NTU 2014/2015 Sem 1 Modules and Comments

This is posted by Lim Min.

Year 2 Semester 1 2014 (24 AUs)

BU8201 Business Finance (3AU) (Gerpe-bm)
Lecturer: Dr. Kong Yoon Kee
Tutorial: Marina Lee
Grading:
Class participation: 5%
Class presentation: 15%
Quiz: 10/10 (20%)
Final (27 Nov 2014, 1700-1900): 60%
Overall Grade: A+

Note for this module, it is best to get a financial calculator or a graphic calculator (It SAVES LOADS of time! Really!). Personally, I used a GC (so I don't have to spend extra $$). Under apps->Finance (the first app for my gc) it has stuff that does exactly what a financial calculator does. I think. (I'm not sure cause I didn't use a financial calculator and I am not sure what exactly can it do, but for this mod, the GC is definitely sufficient.) I refer to this for instructions, but there are plenty of other websites with instructions for you to follow.

I think the lecturer is good. He is humorous, and he gives life lessons. He loves to say stuff outside of recording, e.g. quiz topics. If you miss any of his lectures, it's fine to just watch his recording, although I don't recommend using an earpiece to listen, because he coughs into the mic, which can be pretty loud :P. I heard he has been coughing for 2 years already :/. The notes are pretty self explanatory except for some parts. An interesting quirk of his is, he will say: "please start recording, please start recording" at the beginning, and "please stop recording, please stop recording" at the end of every lecture.

The tutorial teacher is also not bad. Her explanations are rather clear. She wants everybody to do ALL the tutorial questions. So if you don't plan to do the tutorials, don't bother joining her tutorial class. In the first few tutorials, she may just ask your neighbours to help check if you have done your work, but one fine day she may check it herself.

Class presentation is about presenting solutions to tutorial questions (1 or 2), or presenting a summary of that week's lecture. You probably need less than 30mins of preparation (mostly to do the slides). So presentation is easy for this mod. 

Quiz consists of 10 mcq from their ultra large qn bank.

Final paper was ok… so far I have 1 MCQ which is confirmed incorrect. The bad thing about non-math paper especially with all the questions on picking the most correct sentences is that you don't know roughly how many marks you will get after the paper. Final paper is 2 hours, 20 mcq (80 marks) and 3 structured (20 marks). I finished the paper in 1.5hrs.

MH3101 Complex Analysis (4AU)
Lecturer: Dr. Le Hai Khoi
Tutorial: Dr. Le Hai Khoi
Grading:
Midterm test: 29/30 (30%)
Final (26 Nov 2014, 0900-1100): 70%
Overall grade: A

Prof Le likes to give a lot of chance to weaker students, it appears. The midterm test was really easy; 8 students scored full marks. I think his lectures for this mod is one of the most useful. His writings, especially those on the whiteboard, explains a lot. Really must go, cannot pon.

The final paper was less straight forward. I still could not believe I did not solve the very standard 25 marks question. I realized it was such a straightforward only after the exam… what in the world was I thinking during the exam?  This is the only paper which I did not manage to complete. Besides the standard 25-mark question and the last 5-mark question, I could only prove one direction in one of the questions… pretty dead… Among all the papers I took this sem, I consider this a killer paper as it was the most challenging :). Surprisingly I ended up getting an A. :D

MH3101 Complex Analysis Past Year Paper Solution

MH2500 Probability and Intro to Stat (4AU)
Lecturer: Dr. Thommy Perlinger
Tutorial: Paiseh but don't know his name
Grading:
Midterm test: 23.5/25 (25%)
Quiz 1: 7/7 (7%)
Quiz 2: 8/8 (8%)
Final (1 Dec 2014, 1300-1500): 60%
Overall grade: A+

This tutorial person dresses pretty sloppily and always mumbles to himself. To the extent that on some days, only my 2 friends and I attended his tutorial slot.

Lecture notes are self explanatory. In the worst case, if you don't understand, you can always go watch his recording for that particular part. His lecture is really REALLY slow. Tutorial - go or don't go, seriously I don't think it matters.

The midterm test wasn't trivial but nevertheless I could do the questions. However, I got 1 mark deducted, which I thought was rather unfairly. I stated as a concluding statement given a random variable bla… since the question already states that it was a uniform random variable, but the marker subtracted my 1 mark for not writing the word 'uniform'… :(  odd… but I guess I wasn't that clear. The prof told us the highest score was 25, the mean was 14.54, and the standard deviation was 5.73. The distribution was pretty much symmetric about the mean.

