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Author Topic: UNSW Course Reviews  (Read 288519 times)  Share 

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jamonwindeyer

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Re: UNSW Course Reviews
« Reply #15 on: December 23, 2016, 08:07:53 pm »
+5
Subject Code/Name: ELEC2134 - Circuits and Signals

Contact Hours: 3 hours of lectures (2 for circuits, 1 for signals), 3 hours of tutorial/lab hybrid

Assumed Knowledge: ELEC1111 is the prerequisite, basic circuit analysis skills (just Kirchoff's Laws, basically, and they reteach that too)

Assessment:  20% lab/tut work, 20% mid-sem, 60% final

Lecture Recordings?  Yep, for both

Notes/Materials AvailableA full extra set of video lectures available here

Textbook: “Fundamentals of Electric Circuits”, Alexander and Sadiku - A useful resource for practice questions (not many are provided otherwise), but it is not absolutely essential

Lecturer(s): Rukmi Dutta (Circuits), Julien Epps (Signals)

Year & Semester of completion: 2016/1

Difficulty: 4 out of 5

Overall Rating:  4 out of 5

Your Mark/Grade: 92 HD

Comments:
This was the hardest course I'd taken at the time (that was then obliterated by ELEC2133). The circuits part, while there is lots to remember, isn't overly difficult and was explained pretty well by Rukmi. It can get a little dry at times though. The signals part was more interesting, but also much more challenging. Very intense calculus. Julien was a fantastic lecturer but I feel like 1 hour per week wasn't quite enough to cover everything properly, felt a little rushed on occasion.

The lab/tuts are ridiculously difficult. Be prepared to spend more than the allocated time on them, unless you have someone who can explain things to you. The tutors are really helpful too. The lab/tuts are pretty boring compared to other ELEC courses; it is more tutorial work and math than actual circuit work.

This is the first time the ELEC program starts to put the pressure on, in my opinion. But I enjoyed the content and it isn't too difficult; just be prepared to give it lots of time.
« Last Edit: December 23, 2016, 08:18:50 pm by jamonwindeyer »

jamonwindeyer

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Re: UNSW Course Reviews
« Reply #16 on: February 20, 2017, 12:02:08 am »
+6
Subject Code/Name: COMP1917 - Computing 1

Contact Hours:  3 hours of lectures, 1 hour of tutorial, 2 hours of lab

Assumed Knowledge: None

Assessment:  A significant portion of the marks in this subject aren't based on coding; but instead tutorial participation, and a blog/portfolio you maintain throughout the semester. Several assignments, individual and group, as well as a final exam weighing about 60% (mix of theory and practical coding problems).

Lecture Recordings?  Yep - Used them instead of actual lectures/

Notes/Materials Available: They'll provide you with HEAPS, plus, there are a lot of resources around for beginner programming in C

Textbook: Not needed at all, especially given the subject matter

Lecturer(s): Salil Kanhere (and Richard Buckland for the videos)

Year & Semester of completion: EG - 2015/1

Difficulty: 3 out of 5

Overall Rating:  5 out of 5

Your Mark/Grade: 92 HD

Comments:
Really fantastic course to introduce you to programming. It is the advanced version, but don't let that scare you. I'd never done any coding (at least, beyond isolated hours in Python for shits and giggles when I was a little younger), but I kept up with only a reasonable amount of work, certainly no more than I'd expect to spend on a university subject. The online aspects of delivery were excellent - Richard is a great teacher, and Salil's lectures were great too (though I only went on occasion, the videos are just that good).

Assignments are challenging but not unfairly so - You could always access the problem at hand. 2/3 assignments were group work, so be ready for that. Lots of tutorial problems to prepare you for the trickier stuff in assignments and exams :)

Overall, highly recommend anyone who has the chance, even if you don't think coding is your thing, to give this subject a go. It really could surprise you ;D

Note: This subject is the old version of what is now COMP1511!
« Last Edit: February 20, 2017, 12:05:32 am by jamonwindeyer »

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Re: UNSW Course Reviews
« Reply #17 on: February 20, 2017, 12:03:09 am »
+2
Subject Code/Name: COMP1917 - Computing 1
Dropping a comment here: As of 2017 this course has been replaced by COMP1511

jamonwindeyer

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Re: UNSW Course Reviews
« Reply #18 on: February 20, 2017, 12:04:59 am »
0
Dropping a comment here: As of 2017 this course has been replaced by COMP1511

