4th Year 2015 S Review
BIOL341 - Introductory Molecular Biology Laboratory class average = 83
This course was very well organized and content-wise not very difficult if you are familiar with molecular genetics. The syllabus is not really different in the summer (Bioinformatics presentation + a final report on recombinant plasmid), but the fact that you can get over it within 6 weeks without any other course load should convince you enough to take this course during the summer. The class runs three times a week (T,W,Th), and each session about 4 hours long - this means for Wednesday and Thursday classes, you get less than 24 hours to do winter session's 1 week equivalent of lab work. I noticed that the first PCR primer assignment tends to scare people away, but the assignments later on are pretty much manageable within few hours. The series of lectures and experiments pretty much prepares you for the report that is due at the end of the term (+occasional lectures on bioinformatics) - in fact, the good thing is that you write sections of your report each week (with feedback), and during the final week, you just have to revise and compile each sections and hand it in as one report. However, I should warn you that both projects require readings outside from class (published papers), and in general, the more you read, the better your projects become. Even though the course is only worth 2 credits, the work load is more or less similar to other 3-4 credit courses, I can't imagine myself taking this course alongside 4 other courses during the winter session and I never regret that I took it during the summer :)
GEH1002 - Economic Issues in the Developing World
=ARTS 2nd @UBC (National University of Singapore - FASSTrack)
Soon after taking BIOL341, I was off to Singapore as an exchange student. FASSTrack is a 5 week program (4 weeks of lectures + 1 week reserved for field trip) offered by NUS Social Sciences department. I chose this course in particular because the topic seemed somewhat interesting and it was one of the few courses that didn't have the field trip component. The course puts emphasis on developing countries of ASEAN, and ASEAN as a whole. It was not really easy to follow with no background on economics other than the first year microeconomics - it seemed that other students had much more background which kind of put me at a disadvantage. On a positive side, it served as an opportunity to learn things outside from science, but on the other hand, I think I could have learned/understood more if it weren't the Singaporean accent (The instructor was really passionate though!). In terms of course work, you are only responsible for one group presentation and one final exam, so I had ample time to travel elsewhere (Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Taiwan). In fact, I used the field trip week to travel Southeast Asia by train. It was totally a mind blowing experience studying at a campus other than my own - I understand that going on an exchange can be difficult for science students, but I definitely recommend any summer exchange program.
This course was very well organized and content-wise not very difficult if you are familiar with molecular genetics. The syllabus is not really different in the summer (Bioinformatics presentation + a final report on recombinant plasmid), but the fact that you can get over it within 6 weeks without any other course load should convince you enough to take this course during the summer. The class runs three times a week (T,W,Th), and each session about 4 hours long - this means for Wednesday and Thursday classes, you get less than 24 hours to do winter session's 1 week equivalent of lab work. I noticed that the first PCR primer assignment tends to scare people away, but the assignments later on are pretty much manageable within few hours. The series of lectures and experiments pretty much prepares you for the report that is due at the end of the term (+occasional lectures on bioinformatics) - in fact, the good thing is that you write sections of your report each week (with feedback), and during the final week, you just have to revise and compile each sections and hand it in as one report. However, I should warn you that both projects require readings outside from class (published papers), and in general, the more you read, the better your projects become. Even though the course is only worth 2 credits, the work load is more or less similar to other 3-4 credit courses, I can't imagine myself taking this course alongside 4 other courses during the winter session and I never regret that I took it during the summer :)
GEH1002 - Economic Issues in the Developing World
=ARTS 2nd @UBC (National University of Singapore - FASSTrack)
Soon after taking BIOL341, I was off to Singapore as an exchange student. FASSTrack is a 5 week program (4 weeks of lectures + 1 week reserved for field trip) offered by NUS Social Sciences department. I chose this course in particular because the topic seemed somewhat interesting and it was one of the few courses that didn't have the field trip component. The course puts emphasis on developing countries of ASEAN, and ASEAN as a whole. It was not really easy to follow with no background on economics other than the first year microeconomics - it seemed that other students had much more background which kind of put me at a disadvantage. On a positive side, it served as an opportunity to learn things outside from science, but on the other hand, I think I could have learned/understood more if it weren't the Singaporean accent (The instructor was really passionate though!). In terms of course work, you are only responsible for one group presentation and one final exam, so I had ample time to travel elsewhere (Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Taiwan). In fact, I used the field trip week to travel Southeast Asia by train. It was totally a mind blowing experience studying at a campus other than my own - I understand that going on an exchange can be difficult for science students, but I definitely recommend any summer exchange program.
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