse into a population. :)
Title: Re: USyd Unit Reviews
Post by: kauac on February 11, 2021, 08:41:59 pm: MATH1014:

Contact Hours: 2 x 1hr lectures, 1hr tutorial (F2F or online).

Assumed Knowledge: HSC Mathematics - you don't really use too much content from that, but I guess that's the level of difficulty they expect students to be able to handle to complete the unit.

Assessment: 2 Assignments, 2 Quizzes, Final Exam (65%).

Lecture Recordings? All were recorded

Notes/Materials Available:

Textbook: Didn't use it, couldn't access for free anywhere.

Year & Semester of completion: 2020, Semester 2

Difficulty: 2/5

Overall Rating: 4/5

Your Mark/Grade: DI

Comments:
This subject was a bit of a good surprise! The content was mainly to do with vectors and matrices (which I didn't do in HSC Maths, but I think is maybe in the new syllabus?), and required fairly methodical working out, which was strangely satisfying. The lecturers provided print-outs of their lecture notes, which were really nice and neat. Some of the lecture video quality wasn't the best, but they made sure to provide remedies for this when it happened. Tutorials were fun and the questions were actually helpful when done in a group. I found the final exam extremely difficult (which seemed to be a student consensus as well), but then my mark ended reflecting what I had been getting throughout semester, so that was ok. Enjoyable applications of maths as well, such as learning about barcodes and real-world maths problems.