[NUS Module Review] LSM1102: Molecular Genetics

LSM1102: Molecular Genetics

(INTRODUCTION)

Okay, so this is kinda like the alternative side of my NUS journey. I made a last minute decision to embark on this life science journey because I really wanted to try minor at something before I leave NUS. Originally, I was planning to minor in Public Health. However, I was severely outbidded at every round of the bidding due to so many people wanting to take the module that I had no choice but to alter my decision and choose life science as my minor. It was my second choice when it comes to minors anyway, so no harm was done. Plus, I love doing life science, even though the contents are enormously heavy till the point I was genuinely afraid I have no time to study everything.

Yeah, I must be crazy taking a dual science major-minor. :( It's so stressful studying just one and now I gotta deal with two. The feeling is unreal. But I'm so stoked to get started. Here's my journey in life science.

(LECTURERS)

There are 3 lecturers for this module; Dr Wu Jinlu, Prof Lieu Yih Cherng and Prof Chew Fook Tim. Each lecturer will take around 4 topics before conducting their CAs. If there is something I can say about life science lecturers versus chemistry lecturers is that... 
LIFE SCIENCE LECTURERS >>>> CHEMISTRY LECTURERS
They are so much friendlier, more responsive, more caring, more understanding and more encouraging. Here, let me show you an example:

Chemistry lecturers don't give a crap about your welfare or how well you are coping with studies (perhaps an exception to Dr Adrian Lee ONLY). I can say for a fact that Life Science lecturers care a lot more. Dr Wu Jinlu is one of the nicest lecturers that I've ever encountered in my time here in NUS. He replies immediately whenever I ask him any question via email (even on a CNY holiday). He encourages his students just like this email above.

He always asks the students if they need any help for his module. 

Dr Lieu is encouraging in his own way as well, always giving a very welcoming gesture whenever you approach him for questions. 

Prof Chew is possibly one of the most passionate lecturers I've ever met so far. My friend was telling me that he sounds like a pastor before I took the module. And I was like whattttt? Serious? And true enough, he lectured with so much conviction and flair that I actually felt like genetics came to life to me. Sadly, not many people turn up for his lectures because of the timing and the fact that they can watch the webcast. But hearing Prof Chew live actually made me fall in love with LSM1102.

(EXPANSION OF TOPICS COVERED)

The topics covered include:

• Mitosis and Meiosis (Dr Wu Jinlu)
• Transfer of Genetics between bacteria (Dr Wu Jinlu)
• Compaction of Chromosomes (Dr Wu Jinlu)
• Genetic Recombination (Dr Wu Jinlu)
• DNA Replication (Prof Liou Yih Cherng)
• Transcription and Translation (Prof Liou Yih Cherng)
• Human Genome Project and Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) (Prof Liou Yih Cherng)
• Mendelian Genetics (Prof Chew Fook Tim)
• Variations to Mendelian Genetics and Epistasis (Prof Chew Fook Tim)
• Population Genetics, Fitness and Selection (Prof Chew Fook Tim)
• Heredity (Prof Chew Fook Tim)

Trust me, if you think that these topics are not that much, you're in for a treat because the contents taught are heavy asf. Despite that, some of the contents taught are repeated from A-Levels like Mitosis/Meiosis, Transcription/Translation, GMOs and Mendelian Genetics. It's definitely more in-depth than the A-Levels contents, but it should be understandable. Be prepared to learn more names of proteins, enzymes, and reactions. 

(PASSING THE ASSESSMENT)

Grading for the assessments is different because each lecturer has their own style of grading. So pay attention to the grading scheme as follows:

• Wu Jinlu - Peerwise Assignment: 5% , CA1: 15%
• Liou Yih Cherng - Lecture Quiz: 3% x 4 lectures = 12% , CA2 = 8%
• Chew Fook Tim - CA3: 20%
• Finals - 40%

Some of you might me wondering what is Peerwise all about. To keep it simple, it's just a website where you can answer MCQ questions created by your peers. Your Peerwise assignment is to create questions for each topic and answer and comment on one question for each topic. It's just that simple. That 5% is as good as yours if you do all these. CA1 includes a reading of a research paper prior to your paper. I have a really funny story regarding this later in the section. :)

Unlike Dr Wu or Prof Chew lectures, you HAVE to attend Prof Liou's lectures. This is because the quiz happens right after his lectures and you will be tested on what was taught during the lecture. Hence, it requires you to really pay attention to what was taught in the lecture. The quiz consists of just 2 questions; 2% for getting the right answers and 1% for simply attempting it. Don't even think of staying at home and relying on your friends to tell you when the quiz is gonna start and when the quiz is gonna close. The time frame you have to attempt the quiz is so short that there is no time to chat with your friends. Furthermore, there isn't a timer for the quiz. The lecturer will close it when Prof Liou deems it's time. 

Prof Chew's CA3 has the heaviest weightage compared to the other two lecturers. However, you can bet that his CA will be the hardest out of all of the CAs. No definitions tested and certainly no questions that can be easily taken from the notes and pasted into your answers. It's purely application and critical thinking questions. Expect the questions that come out in this CA to be of similar difficulty to the finals.

