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Mastering Linear Algebra in 10 Days: Astounding Experiments in Ultra-Learning

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Re: Mastering Linear Algebra in 10 Days: Astounding Experiments in Ultra-Learning

#21

Post by kghose »

navpatel wrote: post #18

I'll leave the discussion of how embellished this post/blog/exercise of MIT Comp Sci in 1 year is to other comments. But! The explanation of Fourier transforms from Scott's notes ( http://www.scotthyoung.com/mit/fourier.pdf ) is one of the must succinct ones I've read. I've always understood what the transform does, but the nitty gritty on how the equation works was awesome

Yes, it was interesting to see it labelled out like that. I liked to think of the transform as a cross-correlation. You take a wave of a particular frequency (f) and cross-correlate it with your signal s(t) across all time. The fourier coefficients are the results of the cross-correlation, telling you how much of each frequency you have in your signal.

Re: Mastering Linear Algebra in 10 Days: Astounding Experiments in Ultra-Learning

#22

Post by standel »

goldfeld wrote: post #11
tangue wrote: post #6

This is written from a student perspective, where "mastering" means passing the exam. I'll stick with Norvig's 10 000 hours.

Exactly. When he says "Expertise and mastery give you the career capital to earn more money and enjoy lifestyle perks.", sure it does, but expertise is not achieved by "taming it" in 10 days or a year for that matter.

probably not the sentence I would remember, nor the summary of it all.

What did he try to achieve? Proving you can accelerate the learning process and he did so by example with a MIT graduate level. Even though, it's from MIT, it is a graduate level, nothing more ...

I think the described method is interesting for acceleration or in lean terms, reducing any waste, or even optimizing the learning process. Pick one ...

BTW, 10.000 hours is not from Norvig but from Gladwell, "Outliers".

Re: Mastering Linear Algebra in 10 Days: Astounding Experiments in Ultra-Learning

#23

Post by barry-cotter »

standel wrote: post #22
goldfeld wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. When he says "Expertise and mastery give you the career capital to earn more money and enjoy lifestyle perks.", sure it does, but expertise is not achieved by "taming it" in 10 days or a year for that matter.

probably not the sentence I would remember, nor the summary of it all. What did he try to achieve? Proving you can accelerate the learning process and he did so by example with a MIT graduate level. Even though, it's from MIT, it is a graduate level, nothing more ... I think the described method is interesting for acceleration or in lean terms, reducing any waste, or even optimizing the learning process. Pick one ...…

“Igonvalue” Gladwell is not responsible for the 10,000 hours meme either. The single person who has done most for the expertise research literature is K. Anders Ericsson but he didn't do it alone. To associate intellectuals and researchers with Gladwell is to do them a disservice.

Re: Mastering Linear Algebra in 10 Days: Astounding Experiments in Ultra-Learning

#24

Post by klibertp »

alter8 wrote: post #16

> he completed all 33 courses (...) in less than one year. > That works out to around 1 course every 1.5 weeks WTF? What kind of university imposes that you take only one course at any given time? It's not just linkbait, it starts from a wrong assumption. When you take many related courses simultaneously, you see the pieces meshing together and that helps learning. That's different from taking them in a serial manner…

"you see the pieces meshing together"

...or not. Depends on many things, among which the teachers are very important. If your lecturer thinks that his class is the most important and the rest of your courses are trash then you won't see "pieces meshing together". Been there, done that.

Re: Mastering Linear Algebra in 10 Days: Astounding Experiments in Ultra-Learning

#25

Post by gus_massa »

confluence wrote: post #2

I'm inclined to actually believing a lot of this. When I got into university I found every course very easy, didn't attend any lectures, got all my workshops to run on the same day to reduce my face time and maxed out my free time to do whatever I wanted (work/friends/extra/etc). I'm a STEM major at a top 30 world ranked engineering school with good grades. I've often asked if I could max out my classes and finish a…

(I'm a professor in a University, mostly for first year students.)

The problem with allowing the students to take all the courses they want is that some of them can't correctly measure how much work they can handle. So you will get horror stories like: "A student get enrolled in 3 times the expected courses, has too many homework, too many midterms the same week, and finally don't approve any of them."

Now we have a lost of students that come with questions like "I didn't approve Calculus I last semester. Can I enroll in Algebra I, Calculus I and Calculus II, so I don't lose a semester?" And it is hard to tell them, but most of the times the best thing is to take only "Algebra I" and approve that than taking the three classes and approving none of them.

I also understand that there are special cases, but should be evaluated case by case.

