the following subjects were taken in 2014, semester 1:
MATH1901
Ease: 8/10
The first parts of the subject (complex numbers, injective and bijective functions, limits) are generally easier to grasp than later topics. A part that most students struggled with was the epsilon-delta definition of limits (future students BEWARE!); I only managed to partially grasp the concept after several consultations with the lecturer and my tutor. Other than that, if you consistently keep up with the lectures and tutes, and clarify your doubts before they snowball into an endless list of questions, you should be fine.
Assessments: the quizzes are much easier than the finals since the better-mark principle is used to calculate your final score, try to grab as many marks as you can for the quizzes and the assignment. It won't put as much pressure on you for the finals. Personally, I couldn't finish the final exam (left around 1-1.5 questions blank) so time management is really important. Don't spend too long on the multiple choice part! Another tip is to rigorously complete past exam papers (time yourself if you need to) and the online quizzes posted on the math website (these will help with the multiple choice component).
Lecturer: Dr James Parkinson 10/10
A great lecturer - his lecture notes are clear and concise, and he is really good at explaining new concepts in an interesting manner. His proofs of theorems are really clear too (even at 8am in the morning), which definitely help when you're revising/studying for the subject. He's also really friendly and approachable, so don't hesitate to ask questions after lectures/at his consultations.
Interest: 7/10
Most topics/theorems were exiting to learn (eg L'Hopital's Rule, directional derivatives) while some proofs were somewhat dry/did not make much sense to me. If you're having problems understanding the proofs, attend a consultation.
Overall: 8/10
The lecturer made the content interesting to learn, and it was pretty cool seeing the linkages between math concepts. If you consistently work hard in tutes and complete the tute sheets (i didn't do the questions with **, they were too difficult), you should be alright.
MATH1902
Ease: 6.5/10
This course started off easy (vectors), but its difficulty increased exponentially (haha). Once you get the hang of matrices, they are easier to tackle and questions (the basic questions) are generally kind of standard. The worst topics were eigenvalues and eigenvectors and markov processes. The lecturer didn't explain these clearly in the lectures, and it is imperative to clear all your questions on this topic asap especially since there is very little time to do so. The textbook is therefore really important for this subject (written by david easdown who is awesome). There was 1 entire question on the eigenshit in the exam and it was awful
Although I attended consultations, I never really grasped the abovementioned concepts and had to resort to rote learning eigen questions from past papers. I didn't bother about markov processes.
Assessments: Same format as MATH1901, study hard for the quizzes and put a decent amount of effort into the assignment and you'll be ok. The last question of the final exam was difficult and there is always at least 1 part of 1 question in the entire paper that is of a very different style to usual questions (aka never seen before and very difficult).
Lecturer: Assos. Prof. Holger Dullin 6.75/10
Lecturing was slightly above average for the first part of the course, but it was problematic for the second half (esp the eigen topics). It also didn't help that people at the back kept talking loudly, making it difficult to hear him at times. Precious lecture time was also consistently wasted because the lecturer had to keep telling people to shut up, causing him to rush through the remaining content in the last 10 minutes :/
On a positive note, the lecturer is generally approachable and friendly, and is willing to answer questions after lectures/during consultations.
Interest: 6.5/10
Not as interesting as MATH1901, but its not too bad. 3-D vectors were somewhat interesting.
Overall: 7/10
Not my favourite subject in the semester, but its mostly manageable. Pay attention in the lectures and tutes and do the tute sheets (again, ** questions are only for the brave-hearted) and you should get at least a credit.
BIOL1001
Ease: 9/10
This subject was one of my favourite subjects this semester!! The way in which the assessments are set out is advantageous to hard working/consistent students because there are many components. In each component, it is relatively easy to do well provided you put in a decent amount of effort, and ask for feedback (where applicable). Components like lab book marking and submitting the draft photosynthesis paper are a great way to secure marks in the course. The enzyme short communication and the final photosynthesis report are challenging, but with enough time and using the resources available, especially the piazza forum (extremely helpful because you'll get a reply to any question really quickly), it is very possible to do well for both. Given that the final exam was 38%, it is also possible to pass the course before you take the final exam, which takes off a lot of pressure during finals.
Quizzes: the quizzes in BIOL1001 are efficiently marked, they are all multiple choice questions with no negative marking and you'll get your marks the same day you take the quiz. PeerWise is a great platform to prepare for all multiple choice quizzes/components in the entire course.
A lot of students were worried about the negative marking in finals, but really, negative marking will help you unless you didn't study at all for the course. The only way you'll get a negative mark for a multiple choice question is if you pick the completely wrong answer. Picking a partially correct answer may give you 0.5 marks instead of 0, so negative marking is not an issue if you attend the lectures/listen to the lecture recordings, and make an effort to study for BIOL1001.
Lecturers:
Dr Danny Liu: 15/10
Danny is hands down the best lecturer I've had in usyd so far. His lectures are absolutely engaging and fun (you will never regret attending his lectures) and he uses socrative during his lectures to ask questions throughout the lecture, making sure you understand key concepts before moving on. He also comes up with distinctive analogies for important concepts which makes content so easy to remember. Revision during stuvac was a breeze. He's also really friendly, approachable and always willing to help - you can find him around carslaw level 5 and basically ask him anything related to the course/related to studying biology in uni. His lecture notes are equally awesome!! Danny teaches the topics on cellular biology and population genetics.
Prof. Ben Oldroyd: 8/10
A very knowledgeable lecturer, he lectures the topics on genetics, and is generally very clear in his delivery of lecture content.
