Uni Stuff > Monash University
Monash University - Subject Reviews & Ratings
b^3:
Subject Code/Name: ENG1030 - Electrical Systems
Workload: 3x1hr lectures a week, 1x1hr tute, 1x2hr lab every second week, Lab test in week 10
Assessment: 5 Lab sessions - 1.5% each, Lab Test - 7.5%, Online quizzes - 7% total, Mid Sem Test - 8%, 3hr exam - 70%
Recorded Lectures: Yes, with screen capture that includes lectures notes being written on (although some things were written on overhead slides).
Past exams available: 6 past exams, no solutions, only one has answers to some questions
Textbook Recommendation: Reccomended - Fundamentals of Electric Circuits 4ed, and a bunch of others, didn't really use them at all, wouldn't recommend them, unless you want to do extra questions during the semester (which I didn't), BUT they don't have answers to know if you're right or wrong (although those can be found online somewhere from a source other than the publisher).
Lecturer(s): Dr Yi Hong (Weeks 1-3, 7-12), Prof. Malin Premaratne (Weeks 4-6) <--- Malin is one of the best lecturers I've had
Year & Semester of completion: Sem 1 2012
Rating:
Your Mark/Grade: 94 HD
Comments: This by far has been my least favourite unit this semester, I would have given it a 0.5 if it went for Malin's lectures, BUT I am a bit biased as I did not really want to do this unit in the first place.
The first 2-3 weeks starts off as easy as yr 12, if not easier, then it goes from 0 to wtf is this in about 1 lecture. Malin has been one of my best lecturers I've had, he explains things in a way that the marjority of the room was able to understand straight off, and it was not an easy topic to start with. He actually enjoyed lecturing and in the 5 mins before the lectures started he went around talking to students and seeing how they were going with the unit, or how he could improve (he ended up getting one hell of a round of applause at the end of his final lecture).
Anyway back to the actual unit, I did not enjoy the unit, it just wasn't my thing, the nodal analysis stuff was alright once you got the hang of it but I found Thevinen circuits a great deal harder (didn't sucessfully solve one until the day before the exam....). There are peer-assisted help classes (PASS) running for ENG1030, which I should of taken advantage of. The tutes aren't worth any marks, but I suggest you go to them if you want to pass, as they were really helpful, basically where I learnt most of the course. So far in general over all my units, I've found that the tutes that aren't worth anything are the ones that you actually need to go to to pass.
In week 10 you will have a Lab test, there are 7 tests, one of which you will be given at random. Beforehand you are given the tests so that you can practice in the labs before the date. During the week of the lab test, and even the week before it the labs get packed and you will be struggling to find wires for your circuits, so don't leave practicing your circuits too late, once you are given then start looking into the straight away.
The final lab which is in one of the last two weeks, is a soldering project, where you make a functioning thermometer, actually enojyed this lab quick a lot, you feel like you've actually achieved something for the semester :D
The Thermometer
To sum up, if you like electrical, then this will probably be enjoyable for you, if not, then it can be quite hard.
