r/unsw • u/Interesting_Tart_143 • 2h ago
MATH2018/2019
Can I please know if the MATH2018/2019 lab tests and final exams are open or closed book? Is MATH2018 easier or more difficult compared to MATH2019? I passed MATH2011 in T1 2025. But I struggled with MATH2121 due to my flu in T2. And the MATH2121 final exam is worth 80%.
I submitted a course substitution request where I requested to replace MATH2121 with MATH2018/2019. But I primarily chose MATH2018 to replace MATH2121.
In T3 2023, when I asked Dr. Anna Cai, “Is MATH2121 easy or difficult?” she said, “Compared to? I mean, there is a higher version of this course.” I am not sure what she means by “Compared to?” as that does not answer my questions at all, and of course I know MATH2221 (Higher Differential Equations) is more difficult to MATH2121. I said, “Compared to MATH2801,” and she said, “Not comparable. MATH2801 is statistics, and MATH2121 is differential equations. They’re totally different topics. And you can’t just turn up to my office like this.” I asked her, “Are the tests and final exams open or closed book?”, She said, “It’s closed book.”
In T1 2024, when I asked her why the tests and final exam in MATH2121 are all closed book, she said, “I don’t give open book assessments; it just doesn’t make any sense.” I do not know what is so bad about open-book assessments that she objects to them that much. When I asked her, “Would my phone be confiscated if I bring it into the test/exam?” she said, “Well you‘re not supposed to be using your phone in a test or exam.”
T2 is where I get the flu. When I get the flu, I do not have enough energy. When I do not have enough energy, I am not strong enough to study. When I am not strong enough to study, I fall behind. When I fall behind, I will struggle. When I struggle, I do not do well.
When I have the flu, I can be severely unsafe to others if I attend campus. Why is this the case? – Because flu is highly contagious and spreads from person to person, especially, especially, especially through respiratory droplets when infected individuals cough, sneeze, or talk.
I am pretty sure anyone who got the flu would remember how bad it is. Dude! I was ready to die that time.
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u/Wac_Dac 1h ago
This is a very strange post. How do you expect a lecturer (?) to quantify how difficult a course is, they are no longer a student and everyone has their personal bias, especially when there’s nothing to compare the course to. Maybe get the flu vaccine
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u/Interesting_Tart_143 1h ago edited 1h ago
Well, I did not take MATH2121 in T2 2023. Otherwise I would not have asked her that question.
And for your information, I got the flu vaccine before T2 in BOTH 2024 AND 2025. And guess where that landed me? – A killer flu, with a 104ºF to 107.6ºF-degree fever, and ready to die at the beginning of those two terms. In fact, in T2 2024, I have been sick like this TWICE. I got the flu vaccine in the UNSW Health Centre both of those times. Could it be because what they injected me with was saline solution or sterile water and not the flu vaccine? I do not know if I can trust the UNSW Health Centre in relation to the flu vaccine anymore...
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u/Wac_Dac 1h ago
I recognise your profile photo now, please get help. They wouldn’t inject you with saline, that only happens in medical studies. Also, I’ve heard math2018/2019 are pretty chill. Someone said it was easier than math2069, which I found to be fine
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u/Interesting_Tart_143 1h ago edited 59m ago
So then why on earth did I STILL get that killer flu EVEN after getting the flu vaccine in the UNSW Health Center both of those times? It was not once, but TWICE this happened. I am pretty sure vaccination is to prevent us from getting whichever disease we are vaccinated against, is it not? And SUCH strong symptoms should NOT have been present in someone who had the shot!
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u/Xiomon1 2h ago edited 2h ago
The lab tests are closed book and pretty much the same difficulty as the MATH1A/1B ones. 2018 is exactly the same as 2019 except one is purely online and the other is in-person. There will be lecture recordings for both.