| Faculty: | ARTS & SOCIAL SCIENCES | Academic Year: | 2003/2004 |
| Department: | HISTORY | Semester: | 1 |
| Qn 1 | Qn 2 | Qn 3 | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S/No | Module Code | Module Description | Score | NR | Score | NR | Score | NR | |||||
| 1 | HY2243 | FILM AND HISTORY | 4.198 | 257 | 3.767 | 249 | 3.611 | 257 | |||||
Note:
Qn 1: What is your overall opinion of the module ?
Opinion: | Excellent | Good | Satisfactory | Unsatisfactory | Poor |
Score: | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Grade: | A | B | C | D | F |
Score: | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Difficulty Level: | More difficult | Of the same difficulty level | Less difficult | ||
Score: | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Q1. | Please comment on the strengths and weaknesses of the module, and suggest possible improvements. |
| 1. | Interesting approach in examining the relevance of films in historical studies. An enjoyable course. |
| 2. | not much information on film and history...lecture is mostly background information for films shown in class |
| 3. | i thought the course was well structured such that it relied on the students' own motivation and effort to ensure a good grade which was brilliant. However, more guiding lectures (ie the lecture materials could have been more resourceful) |
| 4. | Tiring to have to comment on the module weekly. |
| 5. | The module's premise is interesting, but I was expecting much more from it. The lectures were disappointing - students were not taught anything (theory, approaches to the module e.t.c.). the only things mentioned during lecture were background information on the films, which are available in the week's readings. Having a sharper focus to the course would greatly improve it. |
| 6. | MAJOR STRENGTH: NO EXAM. Keep it that way. |
| 7. | Innovative teaching whereby the traditional year end exams are done away with. Felxible teaching. Allows deeper thinking rather than mere memorising of facts for exams. |
| 8. | shows how history affect culture and vice versa |
| 9. | interesting course. |
| 10. | This is a very interesting module, and it opens up a whole new whole to film, but only thing is that could they give a more comfortable lecture theatre to watch the films? |
| 11. | I liked the freeplay given to students to form our own opinions. THis encourages active research and should be what university life is about. |
| 12. | Group discussion not very lively and spontaneous if students do not know each other personally. Maybe during class, time can be set aside for group discussion or intereaction sessions? Would be good to know who we are talking with in the forum. |
| 13. | Interesting module.. you definitely learn a lot !!! :) |
| 14. | Very interesting! Lecturers are also effective in getting the full attention of the class. |
| 15. | the flexibility of the module and the approach towards history is refreshing and challenging. the regular projects forces us to really digest and apply the things that we learn. the effectiveness of discussion sessions however are very subjective to the groups that one is in. |
| 16. | It was a wonderful experience, the lecturers make you look forward to lectures plus the movies are such an added incentive! I've learnt a lot from the lecturers as to think beyond films and their themes. I will look at movie differently from now on |
| 17. | more advise and direction can be given for the module, like wat the main themes, purpose or aims.. what are the expectations of the lecturers... |
| 18. | I find that while most lecturers always say that three are no correct answers, this ins one particualr module that does have a certain 'right' answer, which did make the module particularly difficult at times.. |
| 19. | The films shown every week are thought provoking and arouses interests in the students and enhances the module's strength. |
| 20. | A fair distribution of assessment grading. |
| 21. | not enough notes given. |
| 22. | strengths: conducted in a very interesting format.. makes me want to do more. strength is that i can't think of any weaknesses. =) |
| 23. | Nil. |
| 24. | interesting way to learn history, very enjoyable module, should have more of this kind of history modules... |
| 25. | Using IVLE forums for discussions, it discards the waste of time waiting for everyone to answer questions. Moreover, everyone has a chance to voice opinions. The consistent churning of essays keep the interest of the module going. |
| 26. | na |
| 27. | It is a fabulous module. Its workload is a little on the heavy side but its worth all the work since there are no exams! |
| 28. | Very interesting module. Very interesting films. Although i find difficulty finding the right answers to the questions asked, and how to relate history to them, it is still a very enlightening and captivating module. Not one lecture is boring. =) |
| 29. | This module is interesting and appeals to many students who are taking history as a breadth module out of curiosity. Helps create a positive attitude towards history. Will recommend it to our students. |
| 30. | Very fun module! Fun lecturers and great movies! |
| 31. | lectures provided before the films are useful in helping me understand the film afterwards. |
| 32. | ca rather that finel exam is good for students health because of reduced exam stress |
| 33. | Interesting module. |
| 34. | an interesting module.. enjoyed all the jokes and the films, nothing needs to be changed about it! |
