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Gilbert Strang's final lecture at MIT: May 15, 11:00am

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Re: Gilbert Strang's final lecture at MIT: May 15, 11:00am

#21

Post by xupybd »

gadrev wrote: post #15

Linear Algebra was a course in the first semester of freshman year when I was in uni (this wasn't in the US or in an english speaking country). It was famous for being a "filter" course, that made a lot of people quit the degree and switch to a different degree next year. It had a 94% failure rate, but I got to pass on the first attempt because Gil's free lectures of his LA course made me intuitively understand the s…

I had the same experience. I didn't understand the teaching from my university. Once I found his lectures it all clicked. I understood what we were doing. It was no longer wrote learning of algorithms to manipulate things with no meaning.

I did very well in that paper.

Re: Gilbert Strang's final lecture at MIT: May 15, 11:00am

#22

Post by MisterBastahrd »

gadrev wrote: post #15

Linear Algebra was a course in the first semester of freshman year when I was in uni (this wasn't in the US or in an english speaking country). It was famous for being a "filter" course, that made a lot of people quit the degree and switch to a different degree next year. It had a 94% failure rate, but I got to pass on the first attempt because Gil's free lectures of his LA course made me intuitively understand the s…

I have a feeling that the intellect gap at a lot of universities isn't as profound as one would expect and that one of the reasons that the students of the best unis do so well is because their educators can actually explain the course material. You can do more when you've got to spend less cognitive energy on trying to piece together the hieroglyphic puzzle that lesser professors throw at you because they believe they're too important to teach.

Re: Gilbert Strang's final lecture at MIT: May 15, 11:00am

#23

Post by eichin »

In the late 80s I bounced off of a couple of linear algebra courses (when MIT had a lot of trouble teaching undergrad courses in advanced topics because they assumed it was just prep for the graduate course instead of actual teaching.) Then I got in to Strang's course, and it was such a breath of fresh air - he was honestly, effusively enthusiastic about the subject and this was contagious. "Engaging" doesn't do it justice :-) He put a lot of work into both demystifying and clarifying jargon, and explicitly "connecting the dots" between related concepts.

Re: Gilbert Strang's final lecture at MIT: May 15, 11:00am

#24

Post by qersist3nce »

Thanks Prof Strang.

Are there any "side channels" that host university lecture videos and course materials for less fortunate students in 3rd world countries? The ones on MIT courseware or Youtube are old.

I mean something along the lines of academic torrents etc...

Re: Gilbert Strang's final lecture at MIT: May 15, 11:00am

#25

Post by rwl4 »

tptacek wrote: post #11
rwl4 wrote: post #9

Here are 34 lectures for his Linear Algebra course he recorded in 1999: https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/18-06-linear-algebra-spring-2010...

Along with Jacques Pepin's "deboning a chicken" .FLV video, these are among the greatest videos on the Internet.

Wow! I'm not sure how I missed that back in the day.

Here's the video transcoded on YouTube for anybody else who's curious:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfY0lrdXar8

Re: Gilbert Strang's final lecture at MIT: May 15, 11:00am

#26

Post by caddemon »

MisterBastahrd wrote: post #22
gadrev wrote: post #15

Linear Algebra was a course in the first semester of freshman year when I was in uni (this wasn't in the US or in an english speaking country). It was famous for being a "filter" course, that made a lot of people quit the degree and switch to a different degree next year. It had a 94% failure rate, but I got to pass on the first attempt because Gil's free lectures of his LA course made me intuitively understand the s…

I have a feeling that the intellect gap at a lot of universities isn't as profound as one would expect and that one of the reasons that the students of the best unis do so well is because their educators can actually explain the course material. You can do more when you've got to spend less cognitive energy on trying to piece together the hieroglyphic puzzle that lesser professors throw at you because they believe th…

A lot of the top universities have majority of their profs caring almost exclusively about research though. I think MIT is (or at least was) a bit of an exception, where there was enough of a critical mass of profs that cared about teaching. Can't say the same for a couple other "top" unis I've spent time at.

Re: Gilbert Strang's final lecture at MIT: May 15, 11:00am

#27

Post by kevviiinn »

MisterBastahrd wrote: post #22
gadrev wrote: post #15

Linear Algebra was a course in the first semester of freshman year when I was in uni (this wasn't in the US or in an english speaking country). It was famous for being a "filter" course, that made a lot of people quit the degree and switch to a different degree next year. It had a 94% failure rate, but I got to pass on the first attempt because Gil's free lectures of his LA course made me intuitively understand the s…

I have a feeling that the intellect gap at a lot of universities isn't as profound as one would expect and that one of the reasons that the students of the best unis do so well is because their educators can actually explain the course material. You can do more when you've got to spend less cognitive energy on trying to piece together the hieroglyphic puzzle that lesser professors throw at you because they believe th…

I would have to agree with this. In all my time in school I've had terrible and amazing professors, the difference in the amount I learned was generally due to their ability to explain the subject in a way that was easy to understand. I also credit the MIT open courseware chemistry lectures for helping me through uni, because that professor was one of the not so great ones at my school

Re: Gilbert Strang's final lecture at MIT: May 15, 11:00am

#28

Post by tptacek »

qersist3nce wrote: post #24

Thanks Prof Strang. Are there any "side channels" that host university lecture videos and course materials for less fortunate students in 3rd world countries? The ones on MIT courseware or Youtube are old. I mean something along the lines of academic torrents etc...

The good news about 18.06 is that it doesn't need to be new, just good, and it is that already.

Re: Gilbert Strang's final lecture at MIT: May 15, 11:00am

#29

Post by caddemon »

rwl4 wrote: post #9

Here are 34 lectures for his Linear Algebra course he recorded in 1999: https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/18-06-linear-algebra-spring-2010...

IDR which lecture it was but there's a timely Monica Lewinsky joke somewhere in here. Small things but I appreciate when profs are allowed to have fun. Obviously Strang is also just an amazing teacher.

Re: Gilbert Strang's final lecture at MIT: May 15, 11:00am

#30

Post by fsckboy »

MisterBastahrd wrote: post #22
gadrev wrote: post #15

Linear Algebra was a course in the first semester of freshman year when I was in uni (this wasn't in the US or in an english speaking country). It was famous for being a "filter" course, that made a lot of people quit the degree and switch to a different degree next year. It had a 94% failure rate, but I got to pass on the first attempt because Gil's free lectures of his LA course made me intuitively understand the s…

I have a feeling that the intellect gap at a lot of universities isn't as profound as one would expect and that one of the reasons that the students of the best unis do so well is because their educators can actually explain the course material. You can do more when you've got to spend less cognitive energy on trying to piece together the hieroglyphic puzzle that lesser professors throw at you because they believe th…

i find that in general (not always) the smarter people are, the better they understand precisely what you don't know, and what you need to know to understand what they are trying to tell you

it's a bit like the old "the more I know, the more I know I don't know" but with an addition of "the more I know exactly what I know, and exactly what I don't" and it's then applied via theory-of-mind, "the more I know precisely what I can teach you"

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