If you love Econs and doesn’t mind the large number of readings allocated per week, GET1023 is the GE module for you. GET1023 was and still remains as one of the most interesting module that I have taken in Y1S1.
I have extracted the GET1023 module description from NUSmods:
This module aims to explain human behaviour through the lens of economists. We use economic reasoning to answer questions as diverse as the following: Why would your teacher cheat? Which factors cause crime rates to go down? Why do countries fail sometimes? We use texts that popularize economic concepts to illustrate how different social phenomena can be understood by applying the tools of economic analysis. However, we also discuss possible limitations of the economic approach to social issues. In this course we review, challenge, and debate on firmly established ideas we all have about the world, our society, and ourselves.
Please also note that you will not like this class if:
a) you don’t like reading,
b) you don’t like participating in class,
c) you are not open to new, occasionally controversial ideas.
else please proceed with bidding 😀
I have also extracted the Course Schedule for GET1023 AY 19/20 Semester 2.
- Thinking Like an Economist
- The Rational Man
- The Beauty of the Market
- Are We Really Rational?
- The Altruistic Man
- Are You Happy?
- What about Love?
- The World of Crime
- The Founding Fathers
- How to Get Rich: A Manual
- Rich and Poor in an Unequal World A (Inequality Across Countries)
- Rich and Poor in an Unequal World B (Inequality Within Countries)
Grade Components:
- Mid-terms 25%
I think it was around 4-5 Essay based questions. Questions were interesting and easy to score if you study your readings. (Can’t remember the exact phrasing of one of the questions, but one of my mid term questions was along the lines of : why do some prostitutes refuse to wear condoms despite the lowered risk of catching STD? –> this can be found in week 2 readings )
Some other questions are more general (but easy to score) such as:
What is prospect theory and what are its distinctive features?
And others are more application based:
A general is facing defeat but instead of accepting the terms of surrender offered by the enemy, he decides to fight on and risk a humiliating defeat even though the chances of victory are very slim. Which psychological effect is he subjected to?
NUS just announced a new policy: grades are abolished. The policy aims at eliminating a grade-seeking environment in which students focus on grades rather than on learning. How would rational students respond to this new policy?
2. Finals 45%
Finals was around 5-6 Essay-based questions, also done on Examplify. Questions had a heavier weightage of around 12-marks each.
Chapters tested in mid-terms were not covered in Finals. This means that you do not have to study materials covered before Recess week. Finals also had a mix of general and application based questions. I did feel that Finals was more difficult than midterms. Some of the questions asked only appeared in a small portion of the readings assigned. (E.g. Why is social media associated with a lower level of happiness? –> this can be found in Week 6 readings) / (E.g. Explain the genetic make-up of the female gamete as compared to the male sex cells. –> Found in Week 7 readings) (PS i cant remember the exact wording of the questions but it was around those lines)
3. Tutorial 10%
Attendance for tutorial is taken. There are weekly 1-hour tutorial sessions from Week 3 onwards. Class size was relatively small, around 20 students per class. The teaching assistant will assign us into small groups for group discussions and then randomly choose some students to share their thoughts.
4. Lecture Attendance 10%
There is no webcast available when I took this module. Attendance is tracked through random quizzes given out during the lectures.
5. LumiNUS Quiz 10%
Weekly quizzes on the readings. There is only one try for the weekly quiz!! Make sure you know your readings before diving into the quiz. Since its on LumiNUS, you can also discuss the questions with your friends. A LOT of students score full marks for the quizzes (as evident from the high median marks) The professor opens up the “Gradebook” found on LumiNUS so we can check our percentile.
My thoughts:
NGL, I didn’t spend a lot of time on this module during the first half of the semester. I did not score full marks for the quizzes ( I get 1 to 2 questions wrong per quiz ), which already meant that I was falling behind my peers who were consistently scoring full marks for the weekly quizzes.
I thought I did decently for mid-terms considering my lack of effort (23 out of 30) until I saw the high median marks yikes.
However, I did buck up and studied harder for Finals. In fact, I believe it was the Finals which pulled up my grade to an A. I did find the later topics more interesting (Particularly Week 6 – 8), and was pretty lucky that some of the questions tested came from there.
Thanks for reading!
***EDIT (31/07/2020): I have removed my notes from this post. Lucky for you if you have already downloaded it before, but I do apologize for those who did not manage to do so.
voez
18/6/20
NUS MODULE REVIEWS 