| 35. | it is a very interesting module but I would prefer it if the lectures are longer and more background information about the particular historical period or the film is given. |
| 36. | its gd tt the module is c.a based and non-examinable because it makes sure we are on our toes and we know what is happening and i'd say i've learnt a lot from this module. |
| 37. | Can we have longer lectures, providing more information about the historical context of the film and the projects in question? |
| 38. | Strength: engaging, interesting and thought provoking. |
| 39. | interesting and enjoyable. |
| 40. | It might be better if there are more chances for interaction with the lecturers rather than just online discussion forums. |
| 41. | NIL |
| 42. | Non examinable, forcing the students to be consistant in their work. Organized. |
| 43. | this is a very good and interesting module that brings out the creativity of the student. However more comments could have been written when the papers are returned so that students will know whether what they perceive is accurate. As for the grading, more weightage shd be given to the discussion forum instead of the fortnightly project as many people tends to "hold back" their points.... nevertheless, an excellent module that changes perception of dull boring history into sonething interesting... also subtitles can be played for those with weaker command of language.....thanz... the major essay shd not be restricted to those that we hav wayched, perhaps an option of allowing students to chose their own, but of course must stick to the main theme... |
| 44. | some films that we can refer back to before doing our assignments were taken out the library, causing some difficulties. pls let all the films be readly available. |
| 45. | - |
| 46. | very interesting module that should be continued as long as possible. |
| 47. | videos should really be made available to broadband users who are not connected to the school network... |
| 48. | i cant seem to relate film with history |
| 49. | NA |
| 50. | very interesting and relevant but a bit too much focus on Cold War |
| 51. | love it interesting and refreshing approach hard work though |
| 52. | makes us think and gets students to understand concepts clearly. |
| 53. | very abstract...somehow i had hoped that the movies we watch will be of more local era so tat we can relate to it. but the concept of this module can be very interesting..though i don't like the idea of a graded forum cos there are pple who don't like to post on forum. |
| 54. | the topic/theme of the movies should have more range. |
| 55. | as film presents historial facts and ideologies to us..! this module is an eye opener to the average of us who have never taken historical or documented films seriously.. |
| 56. | informative, thought-provoking, learning in a relaxing way |
| 57. | Very fun, covers a wide range of historical elements. |
| 58. | it is more than meets the eye; extremely taken aback by the stringent assessment; excellent idea to make it non-examinable as it is a practical course and learning through project-work enhances thinking abilities more than exams can; great clips with relevance shown before each lecture makes lecturing and learning revolutionary. however online discussion makes human interaction secondary and overall the module seems to have a mercenary feel to it. |
| 59. | Readings for the film should be more insightful and helps student in understanding what the project questions ask. Also, some students may not have been exposed that much to non-Hollywood films like Iron MOnkey hence may not know that martial films like Iron Monkey tend to idealize the past and tells us nothing abt China's past. So more relevant readings should be useful |
| 60. | The module is interesting and easy to understand through its use of films to invoke understanding and thinking from the students. |
| 61. | Very interesting perspective to history, rather than the usual lectures and notes and readings. Promotes thinking and analysis. But the lecture is at a bit of an awkward hour. |
| 62. | The semester essay could be given 30% weightage. 4 projects of 10% weightage Forum participation 30% weightage |
| 63. | A very refreshing module, for the way the tutorials are conducted via the IVLE forum. It is interesting to note that Arts subjects, especially History are not dead, but are instead as lively and interactive as this module. |
| 64. | fewer assignments, more films. |
| 65. | it is an interesting module |
| 66. | Well in all honesty, I think the lectures are sort of useless. Do away with them :) No, they aren't bad (they're mostly entertaining), just irrelevant to the larger picture of using film to portray history. But as this module's also a GEM, I guess it's difficult not to provide some background information. I like the 100% CA approach. ALthough the workload's a lot more, doing 5 projects is a lot more satisfying than doing 2-3 timed exam essays. Loved the IVLE discussions. My only wish is that ppl would talk more, and talk abt things which were relevant. But that's a problem with us students, not the module or the lecturers. |
| 67. | Very interesting, different from the common modules we get in NUS. |
| 68. | fun, interesting;can be more effective in engaging students in understanding history first |
| 69. | strengths: funny lecturers; the fact that i get to watch a film during lecture time; short lecturing done be lecturers of 1 hour. weaknesses: very difficult to do history-related essays as a non-history student, should be available to only history students; reduce number of boring films like 13 days and Dr Strangelove. |
