Module reviews for AY18/19 Semester 2: Goodbye NUS (for now)!

This is it. I'm finally done with academics for the foreseeable future. I may very well have taken the last exam I'll ever take, as Honours modules usually don't have formal final exams.

Am I relieved? Happy? Somewhat. Academics is starting to get a little boring. But I'm also apprehensive, because life as a student is the only thing I've ever known in my 21 years of existence on this planet. I don't know what's next for me.

But enough of that. First, I've got a bunch of module reviews to share with you. Here they are. This semester was the most stressful and busy one yet, as I decided to take six modules rather than the recommended five, because I wanted to clear all my outstanding non-Honours graduation requirements before embarking on my six-month compulsory internship.

GES1035: Singapore: Imagining the Next 50 Years

MCs: 4 - General Education: Singapore Studies

Delivery:

Weekly e-lectures, each pair of weeks is about one topic, e.g., economy, defence, and there are six topics in total
2-hour tutorials on odd weeks, one group will present one of the topics from the lecture series and the whole class will discuss based on the presentation

Assessment:

Open-book class test with 15 MCQs and 5 short-answer questions covering lecture content and compulsory readings from the entire semester = 30%
Group presentation and tutorial participation = 30%
Reflection paper to one of the expert interviews shown as part of the e-lectures = 20%
Respond to each compulsory reading by creating a discussion question about it and picking out two of your favourite quotes from it = 20%

Tutor: Mr Chong Yen Kiat - 8/10

Being a former social worker, Mr Chong could relate some real-life experiences during discussions on economic and social issues, particularly with regard to poverty, income inequality, and the affordability of healthcare. I enjoyed this aspect of the tutorials as it always helps to have illustrative examples. He should work on his confidence, as he often came across as being nervous and unsure of himself, leading to the tutorials being littered with periods of awkward silence.

Module: 9/10

Any self-respecting Singaporean will know that out-of-bounds markers exist in sociopolitical discourse in Singapore. There are some things we shouldn't say if we don't want to get in trouble. This module tries to expand upon controversial issues and introduce views by prominent critics of the establishment such as Dr Donald Low and Dr Teo You Yenn while working within the out-of-bounds markers, and for this noble effort it should be commended. The fact that it is pass-fail is also a plus, because without the pressure of having to chase down every last mark in order to climb to a higher grade, students won't obsess so much over memorising every theory in sight and can devote their attention to actually participating in the discussions and raising good arguments, leading to more fruitful tutorials in which everyone ends up learning more.

JS1101E: Introduction to Japanese Studies

MCs: 4 - FASS students can use this to clear the Asian Studies basket or as Unrestricted Elective

Delivery:

Weekly 2-hour lecture
Weekly 1-hour tutorial, discussion questions will be uploaded a couple of days before

Assessment:

MCQ final exam consisting of 50 questions = 50%
Research paper about anything Japanese to be written in groups, topic to be decided by students themselves = 30%
IVLE forum posting, posts judged by quantity and quality = 10%
Tutorial participation = 10%

Lecturer: Dr Scot Andrew Hislop - 7/10

No doubt he has a fantastic attitude towards teaching. He puts in a lot of effort when writing his lectures and it shows in the fluency with which he delivers them. Sometimes he also tells jokes to try to liven up the dreary atmosphere, which I appreciate. These boosted the marks I gave him. But I also took away some marks for two weaknesses he has. First, he refers to his family members a lot. Not a single lecture went by without him talking about how awesome his wife is or how strict his father was. I get that he was trying to use personal anecdotes to keep students interested, but I felt that it was irrelevant, excessive, and time-wasting. Second, he chose to focus on topics which, in my opinion, were dry and not very useful. He talked at great length about No drama, kabuki plays, Buddhism, female authors, and other such eccentricities that I struggled to relate to. Wouldn't it have been better to focus on more contemporary issues such as the global rise of the Japanese entertainment industry, Japanese cuisine, and the role that Japan plays in the modern geopolitical arena?

Tutor: Mr Gao Ming - 8/10

Soft-spoken and kind, the soon-to-be Dr Gao Ming was a decent tutor who carried out the tutorials exactly as he was supposed to: using the stimulus questions posed by Dr Hislop, he initiated roundtable discussions where every student got a chance to speak and rack up those all-important participation marks. I don't ask for much more than that.

Module: 6/10

I'm not an otaku. I'm not even sure what that is. Is it a spicy barbequed fish fillet that belongs to me? (An otah is a Malay snack of a mackerel fillet covered in spice paste and roasted over an open flame; the suffix -ku in Malay means "mine", e.g., dadaku means "my chest".) So I found it a bit of a chore to study this module, seeing as my interest in Japanese culture extends only as far as stuffing my face with raw seafood. The content about Japanese history, literature, religion, and theatre could not hold my interest, and I'll readily admit to doing other, more exciting things on my laptop during lectures. At the finals, I found myself guessing wildly for most of the questions, so you can imagine my surprise when I emerged with a B+ grade. The bell curve saved my skin. But I S/Ued this module anyway because it was pulling down my CAP.

