Easy electives in UCD

994

Like A Fox wrote: »

Any good suggestions for medicine/science people??

The introduction to astronomy is interesting and quite easy, esp. if you know a little physics. Something like 30% of marks are on an online quiz - you can just Google the answers!! And no, there are no midnight classes with telescopes atop the water tower, it's just 2 lectures and 1 tutorial a week.

Infernon

Mardy Bum,I made a bit of a joke there.I was doing English in first year as a joint major with Philosophy, and I bloody well know it everything but easy.Infact,I think it's one of the most demanding arts subjects. But I am continuing with single major in Philosophy,taking the odd module in English. And of course I am aware critical theory is not an easy nut to crack,but it's well worth it. People were looking for an easy electives there, so I suggested

liamygunner29

Is there any maths in that introduction to astronomy? what you mean a little physics? thanks

roadwars

Applied Business Competencies, no exam, all continuous assessment, very easy stuff

Mardy Bum

Infernon wrote: »

Mardy Bum,I made a bit of a joke there. People were looking for an easy electives there, so I suggested

Thats a bit mean:p Some g*bsh*tes might put it down!:o I hope its not too hard all the same!:rolleyes::D

gerbilgranny

Ello,

Slightly nervous parent here. Tomorrow I'll be registering loving offspring (who is going into 2nd Arts) for two electives, as offspring is off very foreign at the moment.

I think this is a silly question - well, I sorta HOPE it is, but -

It's okay to pick electives from Stage 1 of programmes, if a student is going on to Stage 2, isn't it?

Would be obliged if anyone could answer - thanks.

Mardy Bum

gerbilgranny wrote: »

Ello,

Slightly nervous parent here. Tomorrow I'll be registering loving offspring (who is going into 2nd Arts) for two electives, as offspring is off very foreign at the moment.

I think this is a silly question - well, I sorta HOPE it is, but -

It's okay to pick electives from Stage 1 of programmes, if a student is going on to Stage 2, isn't it?

Would be obliged if anyone could answer - thanks.

Yes it is ok to register people for modules below their level.Anybody can do first year electives.

God it must be very foreign with no internet.

gerbilgranny

Thank you most kindly Mr/Ms Bum.

'Tis very foreign indeed - not even phone coverage for a while. Even more remote than Leitrim, actually.:D

dyl10

gerbilgranny wrote: »

Thank you most kindly Mr/Ms Bum.

'Tis very foreign indeed - not even phone coverage for a while. Even more remote than Leitrim, actually.:D

It might be a good idea to review the new registration tutorials on modules and the acceptable number of credits that can be taken at each stage.

gerbilgranny

Thanks, well, I've registered her for 50 credits for this year - so just the two electives to do tomorrow. Could probably have done a bit better as regards timetabling - although she has nothing on Fridays - but those empty slots in the middle of a day are just perfect for studying in the library, surely?:D

El Siglo

gerbilgranny wrote: »

Thanks, well, I've registered her for 50 credits for this year - so just the two electives to do tomorrow. Could probably have done a bit better as regards timetabling

You're never going to have timetables spot on, it is a bit of a 'hit and miss' business unfortunately, just hope that there isn't changes to the timetable, my class in final year last year got proper fucked over on this by the college and we couldn't even register for electives within our school. It was a joke.

- although she has nothing on Fridays

This is really handy, for going home and shortens the week, there's nothing worse than having either lectures in the evening time or on fridays. Having lectures in the morning is one thing, but taking the trouble to go into belfield for a one hour waste of time is a pain in the face.

- but those empty slots in the middle of
a day are just perfect for studying in the library, surely?:D

You'd be surprised. Empty slots during the day are dependent upon the time of year, i.e. they're most useful in the last two weeks of a semester than any other time. These slots in the day are normally used for finishing off small assignments, getting coffee, playing pool and just knocking about the place with friends.

FreeFallin

Could anyone tell me if the elective registration will open at midnight tonight? Dont want to miss the boat on the good ones

Mardy Bum

Stage 2 reg didnt open at mid night last time so I doubt it but you could give it a try!

FreeFallin

Ok cheers, im sure the morning will be time enough anyway!

Mardy Bum

Can anyone tell me what introduction to creative writings like? First hand experience please!

Ronan.c

HUM10010 Has anyone taken this one?? is there any actual essay writing in it??

Lisa20

anybody do human nutrition 1? i have bio and home ec for leaving cert but want something not too difficult! sounds pretty interesting...?

Flamed Diving

mloc wrote: »

I love the standard of UCD students these days.

