Login

Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

March 19, 2024, 02:55:53 pm

Author Topic: Monash University - Subject Reviews & Ratings  (Read 824178 times)  Share 

0 Members and 4 Guests are viewing this topic.

epicviolinsolo

  • Adventurer
  • *
  • Posts: 14
  • Respect: +12
Re: Monash University - Subject Reviews & Ratings
« Reply #435 on: November 15, 2018, 04:58:47 pm »
+5
Subject Code/Name: EAE2322 – Environmental Earth Science

Workload:  3x1hr lectures, 1x3hr practical

Assessment:
30% Practical class reports/questions
5% for each report for 6 of the practicals throughout semester. These were usually due at the beginning of the next practical class. As with everything throughout semester, it was equally balanced between soils, water and vegetation – two pracs were about soils, two were about water and two were about vegetation. There were some pracs throughout semester that weren’t assessed, but they helped with the final report. They were generally pretty enjoyable and some finished a little early, however some were quite complex, especially the water pracs, as they involved some difficult chemistry concepts and equations that not everyone was familiar with. Being up to date with lectures would be useful, in order to properly understand everything that’s going on. Note that the first prac class was actually a mini field trip to the Cranbourne Botanical Gardens in a group – this was a good way to get to know others, however it was quite a way to go and seemed like a lot of work for just 5%, especially as we had barely learnt anything yet.

5% Field trip report
This subject has a two-day field trip (Sat/Sun) over the weekend after week 5. The price was quite steep ($120), however this included 1x dinner, 1x breakfast, 1x lunch, accommodation and transport to Camp Rumbug, in South Gippsland near Leongatha. It involved making some field notes/site descriptions and collecting many samples to analyse during subsequent prac classes in a group. The field notes you take on the day, and a few questions and drawings, make up a mini report/handout worth 5% that’s due two Mondays after the field trip. If you’ve written enough during the field trip, you don’t need to spend much extra time on this.

5% Poster presentation
During the prac classes in weeks 6, 7 and 8, you spend time in your groups analysing the samples you took. For soils, this includes sifting the samples and making solutions to determine conductivity, pH and preparing samples for cation concentration analyses. For water, this includes preparing collected sediment, soil and leaf samples to be analysed. For vegetation, this involves counting tree rings of a tree core and correlating it to climate data. All this data is then used for the final field trip report and the poster presentation.

The poster presentation involves presenting either the soil, water or vegetation results as a group. This is pretty straightforward, however because there is such little room to work with, you need to be selective about what data you choose to present and organise the layout carefully to make sure everything fits and is formatted properly.

10% Final field trip report
This is an individual field trip report of 1500 words. It included an introduction, site description, description of methods, results, discussion and conclusion. There is a lot of information to work with, and the advice given was to present all the data they explicitly asked for and discuss only some things in greater detail. It was quite difficult to keep within the word limit, however the marking rubric was quite detailed and we had some guidelines for each section and were told what data we had to present, which helped.

50% Exam
2 hour closed book exam. Two parts – short answer and extended response. Weighted equally between soils, water and vegetation questions. The main issue a lot of people had was that we had no practice questions or past exams to study with, however I felt that the exam was pretty fair. For almost all questions, you had some sort of choice on what you could answer. For example, in the soils short answer section, there were two questions listed under each question and you only had to answer one. In the water short answer section, you only had to answer three out of the four questions listed. This gave us a bit of choice in what we had to answer, which was quite helpful!

Recorded Lectures:  Yes, with screen capture

Past exams available:  No exams provided.  :(

Textbook Recommendation:  No textbook for this subject. Any readings were listed at the end of each lecture’s slides or posted on Moodle.

Lecturer(s):  Dr Vanessa Wong, Dr Ruth Reef, Dr Adam Kessler

Year & Semester of completion:  2018, Semester 2

Rating:  4.5 out of 5

Comments:  This subject was quite enjoyable! It sort of sets you up for three third-year EAE subjects – Vanessa (EAE3321), Ruth (EAE3311) and Adam (EAE3342) each contribute to/lecture in/run one of them. It can also be a prerequisite for many other third-year EAE units and some third-year arts units as well, so it’s quite popular.

I think the best part about this subject was the field trip, which is usually the case for most EAE units! It’s just for a weekend in South Gippsland, learning about the interactions between soils, water and vegetation. You get to take samples and use equipment such as augers and drones, and it feels like you are analysing real data when you get the results.

The workload is pretty standard for EAE units. The back half of the unit had many more assessments due than the first half, so the workload tends to ramp up a bit then (as with many other units!). The fact that the poster presentation and final report are both due in week 12 is a bit tough, however some of the results/data you analyse for the poster can also be used in the report, so it’s sort of like you’re working on two things at once.

In summary, this unit is a pretty popular one and a good overview of many different topics in earth sciences. It gives a ‘preview’ of some of the higher-level EAE subjects. There’s a big focus on the field trip, and rightfully so. 😊

VanillaRice

  • Forum Leader
  • ****
  • Posts: 657
  • Respect: +278
Re: Monash University - Subject Reviews & Ratings
« Reply #436 on: November 18, 2018, 10:37:11 pm »
+5
Subject Code/Name: MTH2010 - Multivariable calculus 

Workload: 
Per week: 3 x 1-hour lectures, 1 x 2-hour support class

The lectures consisted of the lecturer going through skeletal notes posted on Moodle, and filling in the gaps. The gaps included proofs, examples, and questions. Completed notes were uploaded after each lecture. Most lectures involved an active learning component, whereby we would be given time to attempt a question and then submit their response online (see assessments below).

The support classes are your stock standard mathematics tutorial. We would work in groups on problems related to the previous week's content, in the presence of a tutor to assist if required.

Assessment: 
Lecture participation (4%)
Most lectures contained an active learning component, where students would be given time to complete a question relating to the topic being taught. We would then submit submit our answers via an MCQ on an online Google survey form, which recorded our answer and also our student IDs. The lecturer would then go through the question. Marks were only required for participation (not necessarily a correct answer, leading to many students randomly selecting answers just for the marks). The Google forms were typically left open for 24 hours, after which they were closed and you would no longer be able to complete them to obtain the associated marks. The contribution of each question to the overall mark, or the number of questions needed to obtain the full 4% was unknown, and there was also no way for us to track our progress on this assessment (which was slightly annoying). Still, it was an interesting concept and I felt it was useful in engaging students in the learning process.

5 x quizzes (1% each; 5% total)
The quizzes were small assessments, containing 2-3 basic questions regarding recently learnt content. These were take-home, and submitted to your tutor, either in your support class, or via their submission box. The quizzes were due in weeks where there was no assignment due, and were spaced evenly throughout semester. The marked quizzes were generally returned within 2 weeks.

4 x assignments (4% each; 16% total)
The assignments consisted of short answer questions related to recently learnt content. Considerably more work was required for these compared to the quizzes, and many students went to the Maths Learning Centre for assistance with some questions which were particularly difficult. However, the information from the lecture notes were sufficient to be able to complete all the questions. There was also a significant focus on communication in these assignments - we were expected to (briefly) justify the use of any new concepts or formulas. My tutor was especially strict in this respect when it came to marking. The assignments were due in weeks where quizzes were not, and were spaced evenly throughout semester. They were submitted in the same manner as quizzes, although required an additional cover sheet. Marked assignments were generally returned to us within 2 weeks.

Mid-semester test (15%)
This was a paper short answer test, consisting of 6 questions (50 marks) in 50 minutes. It was held in week 7, and covered the first 4 weeks of content. The questions were fair - they were all modified versions of questions we came across in lectures, assignments, problem sets, or quizzes. I personally found that I was pressed for time in this test, so it is wise to use your reading time efficiently to allocate your time between questions. The marked tests were returned to us within 2 weeks.