NM2104: Qualitative Communication Research Methods

MCs: 4 - essential major module for CNM majors, and Unrestricted Elective for others

Delivery:

Weekly 2-hour lecture
Weekly 1-hour tutorial focusing on consulting the tutor and classmates about your group research project

Assessment:

Final exam consisting of short-answer questions that the lecturer strongly hints at during the last lecture of the semester = 30%
Midterm test consisting of short-answer questions = 20%
Group research project, a full research study that must employ qualitative methods = 35%
Participation in lecture e-activities and tutorials = 15%

Lecturer: Dr Jinna Tay - 7/10

Towards the end of the semester, Dr Tay got panned in an anonymous post on NUSWhispers. The writer claimed that Dr Tay knew nothing about qualitative methods, a statement that is manifestly untrue. Dr Tay has done extensive research throughout her career in academia using almost solely qualitative methods such as interviews. She definitely knows her qualitative methods concepts. What she does lack is delivery skills. Her lectures are disorganised, messy and confusing, and she tends to ramble incoherently. But I give her the benefit of the doubt since this was the first time she was teaching this module in NUS. Hopefully she improves after a few runs of the module.

Tutor: Dr Jinna Tay - 6/10

I really want to give a higher mark, but we did so little during tutorials that I can't justify anything more than this. Every week, she basically got us to report back on the progress of our research projects, and she would give her inputs. That was literally it. There didn't seem to be a proper tutorial lesson plan for the semester or anything like that. Like I said above, maybe she needs time to settle down in NUS and remodel this module to her liking.

Module: 6/10

I'm biased. My background in psychology, which mainly employs statistical analyses of data collected through surveys and experiments, has made me more comfortable and familiar with quantitative methods and I can't deny that sometimes, I wonder if qualitative research is even scientific or rigorous. So the low mark I have awarded is probably coloured by my personal preference. But it's true that I personally didn't enjoy the module and didn't take very much away from it, my shockingly amazing A+ grade notwithstanding. I also feel that making students do a full-scale qualitative research project in one semester for 35% of the total grade is unjustifiably onerous. This is due to the nature of qualitative research. Interviews are time-consuming to conduct, and even finding participants in the first place can be a hassle. But the trouble doesn't stop there. Interview recordings have to be painstakingly transcribed. Then, the transcripts have to be analysed, and this can only be done by going over every word with a fine-toothed comb. The commitment required is disproportionately enormous for the amount of marks on offer, especially given that the module is mandatory for CNM majors and pitched at only level 2000. The quantitative research methods module NM2103 can get away with having a full-scale research project because quantitative methods for student projects can be done more or less on autopilot: once the e-survey is created, students just need to spray the link to as many people as possible until they get the number of responses they need; then, bung the collected data into SPSS and let the computer do the rest. Students just need to take care of the initial literature review and final explanation of the findings based on theories. The workload is fairer.

NM2203: Social Media in Communication Management

MCs: 4 - elective major module for CNM majors and Unrestricted Elective for others

Delivery:

Weekly 2-hour lecture
2-hour tutorials on alternate weeks

Assessment:

Final exam consisting of 10 short-answer questions = 30%
LinkedIn assignment, create a LinkedIn profile for yourself, use the social network effectively, gain 175 connections, and write a reflection paper on the experience = 20%
Facebook page group project, make a pretend-Facebook page for a company, post good content on it regularly, deliver a presentation and write a report on it = 30%
Participation = 20%

Lecturer: Mr Adrian Heng - 9/10

Mr Heng has solid credentials. He is an accredited member of the Institute of Public Relations of Singapore, which is official recognition of the fact that he has done lots of good work in the field of public relations. He is the chairperson of the CNM Industry Advisory Council and vice-president at Booqed, a technology start-up. So when he says something during lecture, it's informed by years of practical experience and you'd better believe it. All students who want to be public relations practitioners in future should fight tooth and nail to take at least one module taught by Mr Heng before they die graduate. He was slotted to teach this particular module for the first time this semester after the faculty member who was previously in charge of it quit, so it's not certain if the department will give it to him permanently or hire someone new to take over. But Mr Heng does have other modules, such as NM4228 Crisis Communication and NM4883G Financial Communications.

Tutor: Mr Adrian Heng - 8/10

The tutorials came across to me as if they were made up from week to week, as Mr Heng would simply turn up with a sparse set of recap slides and hold a chill two-hour chat session tangentially related to them. But looking past that, they were pretty useful in the sense that Mr Heng would share more nuggets of wisdom from his life as a public relations practitioner. It's not the typical kind of serious tutorial that we're accustomed to in NUS, but I'm willing to forego that because I like this type of tutorial better.

Module: 9/10

I'm not a fan of this social media thing. I mean, obviously I do use it, but I don't feel like it should be taking over the world as it seems to be doing. Even when it comes to public relations, I'm a lot happier writing a press release than a Facebook post. Facebook posts are really hard to write well. They must be short and attention-grabbing yet carry the intended message. But at least, having taken this module, I know what are the important elements to put into a social media campaign. And the LinkedIn assignment got me to give much-needed love and care to my LinkedIn profile, which will be beneficial to my professional image. When Mr Heng was given this module to teach, he threw out everything from the older version of this module because it was too theoretical and not useful in real life. He essentially rebuilt the entire module from scratch, and I'm glad he did.

