You must be wondering what’s up and I am here to satiate your curiosity!
Background
I have just completed my first year in Information Engineering Media, also known as IEM. I was once a polytechnic student. Graduated with an Information Technology (IT) diploma.
First year in university flew by very fast for me. There is a total of 13 weeks in each semester and exams usually last for 3 weeks.
Comparing university modules with polytechnic modules
A comparison of modules that I have taken in the first year of IEM VS first year of my IT diploma
The modules highlighted in blue are similar in nature but are not the same. Main reason being that university modules are more theory based than hands-on.
Personally, I miss the polytechnic academic teaching style. It fits my learning style more. Compared to polytechnic, the learning curve in university is very steep. To put things into perspective, university feels like riding on a bullet train and polytechnic feels like riding a normal subway train.
Diving into the details of IEM modules
Art
Starting with the interesting modules first, “Thinking and Communicating Visually” is an art module.
Quoting from the course content description, “This course will focus on developing visual thinking using the ‘concept sketch’ in art and design practices. The students will practice drawing as a tool for communication and for idea development. The focus will primarily be on drawing objects and figures in space. Drawing from observation and from reference will feature. The class will consist of lecture, demonstration, class work, homework, oral critique and field trips.”
To summarise that long chunk of description, it is a 13-week course-work module. You will have to draw using graphite (pencil) and charcoal. It was a super fun and an easy-going module for me and I can witness my improvement over the weeks. My favourite activity has got to be my final project. I worked on the given topic, Change. To fill you with more details without boring you, here is a video of my art portfolio.
Media
“Basic Media Writing” is a module offered by Wee Kim Wee School of Communications (WKWSCI). What I was being taught has been grouped into 2 broad categories, namely Journalism and Advertisement. Projects that were done in this module are namely “Article Writing” and “Marketing” a product or service whilst utilizing a website creator.
Engineering
“Digital Electronics” and “Analog Electronics” are engineering modules offered by the School of Electronic and Electrical Engineering (EEE). In Digital Electronics, you will be learning “a broad range offundamental digital circuits. The concepts of digital signals, number systems, logic gates, switching algebra, logic minimization techniques, basic combinatorial, digital circuits and theirapplication in more complex digital systems” as quoted from the module description.
While in Analog Electronics, you will pick up the “fundamentals of electronic circuit analysis. Exposed to circuit analysis theories, circuit devices such as diodes, op-amps and bi-polar junction transistor”, as quoted from the module description.
I am not great at my engineering modules. I constantly struggle with the demands of what the questions are asking for. Out of these 4 components of this hybrid course, this is my biggest weakness.
The highlighted blue modules
“From Computational Thinking to Programming” is a coding module. You will pick up the basics of C programming language in this module. From Wikipedia’s description, C language is a “general-purpose, imperative computer programming language supporting structured programming.”
Despite not learning C during my polytechnic days, I felt that I had a head start all thanks to my diploma where I picked up a good amount of programming languages. I remember how, in class, my desk mates often exclaimed, “Hey, you’re ahead of what the Professor is currently going through in class.” The sad thing was that this module had a MCQ final test as a curve ball, so the highest I attained was only a B.
“Object Oriented Programming” is another coding module, but it is all about the Java language this time. Once again—description obtained from Wikipedia—Java is a “general-purpose programming language that is class-based and object-oriented (OO). Although it is not a pure OO language, it contains primitive types and is designed to have as little implementation dependencies as possible.”
This module felt like a refresher for me; the most exciting part was the project module assigned for pair work. We could choose between Minesweeper and Sudoku. My team decided to work on Sudoku and we coded a mini game for our Professor.
Wrapping Up
Studying in university is no easy feat, let alone deciding to take up a hybrid course. For me, discipline, interest and consistency are three important values to uphold in university academic life. If you are up for a challenge and would like to keep your career options as wide as possible, do consider taking up the IEM course. This course is offered in Nanyang Technological University (NTU) under the school of Electronics Electrical Engineering (EEE).
I am happy to answer any enquiries that you might have related to academic life in NTU, just contact me on my various social media platforms.
The post Where Engineering meets Art: A review of NTU’s IEM Programme appeared first on Digital Senior.