Ah yes I know! My COMP lecturer this year mentioned it was being overhauled, I was surveyed on it ;D I'll pop a note in my review above :)

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Re: UNSW Course Reviews
« Reply #19 on: February 20, 2017, 12:14:45 am »
+8
Subject Code/Name: ELEC1111 - Electrical and Telecommunications Engineering

Contact Hours:  3 hours of lectures, 1 hour of tutorial, 2 hours of lab

Assumed Knowledge: None, but knowledge of complex numbers will be immensely useful. It's taught in all the 1st year math courses, or you may have learned it in MX2. If not, not too difficult to catch up on. Some basic knowledge of Electrical Circuits is helpful (the level taught in Prelim Physics), but not mandatory)

Assessment:  60% final exam, 20% mid semester exam, 20% lab and lab exam

Lecture Recordings? Yes (with audio only at times, from memory)

Notes/Materials Available: ELSOC has heaps!

Textbook: “Fundamentals of Electric Circuits”, Alexander and Sadiku - It is used in later courses too and it is useful here; try and find a cheap used version.

Lecturer(s): We swapped between two lecturers, one of which was Dr Georgios Konstantinou (not sure of the other, unfortunately)

Year & Semester of completion: EG - 2016/2

Difficulty: 3 out of 5

Overall Rating:  5 out of 5

Your Mark/Grade: 84 DN

Comments:
I really enjoyed this course! The content was extremely interesting and not overly challenging, and the laboratories strengthened my understanding further (unlike so many labs that just seem to make things confusing). Assessment was fair - Got a bit wrecked by the mid semester but most did, overall the material is not super difficult as long as you are willing to do lots of practice (the textbook is the key there). The lecturers were good, not incredible, and I did self teach a fair bit of content.

My advice to electrical engineering students is to know this content really well - Everything builds, and if you don't know this stuff by the end then it causes real trouble in your 2nd year. It's not difficult, and it's interesting! Just be prepared to invest the time it deserves :)

jamonwindeyer

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Re: UNSW Course Reviews
« Reply #20 on: June 27, 2017, 10:13:28 pm »
+6
Subject Code/Name: DIP1112 - Introduction to the Workplace

Contact Hours:  0 in person hours, online activities are 2 hours a week max. Then two full F2F days, mine were in my midsem break.

Assumed Knowledge: -

Assessment: 10% online participation, 30% resume, 30% video interview task, 30% organisation analysis (an interview with someone from industry)

Lecture Recordings? Mixture of different material for online activities

Notes/Materials Available: -

Textbook: -

Lecturer(s): Mixture of people from the UNSW Careers and Employment Office

Year & Semester of completion: 2017/1

Difficulty: 0 out of 5

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5

Your Mark/Grade: 97

Comments:
Great course, does teach you some great stuff about the job market, LinkedIn, interviews - Lots of good little nuggets of information. Easy assessments, as long as you do the stuff on time there is virtually no way to fail this course. Works extremely well as a Gen Ed ;D

RuiAce

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Re: UNSW Course Reviews
« Reply #21 on: July 03, 2017, 03:28:01 pm »
+7
Subject Code/Name: MATH2111 - Higher Several Variable Calculus

Contact Hours: 4 x 1 hour lectures, 1 hour tutorial

Assumed Knowledge: A mark of 70 in either one of MATH1231/MATH1241/MATH1251. You should be well versed with the introductory several variable calculus taught in the first year courses. MATH1251 is slightly advantageous - Lagrange multipliers and double integrals done in advance.

Assessment:  12% - Reading/Writing Assignment, 2 x 14% - In lecture tests. The finals are weighted 60%

Lecture Recordings?  Somewhat for first half (blackboards obviously do not get recorded), Yes for second half

Notes/Materials Available: Detailed (albeit a bit confusing) notes by the lecturer for first half, limited for second half. Quizzes available on request. Most finals are uploaded onto the UNSW library website.

Textbook: N/A

Lecturer(s): Dr. Denis Potapov, Dr Jan Zika

Year & Semester of completion: 2017/1

Difficulty: 4.5/5

Overall Rating: 3/5 

Your Mark/Grade: 92 HD

Comments:
This is one of the three compulsory Level 2 courses to all mathematics disciplines, offered in semester 1. It is the higher counterpart of MATH2011. Students intending to major in mathematics and statistics must take this course or the standard version.

This course is generally regarded as the hardest of the three. It draws upon knowledge of elementary linear algebra and combines it with calculus in a more thorough and formal manner than in MATH1151/1231/1241. Mathematical analysis properly commences here, and throws students off within the first few weeks of the course.

