Two years and four semesters - the time it took me to complete my Masters programme. Those times just went by in a flash. Sometimes, I can't believe that I am now a postgraduate! Balancing work and studies wasn't the easiest thing but somehow I managed to pull through and I'm positive that so will you all!
I rounded off my Master of Computing journey with two Semester 2 modules - IS5002 and IS5004 and I will share my opinions of them here and hope that it helps you with your semester planning and module selections.
Do check out my other posts too, where I covered my Year 1, Semester 1 modules - IS5005 and IS5009, Year 1, Semester 2 modules - IS5008, IS5111 and IS5128 and Year 2, Semester 1 modules - CS5228, IS5116 and IS5151. You could also read tips to do well in your part time Masters if it's something that might interest you.
And now on to the reviews so you can get on with your module planning...
IS5002 - Digital Transformation (under Prof TAN Chuan Hoo)
Workload
2 Hours of Lecture a Week
Lectures were recorded and available for students' viewing. While it is alright not to attend lessons (no direct penalties), there is a class participation component so it is probably advisable to attend the lectures to attempt to bag some of these participation marks, which is actually not that difficult to get.
A relatively heavy module, mainly because of how writing-intensive it is. If writing is not a problem for you, it will feel like a mid-level module for you.
Assessment
There were three individual assignments, all consisting of two questions that are to be answered taking reference from a given case study. You could mostly get your answers from the case study itself and then try beef it up with additional outside resources (remember to reference those properly!). Two weeks were given for each individual assignments, with a maximum of five pages for submission.
Individual Assignment 1 - 15%
This assignment was released at the start of Week 3 and submission was for the end of Week 4. Both questions had about equal weightage - 7% and 8% so try to allocate about equivalent pages for them.
An advice for this assignment will be to start on it early. Plus it was released in Week 3 so things shouldn't be too hectic yet with the other modules. The reason to start early is that you will have to figure quite a bit out at the start. Your writing style, how you are going to organise your point, etc. You will not have a sample you can reference yet so you might really be bumbling your way through it.
Prof Tan does release the grades quite soon - about a week or two later (can't remember exactly) plus he provides samples of some of the better works of your fellow course mates so you can kind of gauge for subsequent assignments how to go about tackling those.
Individual Assignment 2 - 15%
Assignment 2 was released at the start of Recess Week and submission was set for end of Week 7.
Individual Assignment 3 - 15%
Assignment 3 was supposed to be released at the start of Week 10 and submission was set for end of Week 11. Prof Tan kindly released this assignment slightly earlier, by a day or two because it was the 'crazy' period of the semester.
Individual Class Participation - 15%
The class participation aspect for this module involved asking the professor any questions you might have about the topics being taught or making additional contributing to the discussions. This was done via the zoom chat feature during my time, not sure how things will be now.
Overall, I don't think it is hard to get these marks. Just try to be involved in the lectures and contribute as and when you can. During my time, Prof Tan also allowed for email communications with him to count towards class participation. If things have remained the same, then you could think of critical questions and discussions to have with him on your own time.
Group Project - 40%
Prof Tan gave out information for the group project right at the start of the semester, within the first lecture itself. So right off the bat, you could start planning for and working on the project if you have already put together a team.
It really helps to start early because the submission was for 60 pages (maximum). That could take quite a bit of time and effort to put together. My group started the project quite late and had a bit of a struggle mainly because some team mates weren't putting in the work to produce a report of a good quality. It happens... Plus the module didn't do peer review so might have a higher chance of encountering freeloaders. Starting early could help you adjust for such situations.
Grades
Grades for all the three individual assignment components were released within LumiNUS's Gradebook. Brief comments and sample assignments of fellow classmates were provided for the individual assignments.
The Group Project grade was also released towards the end of the semester with comments. So do look out for that even after the end of the semester if you are interested to see how you did.
The Class Participation grade wasn't released.
Thoughts about Module
I honestly enjoyed the content of the lecture even though it might be a little dry for some. I do admit that the lectures can get a tad tedious especially with the many questions that will be asked because students want to bag their participation marks. That aspect could be a little disruptive for the lecture but overall it wasn't too bad because the questions do tend to be relevant to the topics being taught at the moment.
I also felt that even though the different assessment components - the three individual assignments and group project are quite writing-intensive, they are well spaced out and sufficient time was given for them. If you PLAN WELL, it could be a stress-free semester doing this module.
Opinion of Prof Tan
I feel Prof Tan was very invested in teaching the module and he has curated quite a bit of content in the form of lecture notes that can be beneficial for you if you wish to learn about the ways and hows of digital transformation.
Prof Tan also encourages one-on-one consultations if you wish to discuss any real-world scenarios with him under full confidentiality so that might be beneficial for some of you. He takes every question seriously and answers them as honestly and candidly as he can so you actually can learn quite a bit from his own experiences.
Would I Recommend this Module?
There are definite merits in doing this module for sure. I feel I learned quite a bit and the content feels very relevant especially for thinking about and implementing ways to make organisations more efficient and realising gains through various digital strategies.