I love the standards/attitudes of students, in general.

Bring on fees, I say.

Lisa20

i did it! yeah you do get some essays to do during the year and a portfolio of your work at the end! you HAVE to attend allllll your lectures cos classowork is picked up after each lecture and its pretty steep on the marks if u miss them! itl be very overbooked though! there is a similar module in the sports managment that is quite like it!

arthistory

Any suggestions for an elective for veterinary medicine? I'd like something that helps with the veterinary if possible..are there any equine related electives?? and does anyone know where there is a list of electives?

dramq

Ok, I feel horribly silly asking this simple question at such a late stage but are electives compulsory? As in I'm doing pyschology and have chosen 20 credits of Pyschology, 20 credits of English, 10 credits of Irish and 10 credits of Econ...so while I have 60 credits, I don't actually have any electives...do I need to change that?

Any help on that problemo would be greatly appreciated...

Fad

dramq wrote: »

Ok, I feel horribly silly asking this simple question at such a late stage but are electives compulsory? As in I'm doing pyschology and have chosen 20 credits of Pyschology, 20 credits of English, 10 credits of Irish and 10 credits of Econ...so while I have 60 credits, I don't actually have any electives...do I need to change that?

Any help on that problemo would be greatly appreciated...

If you have your credits filled, you dont have to take an elective

sponge-97

33% God wrote: »

Presumably because you came to University to learn things that you are interested in and that may be useful to you in the future. That's the idea behind the system. You can cheat it if you want but don't act like it's the smart decision.

As a student struggling to maintain ideal GPA, I can completely understand wanting to choose easy electives over interesting/educational ones. I am doing enough modules about my subject to gain knowledge about it, so an easy unrelated elective would really help lessen the stress and workload. Last semester was very difficult, and if choosing an easy elective helps you achieve first class honours, and relax a little, I don't think it's an unwise decision. Your decisions might be more noble regarding the true purpose of education, but things like the Leaving Cert and some college education systems mainly focus on academic ability. Little "loopholes" like this can help students who could be struggling or otherwise achieve the best GPA they can and so help them to do better later on in life. It's a trade-off between good grades and good expansion of knowledge (unless you're lucky enough to find a module that is both), so it's up to the person what is most important to them.

That's my opinion anyway

sponge-97

mloc wrote: »

Dream on buddy. Nowadays an employer won't even bother with you unless your degree is hugely relevant to your field from day one. I'd take additional modules in your field and get the best quality degree you can, not just some piece of **** linguistics and canadian studies degree, which with the worlds best 1.1 isn't even worth recycling.

Yeah I think he meant just electives. Such as for my one if 50 credits of second years are based on my subjects and then 10 credits are electives, I don't think employers are going to pay much attention to what they are, just the degree (1.1 etc) and what course it was. That's my guess anyway, I'm not an employer and I've a long way to go if I am to be so I don't really know.

sponge-97

994 wrote: »

The introduction to astronomy is interesting and quite easy, esp. if you know a little physics. Something like 30% of marks are on an online quiz - you can just Google the answers!! And no, there are no midnight classes with telescopes atop the water tower, it's just 2 lectures and 1 tutorial a week.

I just did that there. I thought the first half was easy but I think it's a pretty bulky course towards the end and there is a lot of stuff to remember. I did a good bit of work for it and found it tough, all my friends focused on other exams and found it much tougher. I think people just need be wary of slacking off!

sponge-97

Flamed Diving wrote: »

I love the standards/attitudes of students, in general.

Bring on fees, I say.

Fees would abolish people who are wasting university time, but unfortunately punish people like myself and my friends who may not be so well off, and who really value college and the prospectives that come with it.

WeeBushy

sponge-97 wrote: »

Fees would abolish people who are wasting university time, but unfortunately punish people like myself and my friends who may not be so well off, and who really value college and the prospectives that come with it.

It wouldn't though. A loan system like in England, and a functioning grant system, would have to be introduced. The financial status of parents wouldn't stop people going to college.

Conor108

Has anyone done Earth, Environment and Society or Japanese L&C 1?

happy_feet

It really bothers me seeing people on their high horse in here, giving out about the ''standard of students these days''.

I study nursing in UCD. I like my course. For some reason were made make 10 credits a semester in other subjects, which do not relate to nursing. I had no desire to study anything else at 3rd level, so of course im going to pick easy electives, whats the point in doing hard ones that you might fail?

Doing an elective in maths, or fecking history isnt going to help me give a bed bath any better, or put in a urinary catheter. Get over yourselves.

