Online courses directory (10358)

Do you like biology, biotechnology, or genetic engineering? Are you interested in computer science, engineering, or design? Synthetic Biology is an innovative field bringing together these subject areas and many more to create useful tools to solve everyday problems.

This introductory synthetic biology course starts with a brief overview of the field and then delves into more challenging yet exciting concepts. You will learn how to design your very own biological regulatory circuits and consider ways in which you can apply these circuits to real-world problems we face today.

From basic oscillators, toggle switches, and band-pass filters to more sophisticated circuits that build upon these devices, you will learn what synthetic biologists of today are currently constructing and how these circuits can be used in interesting and novel ways.

Join us as we explore the field of synthetic biology: its past, present, and promising future!

The aim of this course is to introduce the principles of the Global Positioning System and to demonstrate its application to various aspects of Earth Sciences. The specific content of the course depends each year on the interests of the students in the class. In some cases, the class interests are towards the geophysical applications of GPS and we concentrate on high precision (millimeter level) positioning on regional and global scales. In other cases, the interests have been more toward engineering applications of kinematic positioning with GPS in which case the concentration is on positioning with slightly less accuracy but being able to do so for a moving object. In all cases, we concentrate on the fundamental issues so that students should gain an understanding of the basic limitations of the system and how to extend its application to areas not yet fully explored.

This course is an introduction risk and return and a study of bonds and stocks. Although introductory, it will enable college students and working professionals to understand and analyze many personal and professional decisions they confront on a daily basis.

This course is an introduction to time value of money and decision-making and will help the learner understand the basics of finance. Although introductory, it will enable you to understand and analyze many personal and professional decisions we confront on a daily basis.

This course is an introduction to the design, analysis, and fundamental limits of wireless transmission systems. Topics to be covered include: wireless channel and system models; fading and diversity; resource management and power control; multiple-antenna and MIMO systems; space-time codes and decoding algorithms; multiple-access techniques and multiuser detection; broadcast codes and precoding; cellular and ad-hoc network topologies; OFDM and ultrawideband systems; and architectural issues.

Prior Learning Assessment for Educators and Industry is earned through the assessment of learning acquired from life and work experiences. This course will explore CPL theories, service delivery models, policy development steps, college and industry articulation development, portfolio development and assessment, and existing credit crosswalks and available assessment resources.

This half-semester Samplings course, worth six instead of the typical twelve credits, drew attention to the thirteen female Nobel laureates. As the MIT Literature website explains, Samplings serve students looking for "a less intensive, more discussion and reading oriented way of continuing literary study." Secondly, "they allow the Literature Faculty to offer occasional subjects that cannot be permanently and regularly offered. Finally, they are a site of experimentation—a way of trying out new authors and new themes."

In this class, you will learn the basics of the PGM representation and how to construct them, using both human knowledge and machine learning techniques.

Welcome to 6.041/6.431, a subject on the modeling and analysis of random phenomena and processes, including the basics of statistical inference. Nowadays, there is broad consensus that the ability to think probabilistically is a fundamental component of scientific literacy. For example:

• The concept of statistical significance (to be touched upon at the end of this course) is considered by the Financial Times as one of "The Ten Things Everyone Should Know About Science".
• A recent Scientific American article argues that statistical literacy is crucial in making health-related decisions.
• Finally, an article in the New York Times identifies statistical data analysis as an upcoming profession, valuable everywhere, from Google and Netflix to the Office of Management and Budget.

The aim of this class is to introduce the relevant models, skills, and tools, by combining mathematics with conceptual understanding and intuition.

This course introduces students to the modeling, quantification, and analysis of uncertainty.  The tools of probability theory, and of the related field of statistical inference, are the keys for being able to analyze and make sense of data. These tools underlie important advances in many fields, from the basic sciences to engineering and management.