Grasping the concepts of this course is not easy and requires quite a significant amount of time. In general, this course is only recommended to the students who believe they are capable of handling an appreciable amount of maths. Of course, lower courses have their maximum marks capped so if you feel you can achieve well you are encouraged to take this higher counterpart.

Please be advised, in advance, that this course can be a massive struggle if you're unfitted for it. MATH2011 is more computational than this course and can be easier to understand.

The final exam in 2016 baffled students to the point that this course got scaled outrageously. On the contrary, in 2017 the finals were much friendlier as they were really reflective of what was in the quizzes. Whilst the quizzes were certainly difficult, the easiness of the finals means that this course has been the easiest it's ever been since a good 6 or so years.

This was Dr. Jan Zika's first time ever at lecturing. He certainly tried his best, but I hope he keeps the improvement going.
« Last Edit: January 11, 2018, 12:38:19 am by RuiAce »

RuiAce

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Re: UNSW Course Reviews
« Reply #22 on: July 03, 2017, 03:42:45 pm »
+7
Subject Code/Name: MATH2601 - Higher Linear Algebra

Contact Hours: 2 x 2 hour lectures, 1 hour flipped-classroom tutorial

Assumed Knowledge: A mark of 70 in either one of MATH1231/MATH1241/MATH1251. You will mostly be needing only linear algebra (no probability) with a side of differential equations at the end.

Assessment: 3 x 10% - In lecture tests. 10% - Writing assignment. The finals are weighted 60%. (Note that this is the first year this means of assessment was used.)

Lecture Recordings?  Not really, as the lecturer uses the blackboard.

Notes/Materials Available:  The lecturer's notes are absolutely amazing. You may find extra material elsewhere, but the notes are all you need. The flipped classroom involves doing questions on the spot during the tutorials, and they become an extra question bank for you. Quizzes available on request. Most finals are uploaded onto the UNSW library website.

Textbook: N/A

Lecturer(s): Dr. David Angell

Year & Semester of completion: 2017/1

Difficulty: 3.5/5

Overall Rating: 4/5

Your Mark/Grade: 94 HD

Comments: This is one of the three compulsory Level 2 courses to all mathematics disciplines, offered in semester 1. It is the higher counterpart of MATH2501. Students intending to major in mathematics and statistics must take this course or the standard version.

This course is the first of many that emphasises the nature of proof on top of the actual content. Whilst a substantial amount of computation remains in this course, a huge shift towards the theoretical side of mathematics and the necessity of formalising concepts comes into play. Concepts from linear algebra in MATH1231/41/51 are explained in greater depth, and tools (e.g. rank-nullity theorem) are no longer verified, but properly proven and then used in other proofs. Essentially, all the gaps in first year linear algebra are filled here.

Many students come to appreciate the nature and/or power through linear algebra thanks to how it's been taught and through the content. David Angell, much like the recently retired Peter Brown, is regarded as one of the best lecturers in the faculty and potentially at the university.

As this was the first year a 2 hour exam was introduced (instead of a 3 hour paper), the final exam ended up being too long and students struggled. I am highly positive that scaling came into play this semester.
« Last Edit: July 06, 2017, 01:37:33 pm by RuiAce »

jakesilove

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Re: UNSW Course Reviews
« Reply #23 on: July 03, 2017, 03:43:21 pm »
+1
How do you all get such unbelievably high marks.
ATAR: 99.80

Mathematics Extension 2: 93
Physics: 93
Chemistry: 93
Modern History: 94
English Advanced: 95
Mathematics: 96
Mathematics Extension 1: 98

Studying a combined Advanced Science/Law degree at UNSW

RuiAce

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Re: UNSW Course Reviews
« Reply #24 on: July 03, 2017, 03:44:41 pm »
0
How do you all get such unbelievably high marks.
Please... Some people in my cohort got 98 in 2 courses this sem...

(No idea how  :o )

jakesilove

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Re: UNSW Course Reviews
« Reply #25 on: July 03, 2017, 03:46:46 pm »
+4
That is literally sickening. If anyone gets higher than an 85 in any of my courses, they are hailed as the next Einstein/Geoffrey Robertson (depending on which degree obvs).