Fad

Conor108 wrote: »

Has anyone done Earth, Environment and Society or Japanese L&C 1?

I've done Jap L&C1, workload was a bit higher than I expected tbh, also, one double class a week was a pain >_<

Didn't enjoy it at all, and I love Japanese culture.

Conor108

Fad wrote: »

I've done Jap L&C1, workload was a bit higher than I expected tbh, also, one double class a week was a pain >_<

Didn't enjoy it at all, and I love Japanese culture.

Hmmmm oh well I'll give it a go, wanted to do Russian tbh but I could only do it at like 6pm or something so I went with this

TimeToShine

I like the way sponge is replying to people who posted 2 years ago

TimeToShine

Anyone know if the BMGT modules are any good? As in interesting enough to do rather than just a load of cramming.

JBoy!

anyone know what Lynam and his jaw are doing next year?

Killer Pigeon

sponge-97 wrote: »

I just did that there. I thought the first half was easy but I think it's a pretty bulky course towards the end and there is a lot of stuff to remember. I did a good bit of work for it and found it tough, all my friends focused on other exams and found it much tougher. I think people just need be wary of slacking off!

Bull! Last year when I did intro to astronomy I only studied for 3 hours the night before and got an A.

Killer Pigeon

JBoy! wrote: »

anyone know what Lynam and his jaw are doing next year?

Probably licking the USI's behind but other than that I don't know, probably just smiling to cameras with those jaws of his.

PrincessLola

Infernon wrote: »

Critical Theory (ENG20400) and Logic:Informal and Formal (PHIL20020) sounds like a piece of cake I'm taking them this semester...

Thats mathematical logic you do realize!

parker kent

Killer Pigeon wrote: »

Bull! Last year when I did intro to astronomy I only studied for 3 hours the night before and got an A.

Different things are difficult/easy for different people.

Killer Pigeon

parker kent wrote: »

Different things are difficult/easy for different people.

What so learning off a few facts and regurgitation them on an exam is difficult? Whatever.

dr gonzo

Killer Pigeon wrote: »

Bull! Last year when I did intro to astronomy I only studied for 3 hours the night before and got an A.

I did Astronomy as an elective too and found it quite difficult which is a shame because im interested in it as a subject. There was a lot more math in it then i was led to believe which for some might have been the simplest equations in the world but for me were quite difficult to get my head round.

As someone said, different things are difficult for different people and math is not a strong area for me.

sponge-97

WeeBushy wrote: »

It wouldn't though. A loan system like in England, and a functioning grant system, would have to be introduced. The financial status of parents wouldn't stop people going to college.

Grants are good, but regarding loans.. if I have to do a master AND phD for psychology, I don't want to already be in debt during my BA. That would mean needing to pay back loans for a long time..

sponge-97

Killer Pigeon wrote: »

Bull! Last year when I did intro to astronomy I only studied for 3 hours the night before and got an A.

It's not bull though. I'm not very physics and maths minded. And my friends who are didn't find it so easy. I just don't have a great memory for remembering details either. So not everyone is going to find it as easy as you did. I wish I did.

parker kent

Killer Pigeon wrote: »

What so learning off a few facts and regurgitation them on an exam is difficult? Whatever.

Some people are good at learning off facts, some are not. Some find learning off facts about astronomy easy, some don't. I find writing English essays, short stories, newspaper articles etc easy and plenty don't find that easy. Whereas I had to work hard at Maths as my brain is not numerical. I could learn 1000 words in another language no problems. Ask me to learn a mathematical equation and I'd be stumped. The same applies to everybody in various areas.

Surely the concept of different brains being suited to different things is not beyond you? A few posters here found the module difficult because for whatever reason, it did not suit them. That can easily happen in an elective.

Killer Pigeon

parker kent wrote: »

Some people are good at learning off facts, some are not. Some find learning off facts about astronomy easy, some don't. I find writing English essays, short stories, newspaper articles etc easy and plenty don't find that easy. Whereas I had to work hard at Maths as my brain is not numerical. I could learn 1000 words in another language no problems. Ask me to learn a mathematical equation and I'd be stumped. The same applies to everybody in various areas.

Surely the concept of different brains being suited to different things is not beyond you? A few posters here found the module difficult because for whatever reason, it did not suit them. That can easily happen in an elective.

There wasn't a lot of numeracy needed in the intro to astronomy and space science modules, if I recall correctly you needed to know simply formulas like F=ma or speed equals distance over time (maybe one or two other formulas but I forget). They're just basic junior cert science formulas and all you're doing is plugging and chugging - no thinking needed, a monkey could do it. Multiplication and division - all you needed to understand (maybe a bit of trig but you have calculators people)!