End of semester exam (60%)
The end of semester exam was 3 hours long, and consisted of 10 short-answer questions (90 marks). Like the mid-semester test, I found that most of the questions were modified versions of questions which were encountered at some point in semester, so my advice would be (optimally) to re-complete all questions from the lectures, tutorials, and assessments, as well as complete and study the questions from the past exams. There were also a few questions which required deeper thinking, so it's important to actually understand the concepts, and seek help where required. Beyond the lectures notes and textbook, there are a multitude of resources online to assist you, including Paul's math notes, and Khan Academy. Yann, Todd, and Simon all held consultation hours leading up to the exam period, and Yann was also very responsive to Moodle posts. Hurdle requirement of 40% (on the exam) to pass the unit.

Recorded Lectures:  Yes, with screen capture. Live-streaming available via Panopto and Echo360.

Past exams available: Yes - semester 2, 2017 (with answers), and semester 1, 2018 (without answers). I highly recommend that you work through both of these, and compare/discuss your answers with other students.

Textbook Recommendation: 
- Recommended: Calculus, Metric Version (8e) by Stewart, Thomson. The lecture notes follow the topics of this textbook, so it is a great first resource to use if you require extra clarification or detail. The problems from the support classes are also taken from here, and so the remaining questions can serve as good extra practise. This text was also recommended in MTH1030 and MTH1020.

Lecturer(s)
Yann and Todd had slightly different approaches to teaching. In particular, Todd liked to dicuss the n-dimensional generalisations of the concepts, while Yann tended to only briefly mention these, and focused on the core concepts (which were more relevant to the assessments).
- Dr Yann Bernard (Weeks 1-7) - also unit coordinator for weeks 1-6. The mid-semester test and final exam were written by Yann.
- A/Prof Todd Oliynyk (Weeks 8-12)
- Simon Teague - unit coordinator for weeks 7-12. While he did not actually give any lectures, Simon was a support class tutor, ran an exam consultation session, and also wrote some of the quizzes and assignments.

Year & Semester of completion: Semester 2, 2018.

Rating: 4 out of 5. Assessments were fair in terms of weighting, and well-spaced out throughout semester.

Your Mark/Grade: Not yet available

Comments:
This unit is hard. It takes calculus to the next dimension (literally) and beyond. All the concepts which were taught in high school and in previous units (MTH1030 and MTH1020) are extended and expanded on into the third and higher dimensions. What I encourage you to try to realise and understand that much of what you learn in this unit is an extension of what you already know (for example, instead of a single integral, you will learn to evaluate double and triple integrals).

In terms of assessment, there was something due basically every week, so it is very important that you keep up to date with the content - there is a lot of know, and can quickly become overwhelming as assessments build up. However, it is possible to do well in this unit. Don't be afraid to seek help - from your peers, tutors, or the math learning centre. In particular, I recommend attending the support classes, where you get to apply the knowledge, and discuss the concepts with peers.

The concepts learnt in MTH2010 can be grouped into 3 overarching themes:
1) Partial Derivatives - multivariable functions, limits and continuity, partial differentiation, the multivariable chain rule, directional derivatives and gradients, tangent planes, finding maxima and minima
2) Multiple Integrals - change of variables, double integrals (including in polar coordinates), triple integrals (including in spherical and cylindrical coordinates), finding areas and volumes using integrals
3) Vector Calculus (the pointy end of semester, which is what most of the previous topics lead up to) - vector fields, line integrals, Green's Theorem, curl and divergence, parametric surfaces, surface integrals, Stokes' Theorem, Divergence Theorem
It may all sound daunting for those who are considering completing this unit, but it's definitely achievable to learn all of this in a semester!  ;)

This unit is also the gateway to all higher mathematics. What you learn here is important, and many of these concepts will be built on further in later units (if that's your thing :P).



VCE 2015-16
2017-20: BSc (Stats)/BBiomedSc [Monash]

VanillaRice

  • Forum Leader
  • ****
  • Posts: 657
  • Respect: +278
Re: Monash University - Subject Reviews & Ratings
« Reply #437 on: November 19, 2018, 01:04:49 pm »
+5
Subject Code/Name: DEV2022 - Human anatomy and development: Tissues and body systems 

Workload: 
Per week: 2 x 1-hour lectures, 1 x 2-hour wet practical class or online practical

This unit had fortnightly wet pracs, with every other week having an online practical (via Moodle). The first half of most wet pracs consisted of an animal tissue dissection relating to recently learnt content (including limb, heart/lung, and eye), with the second half involving the class splitting into groups and moving around between stations where demonstrators would guide us through a worksheet. The online pracs involved us going through videos and readings, and filling out a related quiz online.

Students were also given access to the Human Anatomical Sciences Learning Centre, where we would be able to view all the specimens used in practical classes and more for our revision and interest. We were also provided with opportunities to partake in weekly, voluntary dissection room tours, where a demonstrator would take us through the anatomy of a cadaveric specimen related to the content we were covering in class. These were especially interesting, as we were able to get a first hand look at human anatomy, and relate this back to what we learning in class.

Assessment: 
10 x practical assessment (2.5% each; 25% total)
8 of the 10 assessments were related to the wet and online pracs, and came in the form of Moodle quizzes. What I really liked about the organisation of these quizzes were that the wet and online pracs were paired based on topics (introduction to anatomy, musculoskeletal, heart/lung, neuroanatomy/special senses), and each pair of associated Moodle quizzes were opened for a 2 week block. Therefore, we were able to view the questions before we came to class, and also given plenty of time to complete the assessments. The quizzes themselves were either MCQ/dropdown or short answer. Some questions required that you do some reading or watch a video first. Some questions were also quite specific, so be sure to read your lecture and practical notes carefully, and look through other resources where needed. The wet practical assessments would only be marked if you got your attendance marked off by your demonstrator at the associated practical class. For wet pracs, the quiz questions were mostly based off the answers to worksheets we filled out during class, and the answers to these worksheets were uploaded after the quizzes had closed. The answers and marks for the online practical were released immediately once the quizzes had closed, and the answers and marks for the wet practical assessment was usually returned within a week.

The other assessments were a case study, and an anatomical flag race, each worth 2.5%. The case study involved breaking the class up into smaller tutorial groups, and we would then work in smaller groups of 2-4 to read through the case study of a patient, answer related questions, and present our findings and answers back to the class in the form of an 8-minute oral presentation. My main annoyance with this assessment was that while we were given the (blank) assessment rubric, the only feedback received was in the form of a numerical mark, with no feedback. The final assessment for the semester was an anatomical flag race. Students were assigned to stations around the practical room (in groups of 1-2), and each station would have an anatomical specimen or model, with 1-3 associated MCQs. We were given 1 minute at each station to answer the questions, after which a buzzer sounded, and we were required to move to the next station. This repeated for around 40 minutes (with a total of 67 MCQs), and was quite stressful, since once you moved onto a different station, you couldn't return and reconsider your previous answers. To help us, we were also allowed a double-sided, handwritten A4 cheat sheet - be sure to take advantage to this! A numerical grade was provided for this assessment.

Mid-semester test (25%)
This was a 75 minute short-answer test based on lecture and practical content from weeks 1-7. This assessment is big - not much so in terms of the actual test itself, but more the 25% weighting on the test, so it's very important that you don't let this sneak up on you, and try your best to keep up to date with content. The test itself was relatively accessible and fair, and almost all students left early. The types of questions included extended multiple choice, one-word answer, true/false, and short response. Practise questions with answers were provided on Moodle for revision. A numerical mark was returned to us after around 4 weeks. Chantal also dicussed some of the commonly incorrect questions during the end of semester revision lecture, but we were not provided any specific feedback on our individual performance.

End of semester exam (50%)
The end of semester exam was 2 hours long, and consisted of 104 MCQs on all lecture and practical content. I also thought that the questions here were relatively fair and accessible, although there is a lot of content to know. It's also important to remember that all practical content is assessable, so I would recommend reviewing all of the practical quizzes from semester, as as well as review the practical notes. Around 50 practice questions were provided via a Moodle quiz. Hurdle of 45% (on the exam) to pass the unit.

Recorded Lectures:  Yes, with screen capture. Live-streaming available via Panopto and Echo360.

