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Ask HN: Top Coursera Courses?

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Re: Ask HN: Top Coursera Courses?

#151
post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting, I found the course disappointingly shallow. I did do it soon after it came out, maybe it got much better with time. I also have a background / job in statistics, though not ML as such. While it does talk through the basics of ML, it is really barely a taster. It doesn’t leave you with any skills, other than, if you buy a book and work through it, you will know what a “decision tree” is ahead of time. Wit…

Have you tried the deep learning courses? They steer away from statistics and proofs, but all the math required to build a convoluted network is covered. Lib use is very low level at first; not too far removed from doing it all from scratch it you really wanted to waste the time.

I have as well. I wish it would have been a little more challenging but in the end, I still learned a lot.

Re: Ask HN: Top Coursera Courses?

#152

Programming Languages, Dan Grossman, UW. https://www.coursera.org/learn/programming-languages It is a 3 part course and a bit more intensive than other courses on Coursera with challenging assignments. It helped me gain a deeper understanding of statically vs dynamically typed languages. Designing a tiny language in Part B is the best part of the course. Concludes with a nice comparison between OOP and functional lan…

Thanks for the suggestion. I will check it out.

Re: Ask HN: Top Coursera Courses?

#154
post #10

I really enjoyed Tim Roughgarden's 'Algorithms' specialisation. The first half are actually on Stanford's online learning platform for free. https://www.coursera.org/specializations/algorithms

I prefer the Algorithms course by Princeton but I still really like this course. The deep dive into the mathematical proofs and timing of these algorithms is what gives this course an advantage over Princeton’s course.

Re: Ask HN: Top Coursera Courses?

#155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know... I would summarize it as: - You will get good at anything given enough practice, so don't worry about thinking you're bad at X - As you get good at X, you will start to like it - Pomodoro I'm over-simplifying of course, but I felt like the course provided a lot of concepts with very little actionable advice. It's a very popular course because it "feels good". It is motivating, and has a very positive m…

You overlooked the two states of learning: focused and diffuse. Each is important. That was a big eye-opener for me as I used to blame my mind needing to take frequent breaks and thinking about other things on my inability to focus. Then I realized that it's just a natural way to learn.

so you're describing diffused learning? is that the default mode? havent taken the course so idk what the take on it is

Re: Ask HN: Top Coursera Courses?

#157

Not coursera https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOtl7M3yp-DV69F32zdK7... https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL462275E91FC7844D

So people don't have to click the link to see what those are about. First link is "Alanysis of Algorithms" from Stoney Brook University, second is "Discrete Mathematics" also from Stoney Brook.

Analysis of Algorithms is with Steven Skiena, author of Algorithm Design Manual

Re: Ask HN: Top Coursera Courses?

#158
post #15

Dr Barbara Oakley’s “Learning How to Learn” [0] is great. Edit: It gives an important understanding on how our minds function and how we learn, which, I think, forms the basis of effective work. Knowing how to work, and being an effective learner are incredibly important qualities in life. [0] https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learn

I don't know... I would summarize it as: - You will get good at anything given enough practice, so don't worry about thinking you're bad at X - As you get good at X, you will start to like it - Pomodoro I'm over-simplifying of course, but I felt like the course provided a lot of concepts with very little actionable advice. It's a very popular course because it "feels good". It is motivating, and has a very positive m…

You missed the most important part: Which is to jump between advanced/beginner content to build a better image. i.e.: If you are learning a programming language, you start with easy and keep going, but along the way you jump to very hard/advanced stuff. This technique really boosted my learning and solidified it.
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