For Quiz 1 and Quiz 2, the teacher doesn't even care if you copy your answers from others. 

The final paper is quite easy, loads of marks are given away freely. It is 2hrs long. I could do all questions and finished the paper in 65 mins.

MH2500 Probability and Intro to Stat Past Year Paper Solution.

MH2401 Algorithms and Computing III (2AU)
Lecturer: Prof Chua Chek Beng
Grading:
Assignment 1: A+ (10%)
Assignment 2: A+ (10%)
Midterm project: A- (30%)
Final group project: (50%)
Overall grade: A

The lecturer is very patient and nice. But I don't really like this mod. It doesn't test your coding skills or thinking skills much. The grading is super picky. One cannot write in point form, cannot have grammar mistakes and when printing, should print in matrix not in sentences because it looks better (then why never say earlier, I got deducted so many marks. :( I am super sian.) A- is average grade for the midterm project… I feel it is more like a presentation mod than a math mod. Especially since everybody can do all the questions. If you can't, you can always ask around. Like that test what?

Assignments and midterm project consist of submitting a report only.

Final group project consists of report and presentation. Presentation happens on the last week of school. The presentation has an individual understanding component where the prof will ask each person individually a question (or 2) during your presentation and you have to answer it. It might be related to your presentation or from his bank of questions generated beforehand. It can range from extremely easy to extremely tough question where you need to ponder quite a while.

After the result's release, my stance changed a little. Final presentation understanding component seems to play a huge role in the grading. My 3 other group mates who got A/A+ for all the assignments and midterm ended up with a B+. Group report we will have the same marks. The only difference is they couldn't answer Prof Chua's question but I could. Seems like a large portion of your marks goes to if you can answer his question or not.

MH2200 Groups and Symmetry (3AU)
Lectuer: Dr. Lim Kay Jin
Tutorial: Raphael
Grading:
Midterm test: 25/25 (25%)
Tutorial participation: 5%
Final exam (5 Dec 2014, 1430-1630): 70%
Additional bonus: 9/10 (+5%)
Overall grade: A+

Lecture notes were from previous year, by Prof Frederique Oggier. He rewrote chapter 7 though. I like his lectures a lot. I can like see the thinking process of the stuff as he goes through it. The only paiseh part is he calls out my name during one of the lectures and another one. Super scary and Paiseh. All because I was pointing at the screen because I could not decipher the words and was asking my friend what that word was. And he asked: "Lim Min is everything okay?" And there was awkward silence, laughter, my weird shouting replies. Hahahahahaha. But thanks Prof Lim for taking notice of me ;).

Raphael is an extremely good TA!! I love the extra questions he gives and the summary he gives in each tutorial. It is like after every tutorial I understood the whole chapter. And more.

Prof Lim says the average mark for midterm test is 10… not sure if he rounds it down or not. But in MAS the mean is always lower than the median it seems. And I think he was quite lenient? I wrote “by eye power” and no marks were deducted. :P. Though there is a very elegant way to show it without eye power.

For final exam Prof Lim likes to stand beside students' tables (to look at their paper perhaps?) At least if he knows you. (This was the case for me and my 2 other friends taking this mod). So when that happens just look up smile at him or stare or just have a short convo. Our convo went something like this:
Me: Prof Lim… the working is so long…… :(:(
Prof Lim: Ya~ Ya~. (In his usual Yaya tone Hahahaha)

As I was not sure how much I can assume to know, I ended up writing a lot (9 pages), possibly one of the most among all the papers I have written. Final is a 2hr paper, I finished it in 1hr 40mins. Questions were not hard, pretty straightforward, but a lot to write. Given Prof Lim's preference for elegance, I think maybe there is no need to write so much. But oh wells~ I wrote that much just in case. 3 questions, 40m, 30m, 30m. I thought for quite a bit for question 3a). It seems his way of setting papers is to set all standard questions and only 1 question that requires a bit more thinking.

He gave an additional bonus 5 marks to be done roughly 24hrs before the final exam to help students improve their marks. 10 mcqs, and everyone will have the same 10 questions. 1 try, and answers will be revealed after submission. So you can actually ask your friends (those who have submitted) for the answers before taking the mcqs.