Past exams available: No (as per faculty policy)

Textbook Recommendation: 
- Recommended: General Anatomy: Principles & Applications by Eizenberg et al. This was supposedly the core textbook for this unit, although I personally did not use it. However, it was also complemented by an online resource called anatomedia (free access via Monash), which I did use, and was useful for me in completing the practical assessments.
- Human Embryology & Developmental Biology (5e) by Carlson. You might have this from DEV2011, and may be useful to you in this unit, as there is a significant amount of developmental content. I probably used this a handful of times throughout semester, and this text is also set as readings in some of the online pracs.
- Functional Histology (2e) by Kerr. Also from DEV2011. This unit also has a relatively significant amount of histology, so this text may also be useful to you. I don't think I used this for this unit.

Lecturer(s)
- Dr Chantal Hoppe (unit-coordinator) - musculoskeletal and exam revision
- Dr Justin Adams - body plan and body wall
- Dr Julia Phillips - guest lecture on paediatric medicine and paediatric developmental disorders
- Prof John Bertram - bone development
- Emeritus Prof Richard Harding - lung anatomy and development
- Prof Jane Black - cardiovascular anatomy and development
- A/Prof Ian Smyth - integumentary system
- A/Prof Helen Abud - limb patterning and regeneration
- Dr Sonja McKeown - neuroanatomy and development
- Prof Paul McMenamin - special senses
- Dr Olga Panagiotopoulou - skull anatomy and ontogeny

Year & Semester of completion: Semester 2, 2018.
This unit is only available in Semester 2.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5. Assessments straightforward and fair, and the unit was generally well organised. I also really appreciated the access to the vast array of resources, including the Human Anatomical Sciences Learning Resources Centre, and dissection room tours.

Your Mark/Grade: Not yet available

Comments:
This unit is the next step up from DEV2011, and focuses on the organogenesis of organ systems in the body. For each organ system studied in this unit, the lectures covered developmental, anatomical, and developmental pathological context. For example, with respect to the lungs, we learnt about how they develop, their anatomical features, and also how problems during foetal development can impact on lung development. These concepts were reinforced in practical classes.

The topics covered were:
1) Body Plan & Musculoskeletal - anatomical terminology, body plan, the limb, bone development and histology, paediatric developmental disorders (clinical), body wall
2) Trunk - Thorax & Skin - lung anatomy, histology, and development; cardiac anatomy, histology, and development; anatomical imaging; integumentary system (skin) development and histology; limb patterning and regrowth
3) Skull, Special Senses, & Neuroanatomy - nervous system anatomy, histology, and development; special senses (eye, ear, taste) and their development; skull anatomy and ontogeny

I personally found the content to be interesting. Consider this unit if you took (and liked) DEV2011 and are interested in human anatomy - particularly, how development can give rise to different organ systems.
VCE 2015-16
2017-20: BSc (Stats)/BBiomedSc [Monash]

VanillaRice

  • Forum Leader
  • ****
  • Posts: 657
  • Respect: +278
Re: Monash University - Subject Reviews & Ratings
« Reply #438 on: November 21, 2018, 11:39:49 am »
+4
Subject Code/Name: BMS1052 - Human neurobiology 

Workload: 
Per week: 3 x 1-hour lectures
Throughout semester: 5 x 3-hour practicals

The practicals were spread throughout semester (generally every fortnight). The first 3 practicals covered the themes of action potentials, sensation, and muscle movement, while the final 2 practicals dedicated towards preparation and presentation of a journal club-style oral presentation. In all practicals, table groups were not assigned, and so you could work with whoever you wanted.

Assessment: 
BMS professional development module 2 (2%)
This was the second part of the BMS professional development program. This involved a careers-oriented lecture, with the assessment involving us reflecting our career-related experiences from module 1, and also forming a map of our careers network.

Practical assessments (3 x 2% + 10% + 10% + 12% = 38% total)
Each of the first 3 practicals began with a pre-practical, group MCQ quiz (3 x 2%) of around 10 questions, based on pre-class material on Moodle. These were done on IF-AT cards, so you were given feedback immediately. The questions were fairly accessible, so most students did quite well on this.

Practical 1 (action potentials) was assessed via a group practical report (10%), where we were required to interpret and (statistically!) analyse provided data. Groups consisted of 2-6 students, and we were allowed to choose our own groups. Feedback and marks (via a rubric) were returned within a few weeks.

Practical 2 (sensation) involved a variety of experiments relating to audition, vision, and somatosensation. The assessment was an open-book (but individual) MCQ Moodle quiz (10%) relating to the practical content, which was completed in our own time, and was open for around 1-2 weeks. Only a numerical mark was returned for this quiz.

Practical 3 (movement) involved a experiments relating to muscle movement. This prac was assessed as part of mid-sem test 2.

Practicals 4 and 5 were dedicated towards the preparation and presentation of a journal club presentation, which is essentially an overview presentation of a research article. Practical 4 involved the formation of groups (of 4-6), selection of a journal article, and planning. Marks (2%) were given for attendance at this session, and also briefly discussing your article with a demonstrator. We were then required to research and prepare our presentation outside of class, with practical 5 (week 11/12) dedicated to the presentations (10%). Each presentation was to be 6-8 minutes (strict maximum - many groups were required to stop as they went overtime), and the practical class was split up such that we were presenting to around 10 other groups. Only a numerical mark was returned for this assessment - which was somewhat annoying, as we weren't given any group-specific feedback regarding our performance.

2 x mid-semester test (10% each; 20% total)
Two (yes - two!) MSTs for this unit. Both tests were 45-minutes long, with around 30 MCQs. They were held online (but closed-book), with the option of completing the test on campus (in a computer lab), or on your own laptop (via Respondus lockdown browser + webcam monitoring). Results, along with the questions and answers, were released within a few weeks. Some revision content was provided on Moodle.

MST 1 was held in week 6, and covered content from the first 11 lectures (on foundations and some sensation lectures). MST 2 was held in week 9, and covered content from the movement lectures and practical (prac 3).

End of semester exam (40%)
The end of semester exam was 2 hours long, and consisted of 96 MCQs on all lecture content (only). Most questions were relatively fair, although some focused on specific detail. Some revision content was provided on Moodle (depending on the lecturer). Must pass the exam (hurdle requirement) to pass the unit.

Recorded Lectures:  Yes, with screen capture. Live-streaming available via Panopto and Echo360.

Past exams available: No (as per faculty policy).

Textbook Recommendation: 
- Highly Recommended: Neuroscience: Exploring the Brain  by Bear, Connors & Paradiso. We were told that any lecture content (for Nic's section) which was extended on within this text was assessable, so I would recommend having a copy of this if you want to do well in this unit.

Lecturer(s)
- Dr Nicholas Price (unit coordinator) - foundations, sensation, movement, neuroprosthetics, and animal ethics
- Mr Ari Pinar (co-coordinator) - foundations
- Prof Helena Parkington - autonomic nervous system
- Prof Brian Oldfield - hypothalamus and hormonal control of body function
- A/Prof Siew Chai - neuroregeneration, learning and memory
- A/Prof Elizabeth Davis - pharmacology (peripheral targets)
- Dr Sonja McKeown - developmental neurobiology

Year & Semester of completion: Semester 2, 2018.
This unit is only available in Semester 2.

Rating: 4 out of 5. Marks were mostly fairly distributed across assessments, and unit was generally well-structured.

Your Mark/Grade: Not yet available

Comments:
This unit provides a very good introduction to neurobiology. It expands on the membrane potential content from BMS1031, and provides a gateway to BMS2031 (physiology). The lecture content is interesting, and you are exposed to a wide variety of concepts across neurobiology. However, as has been stated in past reviews, this unit is arguably the most difficult of first year BMS units, and you are warned of this by Nic himself at the beginning of semester. Each assessment is worth a significant amount of your overall grade, and these are spread throughout the semester, so it's important that you try to keep on top of everything so that you don't get lost.