pi:
Subject Code/Name: MED1011 - Medicine 1
Workload: per week: 12 x 1hr lectures + 1 x 2 hr prac + 4 x 2 hr tutorials + 3.5 hr CBL (Cased Based Learning tutorial) + occasional site visit
Assessment: For the semester - 25% Mid-Semester Test, 50% Case Commentary Assignment, 25% End of Semester Exam (formative assignments include practical write-ups and weekly quizzes). In terms of the year - 5% Mid-Semester Test, 10% Case Commentary Assignment, 5% End of Semester Exam
Recorded Lectures: Yes, with screen capture that includes lectures notes being written on (although some things were written on overhead slides)
Past exams available: Yes, although the official ones are quite old, however past questions can be found in exam format through student compilations
Textbook Recommendation:
* General Anatomy - Adams, Ahern, Briggs and Eizenberg*
* Kumar and Clark's Clinical Medicine 7th - Clark and Kumar
* Janeway's Immunobiology 8th - Murphy
* Langman's Medical Embryology 11th - Sadler
* Life The Science of Biology 9th - Berenbaum, Heller, Hillis and Sadva*
* Medical Sciences 1st - Court, Naish, Revest*
* Microbes in Motion 3 - Delisle and Tomalty
* Neuroscience Exploring the Brain 3rd - Bear, Connors and Pradiso
* Rang and Dale's Pharmacology 7th - Dale, Flower, Henderson, Rang and Ritter*
* Textbook of Medical Physiology 12th - Guyton and Hall
* Wheater's Functional Histology A Text and Colour Atlas 5th - Heath, Lowe, Stevens and Young * means essential
Lecturer(s): Many, depending on the series of lecture (biochemistry, cancer, pharmacology, haemotology, immunology, pathology, etc.)
Year & Semester of completion: Semester 1, 2012
Rating: 5/5
Comments:
The course is divided into four parts (or themes of study):
Theme I: Personal and Professional Development
Theme II: Population, Society, Health and Illness
Theme III: Foundations of Medicine
Theme IV: Clinical Skills
Of the four themes, I (and the vast majority of the cohort) found themes III and IV to be the most enjoyable because they focus on knowledge and skills that have a direct and practical use in future life as a clinician. Themes I and II contain a lot of theory, a lot of which is very logical and dry. Luckily, majority of the course is focused on themes II and IV, and the exams reflect that too.
The lectures are very good, with most of the lecturers being very captivating and interactive with the students. Questions are allowed to be asked before, during and after the lectures, and all lecturers are more than happy to respond to emails afterwards. The lecture notes/slides given are also of a decent standard and it is possible to pass the unit solely using these. There is no attendance requirement for this unit, however it is expected that students attend all lectures (most lectures are nearly full, so that shows the quality of what is given).
The tutorials are also very enjoyable. Each tutorial focusing on one aspect of the themes, for example in the Clinical Skills tute we learn how to take patient histories, give injections, take blood pressures and measure the vital signs. Most tutes encourage group discussions and teamwork (especially the CBL tutes). There is an 80% attendance requirement for all tutes for this unit.
External site visits give this unit extra depth and enjoyment. During the unit, each student is able to have a hospital and a GP placement, which not only are necessary for the Case Commentary assignment, but are also valuable insight into the medical profession and the clinical years of the MBBS (years 3-5).
The unit (and the course overall) also has an excellent society, Monash University Medical Undergraduates' Society (MUMUS) which facilitates student concerns with the Medical department, provides supports to students, organises academic and social events, provides links to AMSA, manages a facebook group, and much more! Every student enrolled in this unit is automatically a member of this society.
Overall, an extremely enjoyable unit, despite the heavy workload :)
ShortBlackChick:
Subject Code/Name: ATS1310 - Natural Hazards and Human Vulnerability
Workload: 2 lectures and a 2-hour support class per week
Assessment: 5% Bonus online quiz, 5% Short Essay (500 words), 40% Major Essay (2000 words), Practical class participation: 20% (2% per class, I believe. Unit Guide says a total of 25% up from Practicals, not too sure what it is), 30% Final examination (2 hours)
Recorded Lectures: Yes, with screen capture. I believe (which means Im not too sure, seeing I didnt check)
Past exams available: No. Not that I am aware of.
Textbook Recommendation: K Smith and DN Petley 2009. Environmental Hazards: assessing risk and reducing disaster. Routledge, 383pp
Lecturer(s): David Dunkerley mostly and various Guest Lecturers
Year & Semester of completion: Semester 1, 2012
Rating: 4 of 5
Comments: The course is pretty much just your basic Geography Subject, covers topics on Natural Hazards such as Earthquakes, Tsunamis, Floods, Bushfires and Storms as well as discussing factors that create vulnerabilities for humans. Technical terms are also covered throughout the course, something which to be honest, I realised when I walked into the exam and saw a question about 'biogeophysical factors.'