Re: Mastering Linear Algebra in 10 Days: Astounding Experiments in Ultra-Learning

#26

Post by standel »

barry-cotter wrote: post #23
standel wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

probably not the sentence I would remember, nor the summary of it all. What did he try to achieve? Proving you can accelerate the learning process and he did so by example with a MIT graduate level. Even though, it's from MIT, it is a graduate level, nothing more ... I think the described method is interesting for acceleration or in lean terms, reducing any waste, or even optimizing the learning process. Pick one ...…

“Igonvalue” Gladwell is not responsible for the 10,000 hours meme either. The single person who has done most for the expertise research literature is K. Anders Ericsson but he didn't do it alone. To associate intellectuals and researchers with Gladwell is to do them a disservice.

/Redde Caesari quae sunt Caesaris/ ... you're right!

Gladwell widespread the idea to the public though.

And Norvig made usage of this meme for the programming field in a short summary.

Re: Mastering Linear Algebra in 10 Days: Astounding Experiments in Ultra-Learning

#27

Post by confluence »

gus_massa wrote: post #25
confluence wrote: post #2

I'm inclined to actually believing a lot of this. When I got into university I found every course very easy, didn't attend any lectures, got all my workshops to run on the same day to reduce my face time and maxed out my free time to do whatever I wanted (work/friends/extra/etc). I'm a STEM major at a top 30 world ranked engineering school with good grades. I've often asked if I could max out my classes and finish a…

(I'm a professor in a University, mostly for first year students.) The problem with allowing the students to take all the courses they want is that some of them can't correctly measure how much work they can handle. So you will get horror stories like: "A student get enrolled in 3 times the expected courses, has too many homework, too many midterms the same week, and finally don't approve any of them." Now we have a…

Agreed. I'd like to note I literally have zero problems with either system really.

I'm rather enjoying university right now and the lifestyle I have and am perfectly fine taking the scenic route. I learn plenty on my own and basically consider it a semi retirement stage :-)

Re: Mastering Linear Algebra in 10 Days: Astounding Experiments in Ultra-Learning

#28

Post by [deleted] »

stephencanon wrote: post #19
dalke wrote: post #3

There was effectively nothing about linear algebra on that page. After some link followings, it appears that http://www.scotthyoung.com/mit/1806-exam.pdf is the exam which the student was happy with (having done worse on the first version). The final score appears to be 66 out of 100. Based on that test, I think the title is link-bait as it isn't "mastering linear algebra" but "passing an introductory algebra course.…

I am quite confused looking at that final; it seems incredibly basic for even an introductory course at MIT (that might have been a midterm when I was the graduate instructor for linear algebra at Berkeley).

[deleted]

Re: Mastering Linear Algebra in 10 Days: Astounding Experiments in Ultra-Learning

#29

Post by Su-Shee »

I suggest reading very carefully.

I absolutely believe what he writes, because he's quite precise about his experiment and how he did it and this really works for a couple of reasons:

* This guy isn't 20 anymore. He has actually explored and learned and trained "productivity and focus" which he blogs and writes books about - so he doesn't start like a 18 year old directly from school, unexperienced maybe in this level of focus and discipline.

* He was pragmatic in his goals - very much so. He didn't write "becoming the world's foremost expert in linear algebra" but "passing an exam". And so he did. He also didn't write "passing everything with a top grade" but "just pass, if better - wonderful".

* He actually did his math on "hours to put in" - a semester doesn't take full 6 months, you usally don't attend lectures/lab every day 3 hours a day but 1-2 times a week, 2 (university) hours plus preparation. If you carefully add this up, you actually get a surprisingly low count of actual course/lesson hours.

* Taking in a course in a focused manner is actually quite efficient and helps you (at least it does for me) follow the material without interruptions. You also can repeat as often as you like (he mentions a fast forward and replay button in his TEDx talk) - which btw. makes part of the success of e.g. Khan university material.

* He also put some effort and training into the right way of learning and _that_ pays off massively in terms of speed.

Also, one of the points he is actually making is part of what most of you critizise: Going through the list of MIT requirements is something different compared to "becoming an expert in X" - don't mix that up.

Re: Mastering Linear Algebra in 10 Days: Astounding Experiments in Ultra-Learning

#30

Post by mej10 »

dalke wrote: post #3

There was effectively nothing about linear algebra on that page. After some link followings, it appears that http://www.scotthyoung.com/mit/1806-exam.pdf is the exam which the student was happy with (having done worse on the first version). The final score appears to be 66 out of 100. Based on that test, I think the title is link-bait as it isn't "mastering linear algebra" but "passing an introductory algebra course.…

My thoughts exactly. The author should reconsider what he means by "mastering" something. Not passing a final exam for an introductory course isn't mastering the topic.

I am totally on board with the idea of seeing how fast someone can complete coursework and push the boundaries of what they can learn in a set amount of time, but name the article about it something other than "Mastering Linear Algebra in 10 Days".

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