The lecture topics covered in this unit can be generally divided into:
1) Foundations - basics of neurobiology, including action potentials and signalling
2) Sensation - covers the senses of vision, hearing, somatosensation (touch), and hearing
3) Motor control - how we use our nervous system to coordinate muscle movements
4) Control - autonomic nervous system, hypothalamus and hormonal control
5) Vignettes - covered different miscellaneous topics (1-2 lectures each) related to neurobiology, including neurodevelopment, pharmacology, animal ethics, neuroprosthetics, neuroregeneration and repair, learning and memory

While this unit can be difficult, it also covers interesting concepts, and provides a good foundation for second year units (especially in first semester).
VCE 2015-16
2017-20: BSc (Stats)/BBiomedSc [Monash]

Springyboy

  • Victorian
  • Forum Obsessive
  • ***
  • Posts: 252
  • Respect: +66
Re: Monash University - Subject Reviews & Ratings
« Reply #439 on: November 28, 2018, 03:17:33 pm »
+7
Subject Code/Name: ETC2440 - Mathematics for economics and business

Workload: 
2x 1hr lectures per week
1 x 1.5hr tute per week

Assessment: 
Group Assignment 1 - 11%
Group Assignment 2 - 12%
Group Assignment 3 -  12%
Tute participation - 5%
Exam - 60%

Recorded Lectures:  Yes, with screen capture

Past exams available:  1 Practice Exam provided - however past exams were available from the Monash library database (which no longer exists), but are still very relevant to the current course

Textbook Recommendation: 
Fundamental Methods of Mathematical Economics 4th edition is recommended, but not necessary as the lecture slides were detailed and covered everything you needed to know.

Lecturer(s):

Dan Zhu - Covered the first part of the course on Matrix Algebra. She could be a bit difficult to understand, and also seemed a little lost with the content as she didn't write the slides herself, and looked like the first time she looked at them was in the lecture itself.

John Stapleton - Covered the remainder of the course from week 4 onwards. Very easy to understand, and even though he provided some weird analogies in the lectures they still helped explain the content reasonably well. Likes to interact with the audience, so normally kept me awake as the content is a bit dry. He's also the chief examiner for the unit, and this is his unit that he's run for the past couple of years, so if you're stuck on a question or unsure of what to revise for the exam, then head to his consults if you need.

Year & Semester of completion: Semester 1, 2018

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Your Mark/Grade: D

Comments:

Firstly, have a look at Reckoner's review here, as the content hasn't changed that much since then
Whilst this unit did seem a bit rushed, I still found it reasonable. Although this is the first maths unit that needs to be done by a student in the econometrics/actuarial science faculty, it still covered all the concepts reasonably well. My main gripe was that the proofs weren't taught that well, such that when it came to writing them down in the exam I had only half a clue of what to write, and ended up with 0/20 for that particular question.

Topics covered include matrix algebra, set theory, differentiation, limits and limit proofs, optimisation theory and integration (not examinable)

Tutorials: The tutes were pretty standard, you just go over the tutorial exercises which are posted at the end of the previous week for the following week. Tbh, sometimes it did seem that a lot of content was provided though, such that 1.5hrs was not enough time to go through all the questions posted. Practice questions were also included in the tutorial exercises, which were not covered in the tutes, but I'd advise for you to do them so you thoroughly understand what each part of the course is looking for. I had Kanchana as my tutor, who was great as she understood the content extremely well and tried to get the class involved as much as possible.

Lectures:  Lectures were just going through the notes that John posted on Moodle roughly a day or two before he starts covering the topic in the lecture, or when Dan was covering the matrix algebra content. These are a bit dry though, so I'd recommend watching them at home (as long as the lecture recording works, as last sem due to it being in E3 the lecture recording broke down once and there was no alternative, so attend if you can). That being said, the content is still relatively straightforward to understand, but I'd recommend doing MTH1020/1030 if possible before this unit so that you can revise content learnt before high school, as a lot of knowledge is assumed which is critical to doing well in this course.

Group Assignments: These are relatively straightforward, as they're just going through questions that are very similar to the tutorial exercises. Groups are randomly allocated based on the tutorial session that you are in, so hope that you get a good group to maximise your marks. My group got 100%, 95% and 85% on the 3 assignments, indicating that they are pretty decent, such that as long as you have a decent grip on the coursework then you'll be fine. I'd recommend to start them as early as possible though, as some of the questions have tons of tricks in them that I had to rewrite them out a number of times. These can be either handwritten or typed, however handwritten is probably easier due to the number of notations that have to be written out. Assignments are dropped off in the submission box on the 7th floor of the Menzies building, and do not need to be submitted online, so handwriting them is definitely a good idea to clearly understand what the question is asking.

Exam: I thought the exam was reasonably straightforward, but there were some tricky parts here and there that undid me.

The exam consisted of 4 questions that were 20 marks each.

First question was matrix algebra, second optimisation theory, third on limits/ set algebra and last was called a "mystery question" that eventually turned out to be 4 proofs. I found myself to be a bit rushed with time, mainly due to it being a 9:30am exam and my brain not being fully switched on. Due to that, I may have done a bit worse than I expected, but the questions were very similar to the assignments/ tutorial exercises, so going through them and memorising proofs particularly in relation to the limit of a square root function is pretty key as these will help you immensely in the exam. Also, memorisation of things like De Morgan's law is critical, as if you know that then you should be set in the exam. There was a hurdle requirement originally of 50%, but this was revised to 40% where if you got in the range of 40-49 on the exam then the highest mark you could receive was 10% above that exam mark.

Tbh, this unit may seem a bit rushed, but John has revised it a lot over the years such that it is a pretty concise and succinct maths course to get your head around. I'd recommend going to Kanchana's consults though whenever you get stuck on something, as tutor help is critical to ensure that you do well in this unit.
« Last Edit: July 16, 2019, 09:21:48 pm by Springyboy »

Sine

  • Werewolf
  • National Moderator
  • Great Wonder of ATAR Notes
  • *****
  • Posts: 5136
  • Respect: +2103
Re: Monash University - Subject Reviews & Ratings
« Reply #440 on: November 28, 2018, 08:49:44 pm »
+8
Subject Code/Name: BMS2042 – Human Genetics 

Workload: 3 x 1 hr lectures per week, 1 x 3 hr practical for the first 7 weeks. 1 x 3hr session for Oral Presentations in the final week.

Assessment:
    -6 x Problem sets each worth 0.5% (total 3%)
    -7 x Pre-lab quizzes (total 1%)
    -7 x Practical reports each worth 2% (total (14%)
    -Developmental Biology Online Quiz (5%)
    -Mapping project (10%)
    -Oral Presentation (7%)
    -Practical Test (15%)
    -End of Semester Exam(45%)

Recorded Lectures:  Yes, with screen capture

Past exams available: None, some sample questions (but it was stressed that those same questions won’t appear on the exam)

Textbook Recommendation:
Prescribed: Concepts of Genetics 11ed Global Editions (Klug W & Palladino M Spencer C & Cummings M)

Recommended: Developmental Biology 11ed (Gilbert S) and Thompson & Thompson Genetics in Medicine 8ed (Nussbaum R & McInnes R et al)
   
Lecturer(s):
Dr Saw-Hoon Lim (Unit coordinator)
Dr Richard Burke
A/Prof Robert Bryson-Richardson
A/Prof Craig Smith
Dr Michelle Dustone
Professor Colby Zalph
Dr Mike McDonald

Year & Semester of completion: 2018, Semester 2

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Your Mark/Grade: TBA

Comments:

General Thoughts:
Overall I thought this was one of the better biomedicine units this semester (compared to BMS2052 and BMS2062) but maybe not as interesting as your 2nd year semester 1 units (BMS2011, BMS2021 and BMS2031). This is definitely a very fair unit and you will get out the effort you put in. However, I do believe it was a heap of content to learn (basically every biomed unit though) so it’s really important to try to stay on top of things throughout the semester. There is no real MST so it is quite easy to fall behind on lectures and revising them. You definitely don’t want to leave too much for SWOTVAC.