MH1300 Foundations of Mathematics (4AU)
Lecturer: Prof Chan Song Heng
Tutorial: Prof Chan Song Heng
Grading:
Test 1: 31/30 (15%)
Test 2: 28.5/30 (15%)
Tutorial participation: 5%
Final exam (4 Dec 2014, 0900-1100): 65%
Overall grade: A+

Prof Chan is a very good lecturer. Funny, and very clear teaching. Really very funny hahaha.Too bad I ponned and didn't watch majority of his lectures. This is because after taking the mod Real Analysis… it seems FOM becomes too trivial to even be bothered with. He really planned his lectures well, even the jokes are planned and recycled. And if you notice, one of his fingers has a ring tattoo hahaha. He is a very popular prof amongst the students. 

Presenting 2 questions during the tutorial will secure 5 marks for you.

For the 2 tests, as long as you sit at the correct position and bring your matric card, you will get an extra 1 bonus mark. That's why you can have 31/30.

Test 1: mean 26.5, 3rd quartile 29.5, median 28, 1st quartile 24.5.
Test 2: mean 18.97, 3rd quartile 22, median 18.5, 1st quartile 15.5.

Prof Chan always gives chance for tests. He will upload the past 4 years' questions and solutions. And every year the questions are similar. You have to write very fast during the test as you hardly have time to pause and slowly ponder. Test 1 is 40mins long, Test 2 is 35mins long. For the final exam this year, question 4b was omitted because it was set wrongly.

For final exam, he also uploaded a lot of past year papers, questions etc with solutions. Students are quite spoon fed in this mod. 

Final paper 2hrs long. I could do all questions and finished everything in 1hr 20mins..

CY1203 Linear Algebra and Differential Equation (4AU)
Lecturer: Dr. Le Hai Khoi
Tutorial: Chen Lin
Quiz 1: 10/10 (10%)
Quiz 2: 10/10 (10%)
Quiz 3: 10/10 (10%)
Final (21 Nov 2014, 1430-1630): 70%
Overall grade: A+

I consider Chen Lin a good TA, the demure, gentle, studious type. Be attentive and you can understand everything.

With this mod, I see Prof Le 7hrs a week. His tone can be super funny and cute. We often (deliberately and unintentionally at times) imitate his way of speech: That important~ It can happen that…

I can literally hear his voice sometimes when I was reading his notes hahaha.

Prof Le gives plenty of chance for this mod. The 3 quizzes were easy, so was the final exam.

The final was a 2hr paper, I could do all questions and finished everything in 1hr 20mins.

NTU 2014/2015 Semester 1 Exam Results

Well done, Lim Min!

CS3233 Module (IOI 2015 Workshop) trainees

The CS3233 selection has concluded on 22 Dec 2014. The following students (year of study indicated is in 2015) are selected to join NUS CS3233 students on every Wednesday night 6-9.15pm @ COM1-Basement-PL2 (Programming Lab 2) to learn the next level of competitive programming.

NUS High
Howe Choong Yin, Year 6
Jacob Teo, Year 3
Clarence Chew, Year 4
Nicholas Toh, Year 5
Daniel Low, Year 5
Feng Xinyuan, Year 4
Sean Pek, Year 6
Lim Li, Year 4

Raffles Institution
Pang Wen Yuen, Year 4
Zhang Guangxuan, Year 4
Wu Guanqun, Year 6
Mohideen Imran Khan, Year 6
Bradley Teo, Year 4
Desmond Cheong, Year 6
Justin Hou, Year 6

Hwa Chong Institution
Ho Jie Feng, Year 6
Damian Ho, Year 3
Zeng Fan Pu, Year 6
Wang Zhi Jian, Year 6

Raffles Girls' School
Lee Estelle, Year 3

Jobs for Mathematics Graduates

Source: Mathematics Department, University of California, Davis

Why Choose a Mathematics-Related Profession ?

Mathematics teaches patience, discipline, and step-by-step problem-solving skills. For those with a substantial background in mathematics, an unlimited number of career opportunuities are available. According to Jobs Rated Almanac , a 1990 publication of World Almanac Books of New York, NY, careers that require a very strong background in mathematics were listed as the five "best" jobs. They were :

• software engineer
• actuary
• computer systems analyst
• computer programmer
• mathematician

Almost all of the top fifty jobs in this "best" jobs list involved mathematical reasoning and knowledge. This list was the result of the comparison of two hundred fifty jobs classified according to :

• income
• future outlook
• physical demands
• job security
• stress
• work environment

A List of Professions

The following list briefly describes work associated with some mathematics-related professions :

