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MIT Released a New, Free Data Analysis Course

 3 years ago
source link: https://medium.com/analytics-vidhya/mit-released-a-new-free-data-analysis-course-fb03d77e0f29
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MIT Released a New, Free Data Analysis Course

The next level.🚶

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Photo by Mometrix Test Prep on Unsplash

MIT just announced a new online course titled “Data Analysis: Statistical Modeling and Computation in Applications,” as an elective in its Statistics and Data Science MicroMasters program.

Incredibly, the course is free on edX without the certificate, and you’ll get a verified MITx certificate for just $300.

What’s it about?

This hands-on course analyzes for data domains:

  • Epigenetic codes and data visualization
  • Criminal networks and network analysis
  • Price, economics, and time series
  • Environmental data and spatial statistics

A common complaint with online data science courses is that they don’t handle real-world use-cases, but that won’t be an issue here as you’ll be working across four meaningful problem sets.

Another challenge with many online data science courses is a lack of quality professors. Again, that won’t be an issue here, as you’ll be taught by perhaps the most prestigious technical instructors on the planet — MIT professors.

Note that the course is not focused on artificial intelligence, which is a more niche, intensive speciality than data analysis, but anyone can use no-code AI tools like Obviously.AI to build models, even without AI expertise.

Who’ll teach you?

As per the edX page, you’ll be taught by three instructors, all working at MIT:

Honestly, it blows my mind that anyone, anywhere can get this quality of instruction, for free. There’s virtually no excuse to missing out.

When does it start?

The new course is open for enrollment with the first run starting February 15, 2021.

I’m the type of person to set multiple alarms in the morning, so I put notifications in my Google Calendar two weeks before the course, one week before the course, and the start day of the course.

How do you get the MicroMasters?

The MicroMasters is roughly a 12–18 month program, which costs $1,350 if you pay for courses upfront.

That’s a steep price discount and a huge time-savings compared to traditional universities!

That being said, it’s no walk in the park. You’ll need to complete three rigorous core courses, and one elective, such as Data Analysis: Statistical Modeling and Computation in Applications.

After passing those four courses, you must pass a proctored Capstone Exam to earn your credential.

Why bother with the MicroMasters?

While individual courses are a great way to be a life-long learner, MicroMasters are taking it up a notch.

If you can’t afford a traditional university, which can cost upwards of $70,000 a year (or don’t have time for it), but want to dive deeper than a single course allows, then a MicroMasters is the perfect middle ground.

How to stick with it

While these courses are easy to enroll in, they’re not necessarily easy to finish.

In fact, looking at the statistics, it’s unfortunately very uncommon to pass an online course, with completion rates as low as 10%.

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“Rule of thumb” Massive-Online-Open-Course completion rates, visualized by author.

The statistics aren’t pretty, but there are several powerful strategies you can use to be part of the 10%. A lot of it comes down to discipline, which can be easy or hard, depending on your approach.

When you set a schedule ahead of time, take notes, ask questions when you’re confused, and give yourself plenty of time, then discipline comes easy. By staying on-top of the courses, and not letting things slide, you’ll be more inclined to keep going.

However, if you skip some of the lessons, readings, quizzes, or forum discussions, you may quickly find yourself falling behind, and it’ll be hard to maintain the discipline to keep going.

Conclusion

In our digitally-connected world, there are limitless opportunities for continuing education, from YouTube tutorials to code bootcamps to Ivy-level courses.

If you’re interested in taking a single course, the new MIT Data Analysis elective is a no-brainer, while if you have the time and money to dive deeper, the MicroMasters program is a terrific option.


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