Lectures aren’t too important to go to (as long as you watch the recordings). Some lecturers go through the content quite quickly so towards the end of the semester not many students really went to lectures. I think I went to 1-2 lectures a week for the first few weeks but didn’t go to any after week 4. Also, Week 12 doesn’t have lectures, but this is offset by the fact that you have an Oral Presentation to given which takes a bit of time to prepare for (5 minutes speaking time each) in a group of 3 (maybe a few people had to do groups of 2).

My biggest problem with this unit would probably be that there was a heap of minor assessment tasks that aren’t worth too much. For example each problem set was worth 0.5%, each prelab quiz is worth 1/7th of 1% and the practical reports are worth 2%. We had all three of this every week for the first 7 weeks and it gets quite tedious to do it and check over your answers.

I didn’t find the weekly labs (for the first 7 weeks) that great. Often, it would seem that we are doing the same practical each week. You will feel like you are scoring Drosophila every week. Usually, some of the practical questions are possible to complete before the prac class. If this is the case I would highly encourage students to do as much as they can at home and then go in to check stuff with your TA.

The topics of the practical classes are as follows:

Week 1: Patterns of Inheritance – If you have done VCE Biology this will be mostly revision for you with a small addition of learning the chi-square test; so for those that have done VCE Biology it is a great opportunity to use your time to help others who may be struggling in your practical class.

Week 2: Extensions to Mendelian Inheritance – this relates to two lectures in the first and second weeks of semester. You will go over different dominant relationships of genes and gene epistasis something that isn't covered in VCE.

Week 3: Gene Linkage Mapping – Probably one of the more important practical classes since it’s quite important to understand the concepts for your mapping project worth 10%.

Week 4: Genetic Linkage Analysis In Humans Using DNA Markers – similar to the previous week but this time we are focussing on DNA markers e.g. SNPs rather than whole genes.

Week 5: Human aneuploidy – Here we deal with whole chromosomes and possible abnormalities such as down syndrome.

Week 6: Chromosome rearrangements – These practical focuses on how chromosomes may break and rearrange and the possible results in terms of fertility and viable offspring.

Week 7: Population Genetics; Genetic Risk Analysis – This practical focuses on Bayes analysis and population genetics. This is probably the most interesting and easiest practical.

Lectures:
Lectures 1-5: Introduction, Autosomal Inheritance, Sex Linked Inheritance, Extensions to Mendelian Inheritance and mutatiosn (Dr Saw-Hoon Lim)
Lectures 6-15: Linkage, DNA markers, Sex Chromosomes and Sex determination, Chromosomal Aberrations ( Dr Richard Burke)
Lectures 16-18: Population Genetics, Multifactorial Disorders and Risk analysis ( A/Prof Robert Bryson-Richardson)
Lectures 19: Diagnostic Testing ( Dr Saw-Hoon Lim)
Lectures 20-21: Non-Mendelian inheritance and Mitochondrial Disorders ( Dr Saw-Hoon Lim)
Lectures 22-24: Developmental Genetics( A/Prof Craig Smith)
Lectures 25-26: Model Organisms and The Human Genome Project( Dr Michelle Dustone)
Lectures 27-28: Genetic Engineering(Professor Colby Zalph)
Lectures 29-31: Human Evolutionary Genetics(Dr Mike McDonald)

Pre-Labs:
This assessment was worth a total of 1% (yes this is not a typo) – it consisted of 7 different pre-lab quizzes across 7 weeks. The questions were quite easy, the only problem would be students forgetting to complete the quiz.

Problem Sets:
The problem sets were worth a total of 3% for 6 problem sets. Technically we were supposed to be completing them during the practical session but most people would finish them in the previous week so most weeks we were able to leave early. The questions are good exam and practical test preparation but in my opinion were a little more difficult that the other assessments. However, difficulty was not really a problem for the problem sets since if you completed them you would receive the marks since it was all participation. During the practical session your TA would ask “who has finished the problem set?” and then go over and check. They will go through your answers so make sure you do them.

Official answers to the problem sets would be posted on Moodle the following week. It would be good to go over these since it cements how they would want you to answer questions in the bigger assessments tasks (e.g. exam, practical test). This is especially important for knowing how to present answers for the "draw a diagram" questions.

Mapping Project:
So, the mapping project is probably the toughest piece of assessment in this unit. It is worth 10% of your total unit grade and generally students didn’t do too well. Even really some good HD average students struggled with it and scored in the P and C range. That is why it’s important to get started on it early so that you have formatted everything well and shown absolutely everything (e.g. crosses, phenotypic ratios, genotypic ratios). Also this is another one of those biomedicine assessments which is heavily impacted by who marks your work. The average mark for this would probably be somewhere in the 60’s. Nearly 60% of students got less than 70.

In this assessment you get assigned a particular trait of the drosophila (I got sepia eye colour) and you need to map it to a chromosome in relation to the two genes that are closet to it. The overall essence of the assessment isn’t too bad but most students loses marks on the small details. E.g. Your abstract must be short and concise. Your introduction needs to properly review the concepts of linkage in genetics – some aspects of this will go beyond the lecture content. The results section is quite a large but, in my opinion, the easiest section to do since if you are able to do one of your crosses correctly you should be able to use that as a template for all your other genetic crosses. It is important that you explain your results too – not just doing the maths. I used excel in order to quickly to the calculations for all the crosses and I would thoroughly recommend this approach as I saw too many students waste time on calculators and double checking their working out.

Practical Reports:
This assessment was one of two main assessment tasks for the practicals. We had 7 practical reports due each week across the first 8 weeks of the semester and each one was worth 2%. Don’t’ be fooled by the relatively small % worth of this assessments as sometimes it does take a while to complete the practical report. The actual questions aren’t too hard but there is just a lot of questions to do. The questions were usually MCQs, short answer, drop downs or drawing a diagram.

Practical Test:
There was a practical test in week 10 of the semester, as the weighting of this assessment was 15% of the total grade. I don’t think it is a coincidence that this exam condition test is worth more (just by 1 %)than the total of your practical reports. In reality the reason for this assessment is to make sure that students have actually learnt the content of the practicals since some people just got others help for the practical reports. These reports are quite useful in studying for the practical test and I would strongly advise that you complete all of these questions again in preparation of the practical test. The test was all short answer and consisted for 50 marks to do completed in 1 hr with 10 minutes reading time. The test really isn’t too bad, and most people tend to do very well on it.

Developmental Biology Quiz:
This was an online practical that really wasn’t a practical. It was just a quiz based on the 3 Developmental biology lectures in week 8. This quiz was worth 5% of the total unit grade and consisted of 25 MCQs, 16 definition questions (drop down) and 4 additional drop down questions relating to a diagram. The Online Quiz was 90 minutes in length. This was a somewhat difficult piece of assessment since there was a lot of working out to do for the MCQs, you couldn’t just look through the slides but you needed to understand the content well. That is why I think students should study the lectures in detail before they attempt the quiz. As for the definition questions some of them were tricky and there was something like 15 options from the drop down tab. Since you could only pick each answer once it was important to select the most correct answer to save up other answers for the more suitable question. The additional 4 drop down questions which were labelling a diagram were quite simple in contrast to the other questions. When we got the results to this quiz there was some glitch that meant that some peoples quiz were not marker and marked wrong for the 16 drop down questions so they decided to remove all those 16 marks from the quiz which was kinda annoying. Some people were quite happy with this since it boosted their scores whilst others obviously quite annoyed (hopefully this doesn’t happen in the following years).

Oral Presentation:
During your practical sessions you will be told to form groups of 3 and choose a model organism by writing your name on a sheet at the front of the room. Usually, there is a bit of a fight to get the “best” model organism, so it could be useful to have already formed groups before this, so whilst everyone else is creating groups you can get the topic you want. I worked well with a few others in my practical group, so we were able to form groups quickly and get the mouse model organism. The mouse has heaps you can talk since it is probably the most useful model organism as it is the one that is most closely related to humans. However, even stuff like yeast which may seem random has been vital to learn more about cellular processes. The model organisms available for my year was; the mouse, zebrafish, drosophila (fruit fly), C. elegans (worm) and yeast. The unit coordinator did say it may be important to take notes for the exam. Whilst what you need to know for the exam is in the lectures and lecture slides getting a presentation was quite a nice way of revising and learning for the exam. A couple of questions that were in the exam I was able to recall answers from other students presentations.