You will often find yourself wondering what the relevance is of the Practical class to the topic covered in the weeks lectures. I think second last week we played Pandemic in the Practical Class after which there were questions that you had to answer and hand back to be marked.
The head lecturer/chief examiner David Dunkerley is honestly the best. Some people may find him a drag, but if you like cute (relatively) old people, he's your guy. He makes funny little jokes and is a bit scared by technology but I enjoyed his lectures and how he went about explaining concepts.
Honestly, I would choose this subject if you wanted a bludge subject. There were a lot of 3rd year students in my Prac class who were just doing the uni so they could complete the amount of first year units needed to finish their degree. It can be entertaining at times, but possibly a bit of a drag at others though.
Oh and this unit falls under the Arts Faculty but has resources at both Matheson and Hargreave-Andrews Libraries because Geography falls sorta under both Arts and Science.
TrueTears:
Subject Code/Name: AFC2340 - Debt Markets and Fixed Income Securities
Workload: 1 hour tutes per week
Assessment: Within semester assessment: 20%, Examination (3 hours): 80%
Recorded Lectures: yes
Past exams available: ALOT of practise exams about 10-20, about half of them had answers.
Textbook Recommendation: No textbooks prescribed.
Lecturer(s): Dr Andrew Sanford
Year & Semester of completion: 2012 semester 1
Rating: 5 of 5
Your Mark/Grade: 99 HD
Comments: Great subject! This subject has ALOT of mathematics involved, so only do it if you're fairly confident with your maths skills. It's certainly not as difficult as AFC3340 (options) but it will be very difficult for people who aren't very strong with mathematics. The tutorials are just standard, you go through each weeks tute questions, although they're not too indicative of what's going to be on exams. Exam questions are worded problems and the harder ones require you do think and apply problem solving skills. Similar to solving mathematical problems but with a financial perspective. I heard the lectures wasn't too useful, I didn't attend any but from looking at the lecture notes, they were generally pretty good but had typos here and there. For some reason they had lecture notes this semester whereas in the previous semester they had a prescribed textbook/topic notes, so if you're doing this subject, let me know and I can send you the books/topic notes. All in all, a great subject to do, essential to higher level finance units and is also a unit that counts towards IAA Actuarial accreditation.
TrueTears:
Subject Code/Name: AFC2240 - Equities and Investment Analysis
Workload: 1 hour tutes per week
Assessment: Within semester assessment: 20%, Examination (3 hours): 80%
Recorded Lectures: yes
Past exams available: About 2-3 practise exams with solutions.
Lecturer(s): Dr Manapon Limkriangkrai
Year & Semester of completion: 2012 semester 1
Rating: 4 of 5
Your Mark/Grade: 99 HD
Comments: Pretty enjoyable unit, you will cover topics like superannuation, review of different investment products, types of managed funds, how to review performance etc. It focuses on different types of investments and concepts behind them. There's not too much mathematics involved, however the final exam is EXTREMELY long, you need to really know your stuff inside out to write constantly to finish with a good mark. This subject also covers the topics needed for CFA exams, so you will also cover CFA ethics/code of conduct etc, so if you are planning to go for CFA exams, this unit will be extremely helpful. It is also a preq for AFC3440 (pensions and financial planning), so if you plan to do that unit, you must do this one. Besides that, weekly tutes just covers the weekly tute questions. I heard lectures were alright, didn't attend any but listened to a few online exams near exam period, the lecturer really knows his stuff and tries to explain concepts with quite alot of examples; which is always helpful. The midsem wasn't very hard, just MCQ + short answer, just know your stuff and you should do fine, however you need to really memorise the theory for the final exam. All in all, fun and useful unit, not particularly difficult, just put in the work and you should find it enjoyable.
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