Course Format

This course has been designed for independent study. It provides everything you will need to understand the concepts covered in the course. The materials include:

• Lecture Videos by MIT Professor John Tsitsiklis
• Lecture Slides and Readings
• Recitation Problems and Solutions
• Recitation Help Videos by MIT Teaching Assistants
• Tutorial Problems and Solutions
• Tutorial Help Videos by MIT Teaching Assistants
• Problem Sets with Solutions
• Exams with Solutions

How should we interpret chance around us? Watch beautiful mathematical ideas emerge in a glorious historical tapestry as we discover key concepts in probability, perhaps as they might first have been unearthed, and illustrate their sway with vibrant applications taken from history and the world around.

The foundations of basic probability.

Basic probability. Should have a reasonable grounding in basic algebra before watching. Basic Probability. Example: Marbles from a bag. Example: Picking a non-blue marble. Example: Picking a yellow marble. Term Life Insurance and Death Probability. Probability with Playing Cards and Venn Diagrams. Addition Rule for Probability. Compound Probability of Independent Events. Getting At Least One Heads. Example: Probability of rolling doubles. LeBron Asks: What are the chances of making 10 free throws in a row?. LeBron Asks: What are the chances of three free throws versus one three pointer?. Frequency Probability and Unfair Coins. Example: Getting two questions right on an exam. Example: Rolling even three times. Introduction to dependent probability. Example: Dependent probability. Example: Is an event independent or dependent?. Example: Bag of unfair coins. Monty Hall Problem. Example: All the ways you can flip a coin. Example: Probability through counting outcomes. Permutations. Combinations. Example: Ways to arrange colors. Example: 9 card hands. Example: Ways to pick officers. Getting Exactly Two Heads (Combinatorics). Probability and Combinations (part 2). Probability using Combinations. Exactly Three Heads in Five Flips. Generalizing with Binomial Coefficients (bit advanced). Example: Different ways to pick officers. Example: Combinatorics and probability. Example: Lottery probability. Mega Millions Jackpot Probability. Conditional Probability and Combinations. Birthday Probability Problem. Random Variables. Discrete and continuous random variables. Probability Density Functions. Expected Value: E(X). Binomial Distribution 1. Binomial Distribution 2. Binomial Distribution 3. Binomial Distribution 4. Expected Value of Binomial Distribution. Poisson Process 1. Poisson Process 2. Law of Large Numbers. Introduction to Random Variables. Probability (part 1). Probability (part 2). Probability (part 3). Probability (part 4). Probability (part 5). Probability (part 6). Probability (part 7). Probability (part 8).

This course introduces students to the basic concepts and logic of statistical reasoning and gives the students introductory-level practical ability to choose, generate, and properly interpret appropriate descriptive and inferential methods. In addition, the course helps students gain an appreciation for the diverse applications of statistics and its relevance to their lives and fields of study. The course does not assume any prior knowledge in statistics and its only prerequisite is basic algebra. We offer two versions of statistics, each with a different emphasis: Probability and Statistics and Statistical Reasoning. Each course includes all expository text, simulations, case studies, comprehension tests, interactive learning exercises, and the StatTutor labs. Each course contains all of the instructions for the four statistics packages options we support. To do the activities, you will need your own copy of Microsoft Excel, Minitab, the open source R software, TI calculator, or StatCrunch. One of the main differences between the courses is the path through probability. Probability and Statistics includes the classical treatment of probability as it is in the earlier versions of the OLI Statistics course.

Probability theory captures a number of essential characteristics of human cognition, including aspects of perception, reasoning, belief revision, and learning. Expressions of degree of belief were used in language long before people began codifying the laws of probability theory. This course explores the history and debates over codifying the laws of probability, how probability theory applies to specific cognitive processes, how it relates to the human understanding of causality, and how new computational approaches to causal modeling provide a framework for understanding human probabilistic reasoning.

This class is suitable for advanced undergraduates or graduate students specializing in cognitive science, artificial intelligence, and related fields.