As for the actual assessment, in your groups of three one person will focus on the history and Nobel Prizes for this model organism and the other two will comment on the advantages and disadvantages of the organism. Your presentation should total to 15 minutes with each student talking for about 5 minutes. To maximise marks, you shouldn't  just stand in front of your slides and talk, you need to be a little creative and have some audience interaction such as asking questions, a small quiz or just be funny in general. Also, most assessors liked it when you had a diagram in your slides and if you explained it to the audience.

Also 20% of your mark for your oral will be asking other groups about their oral presentation and answering questions from the audience. Just make sure you have a decent holistic understanding of your organism, so you aren’t blindsided by any questions. In general students were quite nice in the scope of their questioning. As for asking questions, I would take a few notes during the other groups presentation and see what interested me and tried to get them to expand on one of those concepts.

Unlike other group assignments the Oral Presentation involves some group work but you are marked on your own work so don’t worry if you get put into a bad group since it is your slides and presentation that determines 100% of your mark.

Exam:
The end of semester examination is worth 45% of your final grade. This exam is a total of 120 marks which consisted for 62 MCQs (worth 60 marks) and 20 Short answer questions (and parts within these SAQs worth a total of 60 marks). This exam was 2 hours in length and you get 10 minutes reading time.

The short answer questions were quite varied in how they were assessed – there were some fill in the blank questions which needed really specific terms, drawing diagrams and also some “normal” short answer questions.

I thought the exam was a decent difficulty and didn’t test anything outside of the scope of the course. The difficulty arises due to the volume of content we needed to know in detail. We had 31 lectures which at times were quite dense, however a lot of lectures had some “questions you should be able to answer” at the end and a few of them came up on the exams. I would definitely recommend students to have set answers for those questions since those really are the main concepts of the course.

As for the spread of assessed content I would say it was about right for the most part. Talking to other students their was a similar sentiment that the exam was of fair difficulty so you will definitely be rewarded if you put in effort through the semester.

Final Thoughts:
This is definitely one of my favorite units so far at university. Although, it is extremely content heavy and some assessments may seem tedious the concepts you learn can be quite interesting - especially stuff like multi factorial genetic disorders but to get to this stage you need a solid understanding fo the basics. The unit is run extremely well run and the lectures are a lot better than most units in terms of engaging the students.[/list]

clockerrs11

  • Victorian
  • Adventurer
  • *
  • Posts: 19
  • Respect: +22
  • School Grad Year: 2016
Re: Monash University - Subject Reviews & Ratings
« Reply #441 on: December 02, 2018, 06:52:27 pm »
+7
Subject Code/Name: ACF1200 - Accounting for managers

Workload: 
x1 online lecture every week (can vary in length per week) ~1 hr
x1 3hr compulsory workshop every week

Assessment: 
8% test 1
this is in week 3 and is so sudden. i did ok in this test. it was quite difficult especially if you have never been tried accounting ever in high school because the teachers lack the ability to teach basic accounting principals so you're just gonna have to rely on repeating the questions that they give you and understanding it.

7% test 2
im not sure when this test was taken but it is a much easier, much more reasonable test. the questions are sometimes common sense. but my friends marks dropped from the first test so im not sure if i just thought it was easier but it really did feel like it.

10% group assignment
we had to write a business plan about a business we would start up that was realistic. they don't really advertise this, but just base your plan off the rubric that they give you and make sure you answer everything they expect and you're guaranteed hd.

5% reflective note
like 300 words or something that was a reflection of your journey with accounting for managers. ez hd

10% 3 minute moodle reviews
so freaking stupid. these reviews are held at the start of every workshop to test that you consumed the online lecture for the week. at the start, they test accounting concepts in the online lectures but in like weeks 7+ they start to test the irrelevant information in the online lectures like "what did sally sell in the example of capital budgeting?". nothing that relates to actual accounting but basically testing your comprehension of the video which is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo stupid. also, make sure you read their article that they give you because they test irrelevant information from that too......

10% moodle quiz
easy quizzes that you take after your online lecture

50% exam
exam is so ridiculously stupid and unfair. compared to previous exams given, they tested once again: information that was irrelevant. the first question in the exam was asking about week 1's workshop about a video we watched. HELLO?! how do you remember that. the concept wasn't even about accounting but like the company who was involved and information about them.

Recorded Lectures:  Yes

Past exams available:  2 from previous semesters

Textbook Recommendation:  the prescribed textbook was alright and i used it quite often because the lecture slides were full of nothing. im pretty sure u can find a free pdf floating out there somewhere.

Lecturer(s): elli allen

Year & Semester of completion: sem 2 2018

Rating:  1 out of 5

Your Mark/Grade: 77D

Comments:
horribly taught unit with passionate teachers. very questionable examinable material. i would personally try the other accounting even if math isn't your forte because at least the content taught there isnt boring. the content in this unit honestly is the worst. for example: a whole week on budgeting? the only thing you get out of it is cash budgets which is once again self explanatory.

this unit is also take in conjunction with accounting for managers in clayton. we share the same moodle site and thus, we take the same exam, tests and moodle quizzes.

i would schedule my workshop to be near the end of the week so maybe your friends could tell you what's on the reviews for the workshop because they dont change it up for both campuses lol.

clockerrs11

  • Victorian
  • Adventurer
  • *
  • Posts: 19
  • Respect: +22
  • School Grad Year: 2016
Re: Monash University - Subject Reviews & Ratings
« Reply #442 on: December 02, 2018, 07:51:06 pm »
+6
Subject Code/Name: BTF2223 - Corporate Crime

Workload:
x1 3hr lecture thats kind of a tute?

Assessment: 
40% essay
60% open book exam

Recorded Lectures:  Yes but it took the lecturer till the 5th week to figure out how to record it lol and sometimes she wouldn't record it to punish those who didn't go to the lecture (she would complain about the lack of people coming)

Past exams available:  Yes, just 1 thats a mock exam (some of the mc in the practice exam was actually in the real exam  ;D)

Textbook Recommendation: the prescribed textbook can be taken from the library. u can download each chapter per account. so if u have friends, get them to download an extract and u can have the book for free lol. the downside is that u can't bring it into the exam

Lecturer(s): shanthy rachagan

Year & Semester of completion: sem 2 2018

Rating:  3 out of 5

Your Mark/Grade: 83hd

Comments:
the essay was okay to deal with. make sure you find someone good to work with because this is a partnered assignment and that you're on the same page. this is a very wordy essay and requires you to basically copy information from the lecture slides and look at academic sources to cite them to make it look legit lol.
40% for the essay was quite scary though but make sure you follow the rubric sheet and always do recommendations at the end of your essay even though that isn't on the rubric sheet because she expects it but won't tell you (i got 34/40 but lost marks cuz i didnt do one and that was her only comment).

the lecture/tutorial thing is where she expects to engage with you. so she'll casually read off the lecture slides but then she'll call up people to answer questions which is quite daunting if u have anxiety problems (lol me irl). sometimes she won't call up names and she'll just go down the seating which means u cant avoid. yikes!
she would often threaten to start a roll because of dropping attendance numbers in the lectures.

exam is very fair. u get like 20 minutes noting time and u can basically write dot points in the question page about how ur gonna answer ur questions and write page numbers to ur open books so u'll be constantly writing in the exam and wont have to flick through ur book mindlessly

i think she said this semester she's changing up the assessments for 2019+ and getting u to do an oral (thank god i dont have to do go through that)

the content however, is very well presented and very interesting. learning about white collar crime and corporate crime was a very good experience and something i can carry with me outside of uni.

clockerrs11

  • Victorian
  • Adventurer
  • *
  • Posts: 19
  • Respect: +22
  • School Grad Year: 2016
Re: Monash University - Subject Reviews & Ratings
« Reply #443 on: December 03, 2018, 10:22:59 am »
+5
Subject Code/Name: ECF1200 - Macroeconomics

Workload:
x1 2hr lecture
x1 1hr compulsory tutorial

Assessment: 
10% tutorial participation
this is homework that is checked in class. if you don't have it done, then you don't get the participation for that week. also i heard in some other tutes, if you don't speak, they take away marks from this. i had the head lecturer as my tute though but it was mainly only homework as tute participation.

