[NUS Module Review] MA1421: Basic Applied Mathematics For Sciences

MA1421: Basic Applied Mathematics For Sciences

(INTRODUCTION)

This module is for all chemistry students as part of their major requirements. With that said, this module covers pretty much fundamental stuff like differentiation, integration, trigonometry, matrices, and statistics. Of course, the module will also cover something more in-depth like Euler's Rule and Taylor Series. If you took A-Math in the past, this module shouldn't be much of a problem for you.

(MY EXPECTATIONS)

I honestly thought I was done with Maths after JC. Like for good. Little did I expect that I needed to do Maths again. I don't hate Maths. In fact, I love Maths a lot. This is because Maths is a very wide subject that you can probably never get tired of. If I were to teach in the future (which I probably would), I would consider teaching Maths apart from Chemistry or Biology.

(SCHEDULE)

MA1421 has a similar schedule to CM1131 and CM1111; 2 hours of lectures twice a week and 1 hour of tutorials once per week. Unlike CM1111 or CM1131, MA1421 adopts a "mass tutorial in lecture" kind of approach, whereby you study content during your own free time at home based on the videos prepared for you, and you do a set of questions after studying the content and discuss the answers during lectures. Simple as that.

(PASSING THE ASSESSMENT)

Thankfully, MA1421 provides us with a huge buffer in case we screw up our finals. Do take note that finals  still weigh a hugeeeeee percentage of our marks despite having the percentages allocated at different areas:

• Project Assignments (15% + 10%)
• Mid-term Test (15%)
• Finals (60%)

Mid-terms only covers non-statistical topics while finals cover both non-statistical and statical topics. As scary as finals sound, it's actually pretty okay if you do practice enough. There are no lecture or tutorial attendance or participation marks. Projects are done in groups, usually having something to do with a math formula or theory being taught as part of the content that is usually NOT TESTED IN EXAMS. So at least that is one chapter out of your mind.

And if you must know, both the mid-terms and finals have this one KILLER question that is meant to cause students to get wrong and fail to obtain the full marks. To be honest, the answer to these killer questions are actually not that hard. We know the concepts and we know more or less what answer we must get. The only issue is that these questions stump us to the point that we forget that these concepts exist. So when facing these questions, keep calm and slowly analyze the questions for any possible pattern

(EXPERIENCE AND FINAL GRADING)

I think that what really made me hate this module so much was the statistics portion. Unlike the non-statistics part, the statistics portion does not have any video content lectures. So in order for you to study the statistics portion, you must either come for lectures where they will go through the contents or run through the web lectures. Of course, running through content during lectures will only mean less time for practice during the lectures itself.

To me, the non-statistics portion was okay for me to follow through as there were substantial practice and a really good step-by-step content lesson online for you to follow. It makes it easier also for revising any lessons that you might forget before the exams.

With that said, I got stuck in a lot of the statistics portion of lectures as I didn't understand certain jargons and concepts used. What makes it worse is that the tutorials were moving faster than the lectures taught itself.

BUTTTTTT... Exams are all open book so when in doubt, flip and find out! YAY!

(CONCLUSIONS AND TIPS)

I guess like all math related stuff, practice is still of utmost importance. Your notes can only help you that much in exams. Most will still find it hard to finish the paper on time to properly plan out your time and complete the questions that you feel confident in first. Sadly, most people in taking a major in Chemistry do well in Maths, so do not expect the bell curve to favor you that much.

Ratings out of 5⭐:

• Rigor - ⭐⭐⭐
• Degree of doability - ⭐⭐⭐
• Bell Curve (to favour you) - ⭐⭐

**(EXCLUSIVE: LECTURER)**

"I have a friend, she’s in love with him (Dr Lim Zhi Han), crazily in love, so you can probably imagine how charming he is. Girls, good news for you, if you need the motivation to do all the PYP and all the pre-lecture quizzes, just think of him like how my friend did, and 1421 will be a breeze for you. When in doubt of any concepts, feel free to book an appointment with him, that will give you more motivation to excel 1421 too." ~~ An Anonymous Student in NUS