Prof. Madeleine Beekman: 8/10
A lecturer very passionate about biology. I find her lectures interesting and informative, and I especially loved her last lecture about tasmanian devils. Her lectures mostly take the form of a narrative storytelling style, which makes content easy to remember as well. She teaches the topics on evolution and biodiversity.
Dr Nate Lo: 9/10
An extremely engaging lecturer. He only lectured for 2 weeks, on phylogenetics. He uses great examples in lectures that definitely help with understanding the terms related to the topic.
Interest: 10/10
There was never a boring moment in this course, everything was interesting and a joy to learn
I took this subject just to fill up my study load for semester 1, but now I'm really keen to pursue biology in second and third year. Awesome subject, highly recommended!!
Overall: 10/10
A enjoyable subject from start to end. The course is also very well-organised and there are various ways to clarify your doubts/seek help, from posting on Piazza, to arranging consultations with lecturers. Moreover, revision lectures are organised throughout the course to help with consolidating knowledge and there are plenty of opportunities to learn from other students' questions! Lab pracs are 3 hours long but they usually end early and time flies during the pracs anyway
I cannot recommend this subject enough!!
PSYC1001
Ease: 6/10
The amount of content is massive, if you don't consistently keep up with the content, stuvac will be a nightmare. There are 6 components in total D: On the other hand, the online quizzes are an easy way to get marks - unlimited attempts. The 5 hours of research participation is also an easy way to grab 5% of the total marks for the course. The final exam was a pain to sit through, felt like 10 years of my life had passed when the paper ended :/ Additionally, the essay assignment was difficult to complete because there was no way you could get feedback on your written drafts. Everything had to be done verbally. Unlike BIOL1001, there weren't many platforms available if you needed help.
Lecturers:
Dr Caleb Owens (Science and Stats): 8.5/10
For some reason, many students don't really like his lecturing style, but I found it rather engaging. Plenty of examples and analogies used in his lectures, which are important for the final exam. This was, imo, one of the clearest components of psyc1001 in terms of content and what we were expected to know. The final exam for this component had no surprises.
Dr Lisa Zadro (Social Psych): 15/10
An outstanding lecturer (as many would agree). Dr Z is lively and energetic during her lectures, and if you make the effort to rock up to her lectures, you will be prepared for the exam (many analogies and examples were given in the lectures). Content was delivered in such a unique and interesting way, studying for her component is much easier than the others (you will remember most of the theories and examples just by turning up to lectures). No surprises from this component in the final exam. This is the component most students excel in (with many scoring full marks or close to full marks).
Celine Van Golde (Forensic Psych): 6/10
I found it difficult to stay awake during the forensic psych lectures, as she just reads off the lecture slides (which are not uploaded prior to the lecture). However, on a positive note, everything you need to know for this component is on the lecture slides, just study for them and you should do well for this component.
Dr Ian Johnston (Neuroscience): 9.5/10
Yet another great lecturer in this course. He prepares key questions for each topic, making it easy to study for neuroscience. As long as you can answer all the key questions, you are set. However, there are many scientific names/terms to remember in this component, so start revising early or you'll get confused between terms. Ian is also very approachable, so if you have any questions, don't hesitate!
Dr Niko Tiliopoulos (Personality): 7/10
I personally found this component to be the most challenging due to its abstract nature. Nothing made much sense to me so I had to rely on rote learning to get through this part. Niko is an eccentric lecturer and he is definitely engaging, but I found the content difficult to understand. My performance on his component was the worst out of the 6
Tip: remember all the names of the different scientists on the last slide of each of the lecture slides, they will come in handy in the final exam.
Dr Micah Goldwater (Developmental Psych): 6/10
This component was very similar to forensic psych in terms of delivery, except that more videos were shown during lectures, which were helpful in consolidating information.
Interest: started off as 8/10, dropped to 6/10 by the end of the semester
The crazy load of content made the subject a pain to get through. By the end of the semester, this was the subject I liked the least out of all my other subjects.
Overall: 6.5/10
Not a great subject, although it is certainly one of the most popular subjects taken in first year (>2000 students).
CLAW1001
Ease: 9/10
A very structured unit, it was clear what you had to do for each component. The tutorial questions were very useful in practising the IPAAC format of writing, and the tutors were all knowledgeable and helpful (especially Josh and Mikaela). Everything might seem fuzzy, abstract and confusing in the first 2 weeks, but it WILL get better, don't worry. As always, do the tutes. These are extremely important for this unit because some tute questions were adapted from past papers. I suggest writing out the answers to the tute questions in the IPAAC format before the tute and getting feedback from the tutor after the tute, so that by the time the mid sem exam comes up, you would have had a ton of practice on the IPAAC style of writing, which is very advantageous. Also, exams are open book!
half the exam lies in the preparation of your own notes to take into the exam, don't rely on the textbook and lecture notes because there won't be time to flip through the lecture notes/textbook trying to find what you are looking for in the exams.
Lecturer: Giuseppe Carabetta 15/10
You won't regret attending his lectures, but remember not to text/play/fiddle with your phone/laptop during the lectures - Giuseppe is very particular about this. A few lectures were also given by the tutors, standouts were Josh and Mikaela.
Interest: 10/10
A standout subject!! The relevance of this subject is very clear in everyday life (eg consumer rights, the sale of goods act, negligence etc), and overall, the content of the subject is fun to learn, especially the cases!!
Overall: 10/10
Never regretted taking this subject for one moment. This is a subject that requires continued effort to put the pieces together, but once you do, the open book mid-sem and finals will be a breeze.
hope these reviews were helpful, took me more than 3 hours to write lol (partly because of procrastination)