IS5004 - Enterprise Architecture (under Prof KWONG Yuk Wah)
Workload
2 Hours of Lecture a Week
Lectures were recorded and available for students' viewing. I feel overall it might not be necessary to attend the lectures, after all there were not supposed to be a Class Participation component. But then the Prof added this in midway into the semester so you might want to watch out for this.
A mid-level module in terms of workload.
Assessment
Within the first lecture itself, Prof Kwong gave details on all the assessment components (except about the Class Participation part mentioned above), including the assessment criteria for the group projects and sample questions for the individual assignment. So, you could actually start planning for assignment 1 from as early as the first lecture if you have already formed a team.
Prof Kwong did allocate consultation slots of about a half hour for groups to clarify things on their projects.
Group Project 1 - 30%
Submission for this project was at the start of Recess Week and as mentioned, you could start on it right from the start but if you have no prior knowledge of the topic like me, you probably need to assimilate a few lectures first before you can start.
Prof Kwong did show us a sample project submitted by a former student team so that could serve as a good reference for you. She also gave us the option of submitting either as a PowerPoint presentation or a Word report. Our group went for the presentation format as we thought it was the easier of the two. But be mindful that your slides should still be able to elaborate on and get across your points clearly.
Group Project 2 - 40%
For this project, we had the option to carry on with the same company as Project 1 or use a different one. Our group had planned from the start to use the same company so we built upon our first project submission.
Personally, I feel it makes more sense to stick with the same company so you don't have to research company background twice but I guess sometimes the initial company selected might not be a good fit for Project 2. So, try to select one that you feel has a wide enough scope that can be expanded upon and is not too limiting.
Submission was initially due at the start of Week 11 but was pushed back by a week to Week 12 due to the Prof falling ill in between and hence, consultations getting delayed. That extra week was really to make up for the consultations that were missed.
Individual Assignment (Essay) with small Class Contribution component - 30%
The assignment questions were released in Week 11 with submission set at the beginning of Reading Week, so there was about two and a half weeks to complete it. There were three questions to answer for 10 marks each and a maximum page submission of ten, including reference. So roughly about three pages for each question.
Personally, I felt the questions were not that easy to answer. They were mostly asking for your opinions on certain topics so you kind of have to know the topic well and know where you stand - for or against a scenario and then argue your points. The good thing is that you do have time to research on and work on them, since it's not in an examination setting.
Do be mindful that Prof might not extend the dateline. I believe some did ask for an extension but she didn't grant it because she mentioned she had to start with the marking/grading process. So, plan properly to get this done well within the dateline.
Also to note, although at first the 30% of the grades was meant to come entirely from this individual assignment, she later on in the semester altered this to include a Class Contribution component. She mentioned it was just a small component, mainly to help segregate us into different grade bands. Personally, I feel such things should be made transparent and students should be informed right at the start if there is going to be a class participation aspect. Hopefully she does makes it clearer for future students.
Grades
Prof Kwong released the grades for both of the group projects via email to all the group members. Marks were given for each component within a marking sheet e.g. marks for introduction, conclusion, etc. The marking sheet was given to us prior to the project submission (right at the start of semester) and you should use it as a guide for what she looks out for when marking. Definitely pay attention to the different components when doing the project so as not to lose marks.
Grades for the final individual assignment was not released.
Thoughts about Module
For the final individual assignment, I was honestly very worried because I felt like I learnt very little in the 12 weeks of lecture to warrant writing a good enough essay. I had to do a lot of my own research and self-learning because those weeks of attending lectures had been a big waste of time!
Apart from that, I do feel that the module isn't very taxing in terms of workload. The topic itself, though, might be a little hard to grasp for someone with no background so if you are like me then you have to expect to pick up a lot on your own, outside of lectures, as lecture contents were not very useful. I was lucky because I had a good teammate who was knowledgeable in this topic and helped us quite a bit.
Opinion of Prof Kwong
Personally I didn't feel Prof Kwong was that effective of a lecturer. Every lesson only about 40 out of 70 students attended her classes so you can kind of guess how helpful attending her lectures are.
Plus her adding in things along the way can be a little annoying especially when things were starting to get more hectic in the semester. For example, she wanted for us to do a presentation of group project 1 out of nowhere, which thankfully didn't happen.
I believe towards the end of the semester when we had to do our individual assignments, some students probably panicked because they thought they hadn't learn enough and was lost as to how to tackle the question. My friend received an email from a fellow course mate asking for help with the assignment. You can imagine how desperate that student had to be to ask a fellow student for help. Probably thought my friend would be more help than the lecturer.
Would I Recommend this Module?
Not really. A fellow teammate did NUS's Certified Enterprise Architecture Practitioner Course that seems more useful. If given a choice I will choose to go for that (though admittedly, it is rather pricey) and choose another more useful module as part of my 10 module requirements to graduate. IS5004 felt a like waste of time sometimes, largely due to an ineffective lecturer.
*And there you have it. The two IS modules I did in Semester 2 of my final year as an NUS Master of Computing student. If you have any questions you need to ask, please feel free to comment or contact me. I will do my best to answer whatever queries I can. Otherwise, wish you all a great module booking and learning!
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