Module Review for NM2101

NM2101 - Theories of Communications and New Media

What is it?

It is a compulsory mod for all NM majors, taught by Professor Gui Kai Chong whom is not in NUS teaching stuff any more as he told us that we are his last batch of students for this module. Hence for subsequent semesters there will be a new professor teaching this module so the content and style tested may be different from what I describe here.

Basically, this module is about
different theories of communications, such as Agenda-Setting Theory, Knowledge-Gap Hypothesis etc. Some theories are quite similar to each other and overlap through different chapters. Some theories will overlap with other theories that are taught in other NM modules, so take note about it and study it at your advantage.

Tutorials are alright but read all the readings as they could be helpful in giving examples for essay questions. I did not put in a lot of effort in attempting the tutorial questions though, turning up for tutorials is just to earn participation points.

Exam format + How to score

You really need to know and MEMORISE all the definitions. It is very important to memorise definitions and know at your finger tips what are the various theories about. Text book for this module is just enriching learning and help you understand the concepts better as lecture notes are more brief. However, lecture notes are more important especially whatever that comes out from the professor's mouth. I heard from a senior who got B for this module that the professor would give hint during lectures on what will come out during the exam. It did happen for my mid-term exam but I did not do well for it. But for final exam I don't remember him giving hints though.

For my mid-terms, the questions are fairly difficult but I guess those who study smartly could score quite well. They are open-ended questions with a few short questions which are 6marks each and 1 essay question which is 11marks (can't really remember exactly but roughly there). No MCQs for mid-terms and I am within a B range which is 19-21 (upon 35).

Mid-terms is 35marks and 35%, so it is an important exam. STUDY HARD FOR IT. I regretted only studying on the exam day itself. The good thing about this module is that whatever is tested in the mid-terms won't be tested again in the finals. The professor did upload a sample/past year mid-term paper on ivle. WHATEVER THAT IS UPLOADED ON IVLE YOU NEED TO DO. A lot of people didn't do the past year paper, at most look through only. In the end? A few similar questions came out in the actual mid-terms (big hint huh? Give us the questions directly...). Those who attempted the paper benefited tremendously, so please be diligent and not as lazy as me.

There is IVLE participation and class participation, total add up to 25%. So if you wanna pull up your grade by a little please participate as much as you can as the weightage for participation is considered quite high. I wrote about 6 posts on IVLE, all are not-that-short. Overly lengthy and super short posts are discouraged, moderate length will do. You need to show that you understand the concepts well and ponder about it and apply them in real life. The content is far more important than the length, so please give good quality ones. Participate in class as well.

Final exam is 5 MCQs 3 marks each and open-ended questions ranging from 4-6 marks. Total 40 marks and weighs 40%. MCQs contain heavy weightage so it really depends on how well and how much you know. They are quite tricky as well to those who did not memorise carefully and diligently. The MCQs are tested in a way that 5 different sentences/paragraphs are given then 5 MCQ options, example like this:

1) A banana is a kind of fruit
2) Bananas can be yellow or green
3) Any fruit that is yellow or green is a banana
4) Bananas have many health benefits, including curing headache
5) People are encourage to eat a lot of bananas each day

i) 1 and 2 are correct
ii) all are correct
iii) all are incorrect
iv) all are correct except 3
v) 2 and 5 are correct

Of course the questions are not as easy, but the format looks like that. They can be confusing so please read and process carefully. My tips? Memorise whatever is on the lecture notes and take note about anything that the professor says. The mods I took this semester are mostly memory work though.

Overall

I got an overall B+ grade for this module.
mid-terms: 35%
participation: 25%
finals: 40%
Lectures: 2 hr per week
Tutorials: 1 hr per week