Finals consist of 75MCQs; 25MCQs from each lecturer's part. In just two hours, YOU WILL NOT HAVE ENOUGH TIME. Just saying, because I've exhausted maximum concentration during these two hours and have to guess 10-15 questions. Guess which lecturer's questions I needed to guess? 

(EXPERIENCE AND FINAL GRADING)

Overall, I really enjoyed this module a lot. I enjoyed it not for its contents, but because the lecturers really made it worthwhile to go through this module and not give up at times when you just want to say "screw it." It's super content heavy and I think the most regrettable thing about this was pairing this module with CS1010S. Literal content and time suicide right there.

Anyways, I was reasonably okay for the first few lectures and the content that came with it. Dr Wu made everything so nice and he honestly brightens up my day every Wednesday and Thursday morning with his jokes and his delivery of his contents. Okay part of the reason why I could understand his contents easily was that all his content were from A-Levels. It was quite easy in truth and it wasn't an issue for me. Come CA1, we were apparently supposed to download and read a research paper prior to the test. I totally mistook that message and thought that the research paper will only be released during the test like how English comprehensions are tested yaknow? So I happily walked into the Lecture Hall without thinking much. It was only when I sat down and saw people with research papers and that's when I realised how screwed I was. I quickly used the remaining time to download the research papers and started to read. After reading for about 5 minutes, I realised that the person beside me had a different diagram on his research paper compared to the one I was reading. That's when I realised again, I was reading the wrong research paper. :( Okay, I kinda brought this upon myself, but eventually, after realising everything, it was too late to even read the correct research paper and I could only download the paper before the test eventually began.

Since it was an open book, and I did study for this CA, the first two questions that did not involve the research paper was a breeze for me. Then came the research paper questions. I was so stumped by it that my only option was to control f, control c and control p, as well as using some information from the things I studied before and just bombed whatever I could into the question. In the end, I scored pretty well for CA, scoring above the mean mark. Had I remembered to read the research paper, I could've done even better. But it was a good effort nonetheless and I was proud of the score.

Prof Liou part was normal I guess. It's meant to be a closed book test every lecture, but since the test was conducted using an IVLE survey, many people just control f from the notes and typed the answer down. Prof Liou will keep walking around to make sure students don't do that, but one lecturer vs the entire lecture hall... you know who wins in the end. There was one person who did the quiz in front of me one day. I don't know why he didn't submit earlier, but apparently, when Prof Liou closed the survey to the quiz, this guy then pressed the submit button. Like why risk it to literally the last second before submitting????? His computer just showed up an error and I could see the look of disappointment in his face. I felt for him too. 3% gone just like that. So submit your quiz earlier, please.

Prof Chew has a habit of giving lots of real-life examples, which I find useful because sometimes I would be wondering why am I learning this or how does this apply to my daily life. That said, he always ends the lecture late. I felt that while I loved his lectures a lot because he actually makes life science mean something in real life, he doesn't give concrete answers to his questions. While on one hand, I think what he wants us to do is to critically think of the answers rather than spoon-feeding it to us, but on the other hand, I have no idea what the correct answer is and I think the class feels the same way. His CA3 was a killer. Despite being an open universe examination, whereby you could ask anyone from anywhere for help except Prof Chew himself, the test is really so hard it can stump you without a doubt. I know that for a fact because I stared at the question for 15 minutes before writing something on the paper.

Bear in mind that I knew no one in LSM1102, so having said that, I brought my hall neighbor to my test to help me research on the questions as well as help me search notes. However, all these efforts were in vain, because the questions were so open-ended that it was near impossible to help. In a last gasp effort, I messaged one guy who was travelling to Japan with me for a study trip later in August, to share some answers to the questions. Lucky for us, we both had the answers to the questions that the other person did not know the answer to. That was truly a good save and yeah, we managed to pull through with each others help. If not, I certainly would've died.

The 2 hour finals went by in a flash. I kept my full concentration throughout the period of time and all the options were so close to each other that the answer could be, quite frankly, all 5 options. I narrowed em down to two options, and then I would just guess one. Eventually I was left with half an hour for Prof Chew's part... A literal nightmare considering ALL his questions are either application or application calculation questions. I was doomed right there because I realised that I had no choice but to guess more than half of his questions, which I eventually did. :((

In the end, I guessed the bell curve was really too strong, or the fact that I screwed up my finals that eventually gave me an average grade in the end. Or it could be possibly due to both the reasons. Who knows? Anyways, it was a good try at a really hard module and a good eye-opener for things to come in a life science minor.

(CONCLUSION AND TIPS)

I think that most people who are taking this module are from life science major, so this module should be a piece of cake for you guys. Otherwise, it should be a doable module for those who have taken A-level Biology before. If you're not used to the rigor of memorizing, please do not take this module because the contents will be coming fast and coming hard and if you're not used to the rigor, you will be eaten alive.

I think that spending time to memorize, if not understand the contents really is very important in this module. I use a bit of both to speed up my revision and it helps a lot. Alternatively, make your own notes. It may be time consuming to do so, but when you revise, it will be much faster than the rest studying from the original notes. Information wise, it is hard to say what is important and what isn't because all the contents are covered one way or another. So I would recommend that you cover as much ground as possible and not study the contents selectively. 

Ratings out of 5⭐:

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