MTH3241: Random Processes in the Sciences and Engineering

8 x homework (12% total)
Each week, we were required to submit worked solutions to a problem relating to the recent lectures. There were a total of 10 homeworks, with the best 8 taken to form your homework mark. These generally weren't too difficult.

3 x assignments (6% each; 18% total
The assignments were as expected of a typical maths unit. Most of the questions were reasonable, with 1-2 tricky ones on each assignment. However, Kais was always open to helping us out by giving us hints to complete the tricky questions (as well as responding to our questions on Moodle or via email).

Mid-semester test (10%)
This year, the MST was run online and was not invigilated (but we were encouraged to do the test closed book with only a single A4 reference sheet). The questions were all multiple choice or very brief short answer (automatically marked but manually checked), with an uneven mark distribution between the questions. This meant that marks were mostly focused on the answer rather than the working out, although some questions did relate to the working out for a question. I personally would have preferred a traditional written paper, but I guess this was the best compromise given the circumstances.

End of semester exam (60%)
The end of semester exam was 3 hours long, and consisted of around 30-40 MCQs for a total of 72 marks. The format was very similar to the mid-semester test, although the exam was closed book and supervised. We were allowed one double-sided A4 sheet of notes and some blank paper for working out. The questions were similar in difficulty to the MST, although I found them to be a bit different to the past exams, as the MCQ format meant that different types of questions were asked.

Firstly, it's worth noting that my experience could be very different to that of futures students because of the online format. However, I think the teaching staff did very well to adapt this unit to an online format under very short notice.

In terms of content and teaching, I would say that this is the best third-year probability/stats unit (out of MTH3241, MTH3251, MTH3230 and MTH3260 - I personally did not do MTH3260, but I heard from others that it was very difficult). Whilst most of the content was new to me, it was presented in an easy to follow manner and at a reasonable pace. Kais was also very open to answering questions on Moodle and via email. The assignments definitely helped me to consolidate my understanding of these new concepts. I also found that looking up YouTube videos was quite helpful, although do take caution as these videos often cover higher-level concepts or cover the content in a different way.

keltingmeith's review from a few years ago summarises the topics covered well - they have not changed since then.

A/Prof Kais Hamza

Yes - 2 past exams and 1 mock exam, all with solutions. Kais also held a revision lecture to go through the mock exam solutions.

5 out of 5. Well-taught unit where teaching staff did their best to adapt to an online format under very short notice.

Yes, with screen capture. Live-streaming available via and Echo360.

None - the lecture notes cover everything you need (although they did reference certain textbooks in case you wanted to go into more depth or wanted more practise questions).

Per week: 3 x 1-hour lectures, 1 x 2-hour support class

The lectures were based around a set of skeletal notes, and the notes were formatted very similarly to MTH2222 (I think Kais wrote the notes for both units). The lectures were livestreamed from one of the maths lecture theatres on campus, and Kais tried his best to engage with those watching via the live chat.

There was a single support class with 4 tutors (including the lecturer, Kais). We were split into random breakout rooms of 3-5 students each week to work on the weekly problem set. Each tutor would be assigned to 1-2 breakout rooms. Understandably, there were times during the breakout rooms where I felt like it was just me and one other student participating, but I guess this experience is ubiquitous across online learning. The weekly problem difficulty was variable, and often there were questions where there was a lot of tedious algebra or the solution was quite difficult. Don't be too worried if you found these difficult - the assignment, MST and exam questions are for the most part quite doable.

Semester 1, 2020.

Not yet available

This is my favourite unit I've done so far - even better than MTH2232 for those who read that review. Before I go over each section, though, I will mention that the unit isn't quite named appropriately - it *is* a unit on stochastic processes, but little attention is made to applications in the sciences or engineering. A couple sections mention them (namely continuous-time Markov Chains and Branching Processes) and sometimes a modelling question comes up, but otherwise you don't see it much. Now, for the section-by-section review:

Kais Hamza

Yes, 2 plus another Kais goes through.

5 out of 5

Yes, with screen capture and blackboard recording

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. In fact, more than nothing. They're all silly (as Kais will outline fairly quickly).

85 HD