NM3219: Writing for Communication Management

MCs: 4 - elective major module for CNM majors, and Unrestricted Elective for others

Delivery:

Weekly 2-hour lecture
Weekly 2-hour tutorial

Assessment:

Choose a company facing a public relations situation and develop a communications plan for it = 30%
Take over and run the social media for a real small business for about one month = 30%
Write a press release = 10%
Write a thought leadership blog piece = 10%
Answer pop quizzes given out during lecture = 10%
Participation = 10%

Lecturer: Mr Lim Wei Yi - 8/10

Mr Lim was a part-time lecturer whose main job was running his own tuition centre. He was formerly a Bloomberg and Dow Jones reporter. Reporters are to public relations practitioners what knives are to forks. They work hand-in-hand. Public relations practitioners need reporters to carry their messages to the masses, while reporters need public relations practitioners to feed them information. So it's useful to have a reporter's perspective on things like press releases and media pitches, as reporters are the consumers of such tactics and are in the best position to tell us what works and what doesn't. Mr Lim has the added advantage of being a small business owner. Small businesses don't have the marketing budget to embark on advertising campaigns, so they need to generate free publicity in order to attract customers. Mr Lim told us many stories of how he went about this for his own tuition centre, even getting himself in the newspapers and on radio. He dropped the ball a bit, though, in the design of the module. I will explain this further under the Module section below.

Tutor: Mr Lim Wei Yi - 7/10

His tutorials ran as follows. The first thirty to forty minutes would consist of him talking about some examples of how public relations played a role in recent news events. He would then set up a scenario and give us some time to write a press release, blog article, or social media post in response. The rest of the time would be for him to flash each student's work on the screen and give his critiques. Because of time constraints, he would often rush through this part, which I feel is the most important. He should have cut out the first section of the tutorials where he talked about current affairs, because such discussions are better suited for lectures. The time saved could have been reallocated to giving each student more personalised feedback.

Module: 7/10

This module is called Writing for Communication Management, but it became more like an "introduction to public relations tactics" module. Mr Lim was enthusiastic about giving us practical experience when he threw out the old version of this module and rebuilt it from scratch, and I appreciate that because I'm also a firm believer in the value of practice-based education. But somewhere along the way he lost sight of the central theme of the module: writing. Look at the assessment criteria: the press release, which is the backbone of public relations, is only given a 10% weightage with another 10% being given to a thought leadership article; meanwhile, running a social media account and creating a public relations plan are together worth 60% even though they have little to do with writing. For me, the module didn't quite deliver what was advertised. But it was saved by the fact that the assignments, even though they were irrelevant to the module itself, were useful in the grander scheme of public relations and I largely found them enjoyable.

NM3232: Strategic Communication: Concepts

MCs: 4 - elective major module for CNM majors, and Unrestricted Elective for others

Delivery:

Weekly 3-hour seminar, with a lecture for the first 1.5 hours about the topic of the week, followed by two student group presentations about the topic of the week

Assessment:

Midterm test, consisting of MCQs and short-answer questions covering content from the first half of the semester = 25%
Group presentation, where you will pick an organisation and analyse its communications = 15%
Participation = 20%
Essay test in the last week, during which you will be given a case study and asked to craft a full public relations plan using the concepts you have learnt throughout the semester = 40%

Lecturer: Dr Asha Rathina Pandi - 8/10

Dr Asha was good at explaining the concepts written in the textbook, but not so good at giving illustrative examples which, as you should be able to tell if you've read my blogs for long enough, are important to me. This is not surprising given that, like almost all the full-time staff in the CNM department, she lacks real-world experience in communications. Most of them are lifelong academics who are most at home with tabletop exercises. But Dr Asha does deliver enough that the assessments aren't a problem, and students take away everything they need to know about strategic communications to survive in their first practical encounters with public relations work.

Module: 9/10

Based on feedback from students that NM2219, NM3232, and NM3233 are too similar in terms of coverage, the department will be scrapping all three modules and launching a new one to combine them all together into one definitive strategic communications module. Given the importance of understanding strategic communications in public relations, I strongly advise all CNM students who are interested in public relations to take the replacement module when it is released.

That's the last module review I will be doing for a while. It's also the last that will feature undergraduate modules. The next one, which should release at this time next year, will feature purely Honours modules. Before that, you can look forward to my standalone post on the module NM3550Y Compulsory Internship Programme, which is the only one I will be taking next semester. I will talk about this unique six-month fulltime internship for all CNM students, and my own experience in my internship worksite GIC, the sovereign wealth fund of Singapore. That post will be published just after the turn of the decade.

In the meantime, please let me know if you have any questions or feedback about these modules and reviews. You can leave a comment below, or drop me a private message on Twitter or Reddit. Click the Contact tab on the menu bar of this blog to find out how. A few readers have sent me their compliments and appreciation for these blog posts. If you are one of them, thank you! I hope you will continue to enjoy my writing.