This free online course introduces you to the mathematics of probability, chance and the analysis of data. The course begins by introducing data collection and analysis, graphs and frequency distribution. The course examines chance in the context of gambling, odds and probability. The course is of interest to anybody who needs to analyse mathematical data and is particularly valuable to students studying for exams.

This course covers interpretations of the concept of probability. Topics include basic probability rules; random variables and distribution functions; functions of random variables; and applications to quality control and the reliability assessment of mechanical/electrical components, as well as simple structures and redundant systems. The course also considers elements of statistics; Bayesian methods in engineering; methods for reliability and risk assessment of complex systems (event-tree and fault-tree analysis, common-cause failures, human reliability models); uncertainty propagation in complex systems (Monte Carlo methods, Latin Hypercube Sampling); and an introduction to Markov models. Examples and applications are drawn from nuclear and other industries, waste repositories, and mechanical systems.

This course introduces students to probability and random variables. Topics include distribution functions, binomial, geometric, hypergeometric, and Poisson distributions. The other topics covered are uniform, exponential, normal, gamma and beta distributions; conditional probability; Bayes theorem; joint distributions; Chebyshev inequality; law of large numbers; and central limit theorem.

This class covers quantitative analysis of uncertainty and risk for engineering applications. Fundamentals of probability, random processes, statistics, and decision analysis are covered, along with random variables and vectors, uncertainty propagation, conditional distributions, and second-moment analysis. System reliability is introduced. Other topics covered include Bayesian analysis and risk-based decision, estimation of distribution parameters, hypothesis testing, simple and multiple linear regressions, and Poisson and Markov processes. There is an emphasis placed on real-world applications to engineering problems.

Measures of central tendency and dispersion. Mean, median, mode, variance, and standard deviation. Statistics intro: mean, median and mode. Example: Finding mean, median and mode. Mean median and mode. Exploring Mean and Median Module. Exploring mean and median. Average word problems. Sample mean versus population mean.. Reading Box-and-Whisker Plots. Constructing a box-and-whisker plot. Box-and-Whisker Plots. Creating box and whisker plots. Example: Range and mid-range. Range, Variance and Standard Deviation as Measures of Dispersion. Variance of a population. Sample variance. Review and intuition why we divide by n-1 for the unbiased sample variance. Simulation showing bias in sample variance. Unbiased Estimate of Population Variance. Another simulation giving evidence that (n-1) gives us an unbiased estimate of variance. Simulation providing evidence that (n-1) gives us unbiased estimate. Will it converge towards -1?. Variance. Population standard deviation. Sample standard deviation and bias. Statistics: Standard Deviation. Exploring Standard Deviation 1 Module. Exploring standard deviation 1. Standard deviation. Statistics: Alternate Variance Formulas. Statistics: The Average. Statistics: Variance of a Population. Statistics: Sample Variance. Statistics intro: mean, median and mode. Example: Finding mean, median and mode. Mean median and mode. Exploring Mean and Median Module. Exploring mean and median. Average word problems. Sample mean versus population mean.. Reading Box-and-Whisker Plots. Constructing a box-and-whisker plot. Box-and-Whisker Plots. Creating box and whisker plots. Example: Range and mid-range. Range, Variance and Standard Deviation as Measures of Dispersion. Variance of a population. Sample variance. Review and intuition why we divide by n-1 for the unbiased sample variance. Simulation showing bias in sample variance. Unbiased Estimate of Population Variance. Another simulation giving evidence that (n-1) gives us an unbiased estimate of variance. Simulation providing evidence that (n-1) gives us unbiased estimate. Will it converge towards -1?. Variance. Population standard deviation. Sample standard deviation and bias. Statistics: Standard Deviation. Exploring Standard Deviation 1 Module. Exploring standard deviation 1. Standard deviation. Statistics: Alternate Variance Formulas. Statistics: The Average. Statistics: Variance of a Population. Statistics: Sample Variance.