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Elective Modules
Hey,
I'm in my 2nd year now so I thought I'd offer some advice about Elective Modules. I only found out that I had a elective module once I got to Durham, that's probably my fault for not doing the research or reading any of the information.
So, a few days after arriving in Durham I suddenly discovered I had the daunting task of selecting a extra module. I really should have known about this before arriving! The number of electives you have will probably differ depending on how many compulsory modules your department gives you, so some students might not have any electives, where as other students may have one or two. These elective modules are any module from any department which offers them. You don't normally need any prior knowledge for them, so you can go for something like 'Introduction to Japanese' and everyone will probably be at the same level as you.
I made friends with a few people in the queue for registration, and one of them was quite fit so I started following her around, but it turned out that she had a boyfriend. Anyway, she was going to do 'Introduction to Politics: State and Society'. I used to work for a, urm... 'major political party' (not naming any names), so I thought that the Politics module would be something that I would be good at and really enjoy.
Unfortunately the module didn't feature any British or modern Politics at all so it was not at all what I was expecting. It was however only a 1 hour lecture a week and a 1 hour tutorial every fortnight, so it wasn't much of a workload. There was quite a bit of work you were expected to do in your own time, including 2 essays and a presentation. But overall I spent about 4 hours of my own time on this across the year and still managed to pass the module. This was actually the highest mark out of all my modules (probably because I didn't have a clue about some of the stuff, so I spend a lot more time revising)
So... its worth finding out how many elective modules you have before coming to Durham and researching what you may be interested in. There is a list of modules by dept here, http://www.dur.ac.uk/faculty.handbook/listdeptmodules/ The electives are normally the 'Introduction to..' modules which require no prerequisites or corequisites.
Alex
I'm in my 2nd year now so I thought I'd offer some advice about Elective Modules. I only found out that I had a elective module once I got to Durham, that's probably my fault for not doing the research or reading any of the information.
So, a few days after arriving in Durham I suddenly discovered I had the daunting task of selecting a extra module. I really should have known about this before arriving! The number of electives you have will probably differ depending on how many compulsory modules your department gives you, so some students might not have any electives, where as other students may have one or two. These elective modules are any module from any department which offers them. You don't normally need any prior knowledge for them, so you can go for something like 'Introduction to Japanese' and everyone will probably be at the same level as you.
I made friends with a few people in the queue for registration, and one of them was quite fit so I started following her around, but it turned out that she had a boyfriend. Anyway, she was going to do 'Introduction to Politics: State and Society'. I used to work for a, urm... 'major political party' (not naming any names), so I thought that the Politics module would be something that I would be good at and really enjoy.
Unfortunately the module didn't feature any British or modern Politics at all so it was not at all what I was expecting. It was however only a 1 hour lecture a week and a 1 hour tutorial every fortnight, so it wasn't much of a workload. There was quite a bit of work you were expected to do in your own time, including 2 essays and a presentation. But overall I spent about 4 hours of my own time on this across the year and still managed to pass the module. This was actually the highest mark out of all my modules (probably because I didn't have a clue about some of the stuff, so I spend a lot more time revising)
So... its worth finding out how many elective modules you have before coming to Durham and researching what you may be interested in. There is a list of modules by dept here, http://www.dur.ac.uk/faculty.handbook/listdeptmodules/ The electives are normally the 'Introduction to..' modules which require no prerequisites or corequisites.
Alex
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Reply 2
Yeah you can, thats why I said normally 
You can do anything as long as you satisfy the prerequsites and there are no timetable clashes
You can do anything as long as you satisfy the prerequsites and there are no timetable clashes
This may be a stupid question, but do the electives you choose have any effect on your degree.
Reply 7
I study Computer Science (G400), so Politics is completely different to my main subject. As part of CompSci its compulsory for me to do 'Introduction to Programming', which other people can choose to do as an elective - so if you're interested in Computers, then it's definitely worth looking at. You learn Java, and it's reasonably easy. The lecturer (Stefan) is also really friendly and no past experience is really required as everyone (even CS students) has never done Java before.
I don't think they have any effect upon your degree, but if you do something relevant you can always include it on your CV to show you have experience. It also gives you a backup plan if you don't like your degree and want to switch. Theres bound to be something interesting to pick.
It's also good to make some other friends away from your main degree and away from your college.
There is a timetable checker website, but it sometimes shows clashes when there aren't any, so it's best to check with the departments. Even without timetable clashes there are sometimes difficult to get from the Science Site to Old Elvet instantly
I suppose you can do stuff on the other campus. There is a free bus (X11) which wasn't terribly frequent. It takes 30-40 mins to get there, so i'm not sure it would be worth it just for a 1 hour lecture/tutorial. Speaking from experience, the buses are older than we are and not very well maintained. I'm almost certain that the exhaust is pumped back inside the bus as you can see a smoggy internal haze when the sun shines through the windows and you can't breathe properly. Don't let me put you off though!
Alex
I don't think they have any effect upon your degree, but if you do something relevant you can always include it on your CV to show you have experience. It also gives you a backup plan if you don't like your degree and want to switch. Theres bound to be something interesting to pick.
It's also good to make some other friends away from your main degree and away from your college.
There is a timetable checker website, but it sometimes shows clashes when there aren't any, so it's best to check with the departments. Even without timetable clashes there are sometimes difficult to get from the Science Site to Old Elvet instantly
I suppose you can do stuff on the other campus. There is a free bus (X11) which wasn't terribly frequent. It takes 30-40 mins to get there, so i'm not sure it would be worth it just for a 1 hour lecture/tutorial. Speaking from experience, the buses are older than we are and not very well maintained. I'm almost certain that the exhaust is pumped back inside the bus as you can see a smoggy internal haze when the sun shines through the windows and you can't breathe properly. Don't let me put you off though!
Alex
ssmoose
I don't know about this, but by taking the right electives you are able to switch degree, if you wish. For example I will be doing (see above) would enable me to swicth to natural sciences in the 2nd year.
Yep that's right. I did the combination you described above last year and am now having to decide between maths and natural sciences next year. Keep changing my mind every day!
I've got one free elective in first year, then the rest have specified modules I can take. There's a choice between 3 economics ones, Reading French Lit and then "or any other available module providing it is approve by the director of studies". Or something. So I don't know - I might do a Spanish module. Or maths. Or just one of the economics ones... *thinky face*
Reply 10
Ahhhhhhhh choices!!
Reply 11
Oh yeah I was told about this when I visited.The guy said that people do all sorts of random things like...Astronomy?!!
Reply 14
Haha 'random' wasn't my word...it was the word of the person who told me about them!
Yep that's right. I did the combination you described above last year and am now having to decide between maths and natural sciences next year. Keep changing my mind every day!
Wow! When I'm older i want to be just like you! How did you score in all the modules? And did you originally apply for natsci or straihgt maths? Oooh and what A Levels/Grades?
Tal... how have you only got a shiny black gem
She's insecure about the ammount of rep she has (or doesn't!)
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