Module review for EC1101E: Introduction to Economic Analysis

Taken AY2014/2015 Semester 1


EC1101E: Introduction to Economic Analysis

Although many other reviews speak of this module as relatively easy and similar to JC H2 Economics, I beg to differ. The content is split into 2 halves: micro and macro, with 6 lectures each. Each lecture lasts for 3 painful hours, so if you’re someone who can’t sit still, you might want to consider the webcast.

In my opinion, even though the micro content was generally identical to the JC syllabus, the approach seemed to be slightly different. While we were required to demonstrate understanding by writing long, extended essays in JC, this module sought answers based on (simple) mathematical calculations— something which I wasn’t very accustomed to and took a longer time to grasp.

The macro section consisted of mostly new material (banking system, finance), and this is where the textbook really comes in handy. You can’t expect to understand everything from the lectures alone, so the textbook (in 800 pages, no less!) is useful as it offers in-depth explanations which the lecturers tend to gloss over. I only realized this just before finals, and hugely regretted it. Try to read the textbook before lecture every week.

Assessment:
10%: tutorial attendance and participation
30%: midterms (all micro)
60%: finals (25% micro, 75% macro)

Tutorial participation here is easy to score as long as you attend them and sometimes volunteer to answer questions on the board. Some tutors (like mine) would randomly call on people to answer, so you must most definitely do your work (it doesn’t matter whether you get the answers correct or wrong).

The midterms and finals consist of MCQs and short answer questions. The main concern here is the time constraint. Don’t dwell on a single question for too long, and plan your time wisely.

Workload:
The workload for this module is light. I wouldn’t say that it’s an easy module, although you should be fine if you take the time to study and fully understand the content. However, the bell curve for this module is very steep, so you’ll have to put in a lot more effort if you’re looking to score well.
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