• actuary-- assemble and analyze statistics to calculate probabilities of death, sickness, injury, disability, unemployment, retirement, and property loss; design insurance and pension plans and ensure that they are maintained on a sound financial basis
• mathematics teacher-- introduce students to the power and beauty of mathematics in elementary, junior high, or high school mathematics courses
• operations research analyst-- assist organizations (manufacturers, airlines, military) in developing the most efficient, cost-effective solutions to organizational operations and problems; this includes strategy, forecasting, resource allocation, facilities layout, inventory control, personnel schedules, and distribution systems
• statistician-- collect, analyze, and present numerical data resulting from surveys and experiments
• physician-- diagnose patient illnesses, prescribe medication, teach classes, mentor interns, and do clinical research; students with a good mathematics background will find themselves being admitted to the best medical schools and discover that mathematics has prepared them well for the discipline, analysis, and problem- solving required in the field of medicine
• research scientist-- model atmospheric conditions to gain insight into the effect of changing emissions from cars, trucks, power plants, and factories; apply these models in the development of alternative fuels
• computer scientist-- interface the technology of computers with the underlying mathematical principles of such diverse applications as medical diagnoses, graphics animation, interior design, cryptogrraphy, and parallel computers
• inventory strategist-- analyze historical sales data, model forecast uncertainty to design contingency plans, and analyze catalog displays to make them more successful; analyze consumer responses
• staff systems air traffic control analyst-- apply probability, statistics, and logistsics to air traffic control operations; use simulated aircraft flight to monitor air traffic control computer systems
• cryptologist-- design and analyze schemes used to transmit secret information
• attorney-- research, comprehend, and apply local, state, and federal laws; a good background in mathematics will help a student get admitted to law school and assist in the understanding of complicated theoretical legal concepts
• economist-- interpret and analyze the interrelationships among factors which drive the economics of a particular organization, industry, or country
• mathematics professor-- teach mathematics classes, do theoretical research, and advise undergraduate and graduate students at colleges and universities
• environmental mathematician-- work as member of interdisciplinary team of scientists and professionals studying problems at specific Superfund sites; communicate effectively across many academic discilplines and be able to summarize work in writing
• robotics engineer-- combine mathematics, engineering, and computer science in the study and design of robots
• geophysical mathematician -- develop the mathematical basis for seismic imaging tools used in the exploration and production of oil and gas reservoirs
• design -- use computer graphics and mathematical modeling in the design and construction of physical prototypes; integrate geometric design with cost-effective manufacturing of resulting products
• ecologist -- study the interrelationships of organisms and their environments and the underlying mathematical dynamics
• geodesist -- study applied science involving the precise measurement of the size and shape of the earth and its gravity field (courtesy of Bruce Hedquist)
• photogrammetrist -- study the applied science of multi-spectral image acquisition from terrestrial, aerial and satellite camera platforms, followed up by the image processing, analysis, storage, display, and distribution in various hard-copy and digital format (courtesy of Bruce Hedquist)
• civil engineer -- plan, design, and manage the construction of land vehicle, aircraft, water, and energy transport systems; analyze and control systems for land vehicular traffic; analyze and control environmental systems for sewage and water treatment; develop sites for industrial, commercial and residential home use; analyze and control systems for storm water drainage and storage; manage construction of foundations, structures and buildings; analyze construction materials ; and surface soils and subterranean material analysis (courtesy of Bruce Hedquist)

IOI Workshop 2014/2015

Lim Li is currently attending the December '2014 IOI (International Olympiad in Informatics) Workshop held at Icube Building, School of Computing, every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 10 am to 5 pm. The programme for the IOI workshop is found here.

In the past, the IOI workshops (also known as the NUS CS3233 Competitive Programming elective module) started in January. This December workshop which is conducted by ex-IOI participants, commenced about a year or two ago, to provide more training for IOI potentials and to select high school candidates for the CS3233 module, which is typically held from January to April. Both Lim Min and Lim Jeck had attended this workshop conducted by Dr Steven Halim before (refer to here and here). Participants who obtain Silver and above medal in the National Olympiad in Informatics (NOI) (refer NOI 2014 website) and who are Singapore Citizens or Permanent Residents will be invited to join the IOI workshop after the NOI prize presentation in March.

The workshop is structured and well organized. The lesson notes are available and an analysis of the workshop's training contests is done. For example, you can see the analysis of Day 1 contest here. Lim Li did a commendable job :)

Lim Li is also currently providing Math Olympiad training to a Primary 5 boy, every Sunday from 10 am to 12 noon (only for the November/December holidays). She is teaching him SMO Junior topics (Sec 1 and 2 Math Olympiad stuff), and also guiding him to tackle the more challenging SMOPS questions. More recently, she is giving Math tuition to a Sec 2 girl from an IP school.