5% test 1
fairly easy, simple test. it tests broadly from weeks 1-3(?)

5% test 2
a bit more difficult this time. tests more narrowly (can't remember the weeks)

10% assignment
basically comprehension assignment. easily can score the full 10%

10% weekly quiz
can take really long if you want to do practice before you do the test. was very draining to do online as it took hours to do all the time.

60% exam
i dont really remember the exam lol but i think it was fair and balanced. not too overly difficult and not too easy as well.

Recorded Lectures:  Yes

Past exams available:  mock one made by lecturer but....basically useless lol except for multiple choice

Textbook Recommendation:  i had one but didnt really use it

Lecturer(s): kris ivanovski

Year & Semester of completion: sem 2 2018

Rating:  4 out of 5

Your Mark/Grade: 91 hd

Comments:
overall, compared to micro this was easier (by a bit lol). it started to get hard-ish near the end (especially week 11s topic) where the concepts explained were quite complex imo. other than that, you just need to put pen to paper and try drawing and understanding the many graphs that come with this unit and you'll be able to easily answer any question.

i heard kris wanted to try to make lectures compulsory next semester by doing quizzes during the lecture so that counts as participation unfortunately

Bri MT

  • VIC MVP - 2018
  • Administrator
  • ATAR Notes Legend
  • *****
  • Posts: 4724
  • invest in wellbeing so it can invest in you
  • Respect: +3677
Re: Monash University - Subject Reviews & Ratings
« Reply #444 on: December 03, 2018, 07:35:07 pm »
+7
Subject Code/Name: BIO1042 -Environmental Biology 

Workload:  (specify how many lectures, pracs, tutes etc. and their duration)
 1 3hr lab each week (compulsory)
sometimes this would be replaced by "do your assignment" or "do a virtual lab". You could sometimes leave early by getting your work done quickly
 2 1hr tutorials each week (non-compulsory, recorded, online livestream available)
Assessment:  (Outline the various assessments which make up the subject and how much each counts for)
10% mastering biology quizzes. Best 10 out of 12 quizzes count 1% each towards your grade. These aren't in a locked down browser so you can access Google etc. but they are timed.  Don't do what I did and forget the one due in midsem break or the one due after week 12

12% climatewatch prac
every week you obtain sightings and photos of your target species (mine was the magpie-lark, some people had trees, shrubs etc.)
this is a group assignment where the vast majority of your marks come from a creative presentation of your data, conclusions you've drawn etc at the end. You work in your assigned lab group.

10% leaf breakdown prac
you work in your assigned lab group a little bit but your marks come from the write up which you do individually. They make it very clear what they want you to focus on and how to analyse the data.

3% preprac quizzes.
individual, using clickers. If you read the lab manual before class you should be fine

Food webs, biogeochemical cycling, & plant adaptations pracs
4% each. individual. Read the information available and class and write detailed responses (using science conventions and paying attention to key words) to the questions which you'll submit at the end of the lab. If you're efficient, you can leave the lab early. You can answer the questions before you enter the lab if you want, but it was rare that someone did that.

Measuring and sampling online prac
3% pay attention to the provided information in the virtual lab that you work through before hand & follow the instructions - not very hard to get close to 100% on this

Exam
50%, all multiple choice, eassessment. This was my first time completing an exam on a laptop & I was glad to see that you could click "not sure" and quickly go back to your "not sure" questions. There were a few questions where the specificity of what they wanted us to remember was unexpected, but overall it was a very reasonable exam.

Recorded Lectures:  Yes, with screen capture  & online livestreaming available
Past exams available:
No. They did the same thing as BIO1011 where you can do about 100 mastering biology questions at a time as "practice". problem is, the mastering biology questions are based on the textbook rather than the lectures (the exam is based on the lectures).
I would recommend revising the lecture content rather than repeatedly completing the superquiz.

Textbook Recommendation:  What must you buy?  What is "recommended"?  Do you need it?
You're supposed to use the textbook for readings but I didn't and found that the quizzes (which is where this is assessed) were fine anyway.

Lecturer(s):
Can't remember all of their names etc. but in general they were friendly, approachable & knowledgeable.
Year & Semester of completion:  Sem 2 2018
 
Rating:  3.75 out of 5

Your Mark/Grade: HD

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

I liked being able to get outdoors but didn't feel like I was learning much. If you know how to use excel, draw scientific diagrams, how food webs & trophic levels work, about nutrient cycling & basics of pollution don't expect this subject to really extend you. This might be less so for students who haven't done outdoor ed or the old (2016) bio study design.  Lots of overlap with EAE too.

I found the most difficult part memorising info about evolutionary history, geological history (gondwana, pangea etc) and common plant families.
Not much conceptual difficulty here, but if you're good at memorising things you should be all set.

Suitable for students without much scientific background imo - very much an entry level unit
« Last Edit: December 04, 2018, 09:10:48 am by miniturtle »

sweetiepi

  • National Moderator
  • ATAR Notes Legend
  • *****
  • Posts: 4769
  • "A Bit of Chaos" (she/they)
  • Respect: +3589
Re: Monash University - Subject Reviews & Ratings
« Reply #445 on: December 03, 2018, 11:19:08 pm »
+8
Never actually did this one from sem 1 oops
Subject Code/Name: PSC2041- Biopharmaceutics

Workload:
2x1 hour lectures (weekly) (some were cancelled under Joe Nicolazzo though aha)
4x 2 hour workshops throughout the semester
1x 3 hour workshop
2x 45min quizzes

Assessment: 
Exam: 60%
MCQ tests: 2x15%
Panel discussion 10%

Recorded Lectures:  Yes, with screen capture

Past exams available: 
Yes, 2 were provided with no answers

Textbook Recommendation: 
Don't recall any textbooks actually mentioned or used. Lecture notes were sufficient.

Lecturer(s):
Joe Nicolazzo
Cornelia (Connie) Landersdorfer (Unit Coordinator)
Michelle McIntosh
Natalie Trevakis
Colin Pouton
Ben Boyd

Year & Semester of completion:
Semester 1, 2018

Rating: 4 out of 5

Your Mark/Grade: 72D

Comments:
Joe's quizzes were weighted heavily on content from his pre-recorded lectures and screwed me over, which was annoying, but my fault anyways. Otherwise I actually really enjoyed this unit, Connie was really helpful as well as Ben, Joe and Michelle being engaging presenters.

This unit no longer exists as PSC2041- Biopharmaceutics, and is likely to be continued on as BPS2041- Drug Delivery: absorption pathways from 2019+.
« Last Edit: December 03, 2018, 11:24:20 pm by insanipi »
2017-2019: Bachelor of Pharmaceutical Science (Formulation Science)
2020: Bachelor of Pharmaceutical Science (Honours) Read my uni journey here!

LifeisaConstantStruggle

  • Forum Obsessive
  • ***
  • Posts: 324
  • Respect: +104
Re: Monash University - Subject Reviews & Ratings
« Reply #446 on: December 03, 2018, 11:53:02 pm »
+6
Subject Code/Name: ECC2000 – Intermediate microeconomics 

Workload:  1x 2 hour lecture, 1x 1 hour tutorial

Assessment:  1x mid-semester test (22.5%), 5% tutorial attendance (there are only 10 tutorials, so if you want the full score don’t miss any of them), 3x marked assignments, a few questions they give out every week, 2-3 will be randomly selected (10% in total), 1x final exam (60%)

Recorded Lectures:  Yes, with screen capture

Past exams available:  No past/sample exams available as the tutorial/assignment questions are essentially practice questions.

