All SMU students are required to go through course bidding before the start of every semester. This procedure is practiced by all three local universities in Singapore. While there are slight differences among the bidding procedures between the institutions, they all serve the same purpose – freedom for the students to plan their own schedule.
What is said is that bidding offers greater flexibility for students to plan out their study life. One would supposedly be in control of the factors that determines his or her study life. They are namely, lesson time, number of study days, choice of course instructor and number of modules (or can be taken as work load).
The choice of instructor plays a critical role in determining the bids offered for a particular class. In SMU, different instructors have different grading styles. To put it simply, you maybe taking the same module, but your assignments, quizzes, tests and examination are different from another student who took the module under a different instructor. This factor alone makes bidding a more complicated process for many students.
In addition, as the programmes in SMU are mainly dominated by projects and presentations, most students would want to bid modules with their friends – people they trust to work with. Although this isn’t as important as my choice of instructor (hence not listed above), I would always try to bid with friends that i can work with.
Okay, I just want to rant so hear me out.
However, i’m bumped when it comes to bidding… Firstly, why do i have to go through the hassle of planning my own schedule when i’m already paying for my tuition fees. Why isn’t the planning done by the school administration? Life would definitely be so much easier when the modules to be taken are planned out properly. There would be no need to read the course outlines by each professor, looking up the previous bidding price of modules, going through lists of exam dates and lesson timings.
Well if you look at the bigger picture, course bidding is part and parcel of independent study. Making choices and accepting the consequences is part of the transition into adulthood. And perhaps, the lesson to take away is that life is all about maintaining a fine balance, similar to course bidding. You can’t have the best of everything in life. Similarly, you wouldn’t have enough e$ to bid the best instructor, and get the best time slots and the most popular modules at the same time.