| 70. | It's very stressing to be handing in assignments every 2 weeks, especially when you have no idea how to approach the questions, and the discussion forum may be misleading. |
| 71. | one of the modules i look forward to most. very interesting way of teaching history. |
| 72. | The module is really fun and gives us a whole new perspective to history through films. |
| 73. | This module exposes us to many art films relating to history. this module have definitely provided very much insights towards my understanding of history (which is limited).However, the uniqueness of this non-examinable module had given us considerably quite a number of assignments and essays, in which i think it would be better if these assignments and projects can be reduced (although efforts have been made to reduce since last semester). Generally, a very interesting way of teaching history in accordance to films. |
| 74. | it's very abstract.. so assignments are hard. but lectures are engaging. |
| 75. | it is a very interesting module as we begin to see how fims are linked to history. However, the projects we have to do are rather difficult to understand and very often, the lectuers dont really try to explain them in details too. The feedbacks they did on the projects are also not very helpful as they are too general. It will certainly help if they can write comments on each student's project instead of the general statement. |
| 76. | I think the lectures are engaging but perhaps not substantive enough, because perhaps the difficulty comes from the fact that there are different historical backgrounds and issues to address for each film, so each lecture can cover only a bit of something. Sometimes it seems distant from what we are trying to analyse. However, it is interesting and it teaches us to think critically about films as a tool for historical discourse. The readings are useful. The biggest shortcoming would be perhaps that there is no relationship to be built between lecturers/tutors and students because there are no tutorials, and no comments and answers are to be offered by them in the discussion forum, so basically there is not much feedback on our progress. |
| 77. | lets us learn how to grasp messages that films carry as well as expose us to many types of films which touch on interesting political issues. |
| 78. | fantastic module !!!!!!!!! |
| 79. | its very much interesting and i think the only lecture which i have seen to still have so many students towards the end of the semester. the introductory lecture for the films are carried out with great humour and ease of understanding which appeals to me. but sometimes i just dont get the link betweeen the lectures and the assignments. but the lecturers are doing a great job!! |
| 80. | very interesting and the lecturers are captivating, this module allows us to explore and research on our own, which i find good. |
| 81. | interesting concept to incorporate films into the study of history. discussion over the forum also saves time and is effective. |
| 82. | please keep it CA-based... (: but maybe can go beyond asia and the cold war... (: |
| 83. | very interesting modules which shows the different perspectives of history through the use of films.. exploring the credibility of films as basis of historical facts.. very explorative module! |
| 84. | very interesting module, requirements for the projects and essay are very hard to meet very challenging |
| 85. | Interesting, thought provoking |
| 86. | IVLE - too demanding. Too much weightage. Active IVLE doesn't equate active participation |
| 87. | Allowed students to look at history from a different aspect. Films used were of various genres and "eras", well-picked. |
| 88. | workload might be a bit too heavy, but i guess that is inevitable for a non-examinable module. but overall a very interesting module. but probably can try to have more interesting movies so as to relate it to us. |
| 89. | wonderful module. learnt more about films and history at the same time. learnt to view things in a critical manner. |
| 90. | very enlightening and informative. new and fresh perspectives on things and has a great link with historical studies. great approach in using the forum for discussion |
| 91. | The lecturers' approach is original and funny. The lecture part is simple and easy to understand. However, i feel that the marking system is too strict. It is very hard to score for this module. |
| 92. | We should be given more time for our final essay especially for those who chose to expand the second last project question (the 500word essay) as their final essay (the 2000word essay). They only had basically one week to work on it. |
| 93. | Probably lower weightage to be given for the discussion forum. |
| 94. | entertaining and interesting.good system to gauge continual assessment. forum discussion is effective |
| 95. | Films are interesting, covering a range of ideas. I like the fact that there are no tutorials, but the lack of it means that students have to largely deal with stuff themselves. |
| 96. | Some films have been more difficult to understand such as The Year of Living Dangerously and I would have preferred if the lectures dealt with all the films in a more in depth manner. Some lectures were really too short as well. Would definitely liked to have heard more from the lecturers. But in a way, this really encourages active learning. I ended up doing more research on the web and trying to find some of the answers from my peers on the discussion forum. |