Textbook Recommendation:   Microeconomics, by Goolsbee, Levitt, Syverson. 2nd edition. and Microeconomics, by Pindyck and Rubenfeld, Edition 8. Both aren't required as the lecturer provides really detailed lecture notes at the start of the semester.

Lecturer(s): Dr Xiaodong Fan, can’t vouch for his teachings but according to my friends he is quite good.

Year & Semester of completion: Semester 2 2018

Rating: 4 out of 5

Your Mark/Grade: 95 HD

Comments: Quite an interesting unit, but fairly theoretical for non-economics students, but not mathematical enough to prepare a student for honours/PhD in economics (just a personal opinion, but Monash teaches micro again in honours/PhD as coursework units). Still required for econs major students though, but I wouldn’t recommend it for non-econonomics/econometrics students.

Xiaodong starts of with supply/demand analysis, the kind you do in first-year micro but with a mathematical twist to it. He then introduces consumer and producer theory (which is not introduced in prior units) and analysis of markets (the stuff with the price curves you learn in first-year micro). Partial differentiation is required knowledge here, but they are quite simple actually, and resources are provided before the semester actually starts (you also have to learn a new handy technique called the Lagrangian Multiplier, which is not too hard to learn as well). All of these topics are assessed in the mid-semester test, which runs for 2 hours and I’ll be honest, it wasn’t the easiest thing (scraped a 90% because I completely blanked out on the last question) and it had crazy mark allocations, be sure to study hard for this one.

After this comes the more complicated part of the course, as the lecturer dives into purer economic concepts such as general equilibrium (think transactions, but what satisfies both people + mathematics), game theory (deeper and more mathematical than first-year, the 2nd year focuses more on mathematical theory, and you get all sorts of fun games like randomising your choices, game theory with continuous strategies, and sequential game theory, my favourite part of the unit tbh), market failure due to externalities and asymmetric information, all quintessential topics within microeconomics.
The unit is quite well run, imo. They provided enough resources and guidance, I’d say. But I still wouldn’t recommend it if you are looking to learn something practical as this unit is quite theoretical than say macroeconomics, where you’ll learn more (debatable) about the world as a non-econs student. Nevertheless, quite an easy unit, 35% of the students obtained a HD this time.
2018-2020: Bachelor of Actuarial Science (+ Econometrics), Monash
2021: Bachelor of Commerce (Honours), Econometrics & Financial Mathematics, Monash
2022-2023: Work and some soul-searching

sweetiepi

  • National Moderator
  • ATAR Notes Legend
  • *****
  • Posts: 4769
  • "A Bit of Chaos" (she/they)
  • Respect: +3589
Re: Monash University - Subject Reviews & Ratings
« Reply #447 on: December 04, 2018, 12:09:09 am »
+6
Subject Code/Name: PSC2012- Molecular Pharmacology

Workload: 
2x 1hr lectures (weekly)
4x 4hr labs
1x 2hr tutorial

Assessment: 
Clickers/Attendance: 5% (There was about 5 lectures that had this in it so I didn't see the point? Also my clicker died shortly after he stopped using the clickers.)
Midsem test: 15%
Pracs: 20%
Exam: 60%

Recorded Lectures:  Yes, with screen capture, some were lacking sound/visuals though.

Past exams available:  Yes, how many?  3. Oldest was not relevant. The other two weren't great either. No answers.

Textbook Recommendation: 
Rang and Dale's Pharmacology (any edition). Several times better than John Haynes' notes.

Lecturer(s):
John Haynes

Year & Semester of completion:
Sem 2, 2018

Rating: 1.5 out of 5

Your Mark/Grade: 65C, pretty reflective of how difficult I found the subject. Happy I passed though. (It took me nearly a whole day to have a captain's hook at my results. I didn't think I passed this unit and knowing my results were out triggered my anxiety but yay I don't have to do pharmacology again :D )

Comments:
John Haynes had a tricky way of making questions. He had several questions in his assessment material that had sooooo many ways that it could have been answered, and only one was right. His notes were also rather useless, ended up trying to teach myself from Rang and Dale's days before the exam because I was lost. :')

This unit will not run again as PSC2012, however all of the content will be moved to the new BPS2012: Pharmacology II: Drug Action (and potentially some in BPS2011) unit for 2019+
« Last Edit: December 04, 2018, 12:23:26 am by insanipi »
2017-2019: Bachelor of Pharmaceutical Science (Formulation Science)
2020: Bachelor of Pharmaceutical Science (Honours) Read my uni journey here!

sweetiepi

  • National Moderator
  • ATAR Notes Legend
  • *****
  • Posts: 4769
  • "A Bit of Chaos" (she/they)
  • Respect: +3589
Re: Monash University - Subject Reviews & Ratings
« Reply #448 on: December 04, 2018, 12:23:52 am »
+6
Subject Code/Name: PSC2142- Computational Chemistry

Workload: 
3x 1hr lectures (weekly)
8x 3hr complabs

Assessment: 
Midsem: 20%. Pretty standard for a MedChem unit- was tough, did worse than I should have.
Complabs 1-7: 10%
Complab 8: 10%
Exam: 60%

Recorded Lectures:  Yes, with screen capture.

Past exams available:  Yes, how many?  2. No answers.

Textbook Recommendation: 
No recommendation, lecture notes were sufficient.

Lecturer(s):
David Chalmers (Unit Coordinator)
David Manallack

Year & Semester of completion:
Sem 2, 2018

Rating: 5 out of 5

Your Mark/Grade: 74D. A bit lower than expected, but I'll take it and run with it- given that it's a medchem unit. :D

Comments:
I really enjoyed this unit, bar it's often dry content. David M was quite entertaining, whereas David C tried to be relatable to us younguns. The last few complabs were really fun, and the lab demonstrators were quite helpful. +100 points to Gryfindor for the beautiful lecture notes from David C and funny tangents from David M. :D

This unit will not run ever again, however I believe it'll be merged with PSC3142 to form a new computational drug design unit for the new degree format (2019+)
2017-2019: Bachelor of Pharmaceutical Science (Formulation Science)
2020: Bachelor of Pharmaceutical Science (Honours) Read my uni journey here!

sweetiepi

  • National Moderator
  • ATAR Notes Legend
  • *****
  • Posts: 4769
  • "A Bit of Chaos" (she/they)
  • Respect: +3589
Re: Monash University - Subject Reviews & Ratings
« Reply #449 on: December 04, 2018, 12:35:56 am »
+7
Subject Code/Name: PSC2222- Formulation Chemistry

Workload: 
3x 1hr lectures (weekly)
4x 3hr labs (took less time than that tbh)
an odd smattering of lectorials

Assessment: 
Exam: 60%
Lab report: 20% (split into 5% prelim, 15% final)
Excipients assignment: 5%
Acid-Base equilibria test: 5%
Assorted in-sem quizzes: 10%

Recorded Lectures:  Yes, with screen capture.

Past exams available:  None. UC doesn't like rubrics or giving past papers. Made study and completing assessments hard.

Textbook Recommendation: 
Lecture notes and supplementary notes were more than sufficient.

Lecturer(s):
Richard Prankerd
Angus Johnston (Unit Coordinator)
John Quinn

Year & Semester of completion:
Sem 2, 2018

Rating: 5 out of 5

Your Mark/Grade: 85HD

Comments:
This subject was my jam. My only let-down was that I was sick on exam day, so I'm pretty pleased with the result. As mentioned earlier, Angus didn't give any rubrics or past papers. I enjoyed sitting in these lectures, and as an added bonus Angus let us have a sample of his massive bag of Ruby couverture chocolate. Was truly a highlight of the semester and I'm really happy that my hard work wasn't wasted here!

This unit will not run in 2019+, however aspects of the course are likely to be integrated into other future units.
« Last Edit: December 04, 2018, 09:36:33 am by insanipi »
2017-2019: Bachelor of Pharmaceutical Science (Formulation Science)
2020: Bachelor of Pharmaceutical Science (Honours) Read my uni journey here!