This is a great project by CMU; however, it is designed for high school students specifically. An analogue to this would be Code.org. It is not related to their undergraduate CS curriculum which is rather rigorous.
CMU CS Academy: a free online computer science curriculum by Carnegie Mellon
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Re: CMU CS Academy: a free online computer science curriculum by Carnegie Mellon
#92How come this or things like https://teachyourselfcs.com/ dont exist for other fields like mechanical engineering?
Computer Science has become a "programming" farm degree rather than what it was originally back in my day (grumble, grumble). It used to be an off-shoot of mathematics and was so strongly tied at the hip many schools had CS and math in the same department. Cynically programmers are paid better than any other so-called "knowledge worker" field. Naturally, schools paid by large organizations have a vested interest in f…
I'm finding it hard to parse your argument. Are you saying that large organizations would rather have cheap-but-mediocre programmers than good-but-expensive programmers? Why would this be a benefit to them, surely they want good programmers?
Re: CMU CS Academy: a free online computer science curriculum by Carnegie Mellon
#93For those who are trying to sign up:
Students are not meant to sign up directly. So you have to sign up as either a teacher or a volunteer (parents are this category). Then you will get a code. You need to use this code to create a student account.
This is not quite intuitive but I have a 12 year old kid and that is motivated me to dig around till I got it :)
Re: CMU CS Academy: a free online computer science curriculum by Carnegie Mellon
#94How come this or things like https://teachyourselfcs.com/ dont exist for other fields like mechanical engineering?
Must be partially because employers of mechanical engineers are liable legally when things break and people are hurt.
Re: CMU CS Academy: a free online computer science curriculum by Carnegie Mellon
#95Earlier quoted context omitted.
We have to ask ourselves: too expensive for what? Berkeley has a 7 billion dollar endowment. I am sure they could have found the budget to make the videos compliant. They simply chose not too.
Endowments can't be spent.
Isn't this dependent on the the specific endowment policy though?
Re: CMU CS Academy: a free online computer science curriculum by Carnegie Mellon
#96Earlier quoted context omitted.
One factor may be that mechanical engineering remains dominated by expensive proprietary software, and the field is largely OK with that. Programming is unique in the sense that programmers can create their own tools, and have adopted an expectation that the most advanced tools should be free and easy to obtain. This culture could easily extend to making the training materials free too. Another factor is that "coding…
Another factor might be that the term engineer is a protected term, and not unlike doctors and lawyers there exist state-regulated tests to confer such a title. I'm sure that a mechanical engineering course would be possible, but the course would have to clearly state that it cannot accredit the credentials to actually work in the field.
I have a degree in Mechanical Engineering; I have not taken any professional licensing exams. There's an overwhelming majority of jobs that I could take in the Mech E field right now, without a need for the PE license.
Re: CMU CS Academy: a free online computer science curriculum by Carnegie Mellon
#97Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've heard the saying: Any idiot can make a bridge stand up. It takes an engineer to make the bridge barely stand up. I want a class on making the bridge stand up for idiots (like "let's write this bridge in python, and build it with cob"). I don't care if I spend twice as much on wood and hay and mud or titanium or whatever. I live in the SF Bay Area, so I can't afford the mechanical engineers I can actually hire to…
Bridge building is the purview of civil engineers. Mechanical engineers deal with machines, moving parts and the like.
The old engineering chestnut: Mechanical engineers build weapons. Civil engineers build targets.
Re: CMU CS Academy: a free online computer science curriculum by Carnegie Mellon
#98Earlier quoted context omitted.
One factor may be that mechanical engineering remains dominated by expensive proprietary software, and the field is largely OK with that. Programming is unique in the sense that programmers can create their own tools, and have adopted an expectation that the most advanced tools should be free and easy to obtain. This culture could easily extend to making the training materials free too. Another factor is that "coding…
Another factor might be that the term engineer is a protected term, and not unlike doctors and lawyers there exist state-regulated tests to confer such a title. I'm sure that a mechanical engineering course would be possible, but the course would have to clearly state that it cannot accredit the credentials to actually work in the field.
Seems obvious that a non ABET school would never give engineering credentials, yet community colleges still offer technical courses on mechanical and electrical engineering and even associate degrees in those fields. Professional engineering requires ABET bachelor's and passing EIT and then the PE exam plus 4 years professional experience.
Re: CMU CS Academy: a free online computer science curriculum by Carnegie Mellon
#99How come this or things like https://teachyourselfcs.com/ dont exist for other fields like mechanical engineering?
I'm also interested into more of these "teach yourself x" curriculums if anyone has anymore to share. There's so many things I want to learn and I'm someone who likes (needs?) structure. Here's a few that I know of.
Draw a Box: https://drawabox.com/ (Doesn't necessarily fit, but it's really good!)
So You Want to Study Mathematics: https://www.susanrigetti.com/math
So You Want to Study Philosophy: https://www.susanrigetti.com/philosophy
So You Want to Learn Physics: https://www.susanrigetti.com/physics
Re: CMU CS Academy: a free online computer science curriculum by Carnegie Mellon
#100I hope they don't take it down like how Berkeley CS videos were taken down.
Those were taken down because of some complicated lawsuit about use of public funds to make available content that wasn't accessible to people with disabilities. It was too expensive to make the recorded lectures work with tools used by people with disabilities, so the university took down the content instead instead of spending even more resources making it compatible with screen readers, adding captioning, etc. CMU…
Oh that's why I can't find those lectures. Those saved me in my undergrad. Amazing content from amazing teachers.