Edit: If someone reminds me when I get back to Sydney, I'll post up all of my subject reviews
« Last Edit: July 03, 2017, 03:50:52 pm by jakesilove »
ATAR: 99.80

Mathematics Extension 2: 93
Physics: 93
Chemistry: 93
Modern History: 94
English Advanced: 95
Mathematics: 96
Mathematics Extension 1: 98

Studying a combined Advanced Science/Law degree at UNSW

RuiAce

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Re: UNSW Course Reviews
« Reply #26 on: July 03, 2017, 03:49:24 pm »
0
I'll post up my shittier mark one next then lol

RuiAce

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Re: UNSW Course Reviews
« Reply #27 on: July 03, 2017, 04:05:57 pm »
+7
Subject Code/Name: ACTL2111 - Financial Mathematics for Actuaries

Contact Hours: 2 hour lecture, 1 hour Excel laboratory, 1 hour tutorial

Assumed Knowledge: The prerequisites specified are ACTL1101 and MATH1251. Alternatively, students undertaking Adv Maths majoring in Quantitative Risk are only required MATH1251. Whilst concepts are reintroduced, you should know what's going on in the finance side of ACTL1101, else this course becomes ridiculously hard even at the start.

Assessment: 15% Mid-semester exam, 15% Assignment (Broken into 4 mini-submissions; 4 Excel submissions with the final submission including a report). Final exam weighted 70%

Lecture Recordings?  Yes

Notes/Materials Available: On Moodle, ample tutorial exercises and past papers are posted up. Short video recordings of Assoc. Prof. Benjamin Avanzi explaining the concepts are also available for you to view.

Textbook:  Broverman, S.A. (2015), Mathematics of Investment and Credit, 6th Edition (5th Edition also permissible). Not compulsory, but from what I was told it contains some nice summaries and questions. A separate solutions manual to the questions can be purchased.
Sherris, M. (1996), Money and Capital Markets, Pricing, Yields and Analysis, 2nd Edition, Allen & Unwin. Never heard of anything about this one.

Lecturer(s): Dr Jonathan Ziveyi

Year & Semester of completion: 2017/1

Difficulty: 3.5/5

Overall Rating: 2/5 

Your Mark/Grade: 71 CR

Comments:
This course is compulsory for any student undertaking actuarial studies to meet their Part I exemptions. This course contributes to CT1.

This course draws upon certain and contingent cash flows demonstrated in ACTL1101 as well as a few elementary concepts in probability. The first half of the course is mostly revision of material in ACTL1101, however more complex cash flows are also observed (e.g. the increasing annuity).

Proper treatment is given to various other concepts such as bonds. Unfortunately, I feel as though many concepts such as forwards, options and swaps were not explained very well. This lead to quite a disaster on my part in that I had attained substantially high marks prior to the exam, but the inability to do a whole module (there are 6 modules) lead to a mark I never wanted to see at uni.

Many concepts in Excel are very introductory, however powerful tools such as VLOOKUP are certainly studied. Much of the assignment is based off Excel as well. Note that the finals did not examine Excel,

This course helps make concepts in ACTL1101 appear more clearer, however it is of my opinion that without FINS2624 (Portfolio Management, compulsory to all finance majors in commerce degrees) this course can be substantially difficult than what was perhaps intended. Note that not everything in the course was hard; only certain aspects of it.
« Last Edit: July 06, 2017, 01:36:53 pm by RuiAce »

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Re: UNSW Course Reviews
« Reply #28 on: July 03, 2017, 04:35:45 pm »
+8
Subject Code/Name: MATH2901 - Higher Theory of Statistics

Contact Hours:  2 x 1 hour + 1 x 2 hour (Total 4 hours) lectures, 1 hour tutorial

Assumed Knowledge: One of MATH1231/MATH1241/MATH1251. As the course outline is combined with MATH2801, no explicit requirement of a mark of 70 was stated. You should be familiar with basic probability and are expected to know elementary calculus techniques such as integration by parts.

Assessment: 20% In-lecture Mid-semester exam, 2 x 10% Assignments (2017 - Group assignments. 2016 and prior - Individual.)

Lecture Recordings? Yes (First time this has happened as the lecturer was encouraged by students to use the document camera)

Notes/Materials Available: An online course pack is uploaded onto Moodle and to be honest it has too much. The lecturer is nice and is selective of content to teach, and his notes that he uploads should be used as the primary reference. Whilst rarely, sometimes the course pack also explains differently to how the lecturer teaches it (in particular hypothesis testing).