When I was talking about learning off fact, I literally meant learning off facts, not learning how to use mathematics. There was very little mathematics on that course. You had to discuss some astronomical facts, for example 'explain the concept of a red giant and how it comes about'. All you had to do was learn off what was written on the slides on blackboard - again no real thought needed, just regurgitation. You didn't even have to structure it into a finely lade out and articulate essay, it wasn't like that. The modules didn't need any academic rigour at all.

Yeah, I really would like to know why those people actually found the module difficult, unless they're just acting like diehards.

AND NO, THIS IS NOT A CONDESCENDING POST!!

parker kent

Killer Pigeon wrote: »

There wasn't a lot of numeracy needed in the intro to astronomy and space science modules, if I recall correctly you needed to know simply formulas like F=ma or speed equals distance over time (maybe one or two other formulas but I forget). They're just basic junior cert science formulas and all you're doing is plugging and chugging - no thinking needed, a monkey could do it. Multiplication and division - all you needed to understand (maybe a bit of trig but you have calculators people)!

When I was talking about learning off fact, I literally meant learning off facts, not learning how to use mathematics. There was very little mathematics on that course. You had to discuss something or other about astronomy, for example 'explain the concept of a red giant and how it comes about'. All you had to do was learn off what was written on the slides on blackboard - again no real thought needed, just regurgitation. You didn't even have to structure it into a finely lade out and articulate essay, it wasn't like that. The modules didn't need any academic rigour at all.

Yeah, I really would like to know why those people actually found the module difficult, unless they're just acting like diehards.

AND NO, THIS IS NOT A CONDESCENDING POST!!

Sorry I should have kept the part about maths separate to the rest of the post. I was just using maths as an example of something I am not strong at compared to other subjects I consider "easy", I was not referring to that subject at all. It was just an example of how somebody can find something easy or difficult and another person could have the opposite view. I just mean that learning facts can be considered easy if you are into the area you are learning. I find formulas and astronomy boring so I would not really like to learn about astronomy.

So learning facts about astronomy can be easier if you naturally click with that area. My mind does not really cope with learning any formulas, yet it could learn long poems etc. Maybe the posters are like that. Or maybe they just do not like rote learning and regurgitating that in an exam. I could sympathise with that view. Some people just have different brains.

Killer Pigeon

parker kent wrote: »

Or maybe they just do not like rote learning and regurgitating that in an exam. I could sympathise with that view. Some people just have different brains.

The LC was exactly that, rote learning. How did they get into college if they didn't posses that skill?

parker kent

Killer Pigeon wrote: »

The LC was exactly that, rote learning. How did they get into college if they didn't posses that skill?

In fairness you don't exactly need to ace the LC to get into many courses. Plus you are in school every day so it is a totally different learning environment.

Killer Pigeon

parker kent wrote: »

In fairness you don't exactly need to ace the LC to get into many courses. Plus you are in school every day so it is a totally different learning environment.

In the ÉireTard education system, rote learning is essential if you even was to pass the LC let alone ace.

parker kent

Killer Pigeon wrote: »

In the ÉireTard education system, rote learning is essential if you even was to pass the LC let alone ace.

My point is that it is different to the LC. Obviously I know you have to engage with rote learning in the LC (btw I have completed many modules on education and pedagogical techniques, so I am not pulling this from nowhere). A brain that does not engage well with rote learning for the LC, may still pick up enough knowledge from the classroom to get by. They will not do as well as they could with a different method, but they can still do well enough to get into college.

But University is different. And for dozens of reasons, some people are not as capable as some others are of learning off course material by rote.

Killer Pigeon

parker kent wrote: »

My point is that it is different to the LC. Obviously I know you have to engage with rote learning in the LC (btw I have completed many modules on education and pedagogical techniques, so I am not pulling this from nowhere). A brain that does not engage well with rote learning for the LC, may still pick up enough knowledge from the classroom to get by. They will not do as well as they could with a different method, but they can still do well enough to get into college.

But University is different. And for dozens of reasons, some people are not as capable as some others are of learning off course material by rote.

It's happening in Unitversities too though. The bachelors degree is slowly being degraded and is no longer seen as it used to be. This is not just because of competition created by the amount of people doing bachelors degree nowadays, it's also to do with the lack of creativity and originality exhibited by the University curriculum across all major disciplines which only encourages rote learning in areas where creativity is essential.