| 97. | interesting and the lecturers chose pretty good films that were of relevance to history. |
| 98. | Perhaps we can be taught how to identify key points in a film and write better essays. |
| 99. | Instead of completing 5 out of 6, probably we can have the option of choosing best out of 6. |
| 100. | very interesting module that needs no improvement! |
| 101. | The movies can't be viewed at home, even with broadband or cable connection when out of campus. We can access the films for review when doing our projects. Its tooo much trouble to have to go to the media resource library and the loan can't go beyond 5pm. Some of our timetables just really don't allow us to go to the MRL to view the movies again. |
| 102. | This was an excellent module.. covering a vast range of topics that were esp. pertinent to literature and history majors. The lecturers' attitude towards the class in general was so informal and relaxed that it made US feel relaxed.. something quite rare in NUS. One thing - the long essay is due somewhere in between the fourth and the fifth projects, which means that almost no one would have attempted the sixth project question for the long essay (and people were wary of doing the fifth for fear that they were not on the right track). I realise the logistic difficulties involved in correcting 400+ papers at the end of semester... but maybe you could consider setting an extension date for those who wish to expand their last two projects into a long essay ONLY? (bearing in mind the last three projects just kept getting more interesting!) |
| 103. | - |
| 104. | good way to assess students. |
| 105. | Maybe the essay can be a little less and expand on the what they look for in the essay. |
| 106. | The module itself does not have much flaw cos i've enjoyed taking it. It's refreshing and cool to put history on film other than reading history on paper. |
| 107. | interesting but hard to learn anything substantial. Hard to score. |
| 108. | it's great that it's non-examinable and writing the projects and the online discussions were interesting |
| 109. | Interesting, refreshing approach to history. However, it is quite difficult for non-history students to grasp the historical concepts behind the films as the lectures only give a summarised version. |
| 110. | It's a real fun module to take. It's good to allow students to choose 5 out of the 6 projects as this will enable us to choose what we're interested in. However, it might be better to allow us to choose our own essay topics in addition to the 6 projects. |
| 111. | though relaxing..i'm sure i really learnt something about history..instead of having stacks of reading where i just memorize..and learn nothing |
| 112. | great movies mostly...the not so great movies are still very interesting, just harder to comprehend. the lecturers are great too...they put the era of the movies in good propectives before we watched them and right noe, i would say that i'm a better critic than before. totally lets me see beyond the surface entertainment value of movies in general... this is really cool. |
| 113. | too many ppl |
| 114. | very good exposure to the history of the world using films as a medium... the grading of the essays is only kinda faulty, as in we dont know where exactly we've gone wrong.. that shud be made more transparent... |
| 115. | Online learning materials provide a new way for students to learn. Interesting and new, unlike the usual boring methods of learning. Subject also forces students to think critically and "out of the box". Fantastic subject! |
| 116. | NA |
| 117. | Rather interesting module, with films of different genres. Makes us more observant when watching a film than before. |
| 118. | Interesting choice of movies picked. Fantastic lecturers. |
| 119. | I love this module! Learning becomes enjoyable and I am constantly challenged to think in another perspective. |
| 120. | It is a very much self reading and research based module. The films chosen are very interesting, the concepts introduced in the essay questions made stimulated me to try and think more critically. It also got me interested enough in history, to look up more into it and learn more. Overall it was quite an enjoyable and successful module. One thing is that the projects that are returned don't usually have comments written on it, it would help if comments were given about the quality of our work, which will help us know which areas to improve on in our essays the next time. |
| 121. | More interesting films should be used instead. However, I like the idea of having this module as I watched some interesting films and Japanese films which I did not know that they actually exist. Maybe there can be a module on film analysis teaching us how to analysis a film. |
| 122. | This is a really great module. It presents a very interesting way to examine history through the movie medium. Throughly enjoyable way of conducting tutorials. The use of assignments to replace exams is a really refreshing aspect of this module. Perphaps the probable weekness, is the historical knowledge needed for some questions that are not covered sufficiently in the lectures or the readings. |
| 123. | The module is very interesting and is someting new. The movies shown are very interesting. The lecturers are fuuny and are able to bring their points forward nevertheless. They could have posted some of the better essays online for reference. |
| 124. | Interesting and useful by its historical relevance, however, it's a GEM, I hope that the lecturers will require less from students other from Atrs student |