Textbook: N/A

Lecturer(s): Dr. Libo Li

Year & Semester of completion: 2017/1

Difficulty: 2/5

Overall Rating: 5/5

Your Mark/Grade: 95 HD

Comments:
This is one of the three compulsory Level 2 courses to all mathematics disciplines, offered in semester 1. It is the higher counterpart of MATH2501. Students intending to major in mathematics and statistics must take this course or the standard version.

This course can (and should) be used to replace ACTL2131, the course that contributes to CT3. However, MATH2901 must be combined with MATH2931 to fulfil the exemption requirements.

The level of statistics taught in MATH1231/41 is quite minimal, and serves to be at most an introduction to the subject area. This course, along with its ordinary counterpart MATH2801, seeks to commence a formal treatment of statistics and some of its uses in society. Whilst number crunching is not avoidable, it is to be reminded that this course is theory of statistics. The emphasis on the theory of statistics means that it focuses on how the actual models of stats has been developed, and techniques that fall out of results we prove.

In practice, the theory of statistics is ignored and taken for granted. This course serves as a reminder as to how everything came to be, so that concepts observed from here onward makes sense.

Statistics is something I thoroughly enjoy now that I'm at uni (it was terrible in high school). I personally loved this course. However it is worth mentioning that the maths in this course is FULL of tricks and a good understanding of algebraic/calculus techniques is required to perform excellently.
« Last Edit: July 06, 2017, 01:34:53 pm by RuiAce »

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Re: UNSW Course Reviews
« Reply #29 on: July 04, 2017, 10:17:56 am »
+7
Subject Code/Name: FINS1613 - Business Finance

Contact Hours: 2 hours lecture, 1 hour tutorial

Assumed Knowledge: Nil, but an equivalent of 2U mathematics is highly recommended so that the maths make sense.

Assessment: 10% - Participation (A bit easier to earn than in ACCT1501), 10% - Homework (You have unlimited attempts at the questions), 10%+15%+15% (Total 40%) Separate quizzes, with the first quiz being super easy. Finals weighted 40%

Lecture Recordings?  Yes

Notes/Materials Available: In semester 1, there are HEAPS of resources offered. Live streams before the quizzes and finals, the entire QUESTION bank for quiz 1, and sufficient past quizzes for the other forms of assessment as well. Tutors are generally really nice and send you their tutorial slides as well. 

Textbook: Fundamentals of Corporate Finance (2nd Australian Edition), by Berk, DeMarzo, Harford, Ford, Mollica, and Finch, Pearson Australia, 2014. Not necessary at all; preferably use the lecture slides and MyFinanceLab.

Lecturer(s): Dr. Robert Tumarkin, Ying Dou

Year & Semester of completion: 2017/1

Difficulty: 1.5/5 (Biased!)

Overall Rating:  4.5/5

Your Mark/Grade: 94 HD

Comments:
This course is one of the choices for the first year electives of all commerce students. This course introduces students to the bread-and-butter of finance and makes up the fundamentals of everything in the finance major. It becomes a core course for actuarial students to fulfil CT2.

This course was ridiculously easy for me given that I had undertaken ACTL1101 in advance. Most actuaries are aware that taking this course before FINS1613 makes it significantly easier than otherwise, and hence the bias in the difficulty rating. For many students, this course tends to achieve a difficulty of 4/5 as they are either not well versed with maths equivalent to 2U level, understanding of how multiple cash flows work or feel bombarded by the lengthiness of several questions.

This course does not neglect theory altogether, however the focus is on the calculations. FINS1612 (only required by finance majors) introduces more theoretical concepts.

It is imperative that students understand quickly what goes on in the first few weeks of the course as everything is somehow tied to it. Topic 3 (Capital budgeting) is notorious for being the hardest of the lot; students who are currently taking (or have previously taken) ACCT1501 find it slightly easier, withs students having taken ACCT1511 finding it a breeze as it's just ACCT1511 dumbed down.

Many students highly recommend this course be undertaken in semester 1 and here are the reasons for it
- The lecturer influences this the most. Robert Turnarkin is a godsend; he literally sets his assessment tasks in the best interests of the students (no details disclosed here). His level of 'chill' rivals that of the legendary ECON1101 lecturer Alberto Motta.
- The amount of resources in semester 1 is abundant. The amount of resources in semester 2 is very limited (not even many past papers let alone the livestream)
- The assessment is generally easier in semester 1.
It should be noted that the lecturer for semester 2 is not "bad". He just discloses limited stuff compared to Rob.
« Last Edit: July 09, 2017, 10:21:42 am by RuiAce »