Courses tagged with "Structural engineering" (23)

Teaches, as the antidote to rigor mortis, the art of educated guessing and opportunistic problem solving.

Algebra+ is a 10-week online course designed for students who have successfully completed high school algebra but who placed into pre-college level mathematics at their local college or university. This course is for refreshing their math skills with a review of pre-college level algebra. After successfully completing this course, the goal would be to retake your college

Videos on a first course in calculus (Differential Calculus).

Videos on a second course in calculus (Integral Calculus).

Calculus One is a first introduction to differential and integral calculus, emphasizing engaging examples from everyday life.

A wondrously romantic belief is that brilliant thinkers magically produce brilliant ideas: Einstein jostles his hair and relativity falls out. We can enjoy these fanciful visions of leaps of genius, but we should not be fooled into believing that they’re reality.

Brilliant innovators are brilliant because they practice habits of thinking that inevitably carry them step by step to works of genius. No magic and no leaps are involved.

Professor Starbird will discuss how habits of effective thinking and creativity can be taught and learned through puzzles and mathematics. Anyone who practices these habits of mind will inevitably create new insights, new ideas, and new solutions.

We are surrounded by information, much of it numerical, and it is important to know how to make sense of it. Stat2x is an introduction to the fundamental concepts and methods of statistics, the science of drawing conclusions from data.

The course is the online equivalent of Statistics 2, a 15-week introductory course taken in Berkeley by about 1,000 students each year. Stat2x is divided into three 5-week components. Stat2.1x is the first of the three.

The focus of Stat2.1x is on descriptive statistics. The goal of descriptive statistics is to summarize and present numerical information in a manner that is illuminating and useful. The course will cover graphical as well as numerical summaries of data, starting with a single variable and progressing to the relation between two variables. Methods will be illustrated with data from a variety of areas in the sciences and humanities.

There will be no mindless memorization of formulas and methods. Throughout Stat2.1x, the emphasis will be on understanding the reasoning behind the calculations, the assumptions under which they are valid, and the correct interpretation of results.

FAQ

• What is the format of the class?
  • Instruction will be consist of brief lectures and exercises to check comprehension. Grades (Pass or Not Pass) will be decided based on a combination of scores on short assignments, quizzes, and a final exam.
• How much does it cost to take the course?
  • Nothing! The course is free.
• Will the text of the lectures be available?
  • Yes. All of our lectures will have transcripts synced to the videos.
• Do I need to watch the lectures live?
  • No. You can watch the lectures at your leisure.
• Can I contact the Instructor or Teaching Assistants?
  • Yes, but not directly. The discussion forums are the appropriate venue for questions about the course. The instructors will monitor the discussion forums and try to respond to the most important questions; in many cases response from other students and peers will be adequate and faster.
• Do I need any other materials to take the course?
  • If you have any questions about edX generally, please see the edX FAQ.

Statistics 2 at Berkeley is an introductory class taken by about 1,000 students each year. Stat2.3x is the last in a sequence of three courses that make up Stat2x, the online equivalent of Berkeley's Stat 2. The focus of Stat2.3x is on statistical inference: how to make valid conclusions based on data from random samples. At the heart of the main problem addressed by the course will be a population (which you can imagine for now as a set of people) connected with which there is a numerical quantity of interest (which you can imagine for now as the average number of MOOCs the people have taken). If you could talk to each member of the population, you could calculate that number exactly. But what if the population is so large that your resources will not stretch to interviewing every member? What if you can only reach a subset of the population?

Stat 2.3x will discuss good ways to select the subset (yes, at random); how to estimate the numerical quantity of interest, based on what you see in your sample; and ways to test hypotheses about numerical or probabilistic aspects of the problem.

The methods that will be covered are among the most commonly used of all statistical techniques. If you have ever read an article that claimed, "The margin of error in such surveys is about three percentage points," or, "Researchers at the University of California at Berkeley have discovered a highly significant link between ...," then you should expect that by the end of Stat 2.3x you will have a pretty good idea of what that means. Examples will range all the way from a little girl's school science project (seriously – she did a great job and her results were published in a major journal) to rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The fundamental approach of the series was provided in the description of Stat2.1x and appears here again: There will be no mindless memorization of formulas and methods. Throughout the course, the emphasis will be on understanding the reasoning behind the calculations, the assumptions under which they are valid, and the correct interpretation of results.

Statistics 2 at Berkeley is an introductory class taken by about 1000 students each year. Stat2.2x is the second of three five-week courses that make up Stat2x, the online equivalent of Berkeley's Stat 2.

The focus of Stat2.2x is on probability theory: exactly what is a random sample, and how does randomness work? If you buy 10 lottery tickets instead of 1, does your chance of winning go up by a factor of 10? What is the law of averages? How can polls make accurate predictions based on data from small fractions of the population? What should you expect to happen "just by chance"? These are some of the questions we will address in the course.

We will start with exact calculations of chances when the experiments are small enough that exact calculations are feasible and interesting. Then we will step back from all the details and try to identify features of large random samples that will help us approximate probabilities that are hard to compute exactly. We will study sums and averages of large random samples, discuss the factors that affect their accuracy, and use the normal approximation for their probability distributions.

Be warned: by the end of Stat2.2x you will not want to gamble. Ever. (Unless you're really good at counting cards, in which case you could try blackjack, but perhaps after taking all these edX courses you'll find other ways of earning money.)

The fundamental approach of the series was provided in the description of Stat2.1x and appears here again: There will be no mindless memorization of formulas and methods. Throughout the course, the emphasis will be on understanding the reasoning behind the calculations, the assumptions under which they are valid, and the correct interpretation of results.

FAQ

• What is the format of the class?
  • Instruction will be consist of brief lectures and exercises to check comprehension. Grades (Pass or Not Pass) will be decided based on a combination of scores on short assignments, quizzes, and a final exam.
• How much does it cost to take the course?
  • Nothing! The course is free.
• Will the text of the lectures be available?
  • Yes. All of our lectures will have transcripts synced to the videos.
• Do I need to watch the lectures live?
  • No. You can watch the lectures at your leisure.
• Will certificates be awarded?
  • Yes. Online learners who achieve a passing grade in a course can earn a certificate of achievement. These certificates will indicate you have successfully completed the course, but will not include a specific grade. Certificates will be issued by edX under the name of BerkeleyX, designating the institution from which the course originated.
• Can I contact the Instructor or Teaching Assistants?
  • Yes, but not directly. The discussion forums are the appropriate venue for questions about the course. The instructors will monitor the discussion forums and try to respond to the most important questions; in many cases response from other students and peers will be adequate and faster.
• Do I need any other materials to take the course?
  • If you have any questions about edX generally, please see the edX FAQ.

Precalculus I is designed to prepare you for Precalculus II, Calculus, Physics, and higher math and science courses. In this course, the main focus is on five types of functions: linear, polynomial, rational, exponential, and logarithmic. In accompaniment with these functions, you will learn how to solve equations and inequalities, graph, find domains and ranges, combine functions, and solve a multitude of real-world applications. In this course, you will not only be learning new algebraic techniques that are necessary for other math and science courses, but you will be learning to become a critical thinker. You will be able to determine what is the best approach to take such as numerical, graphical, or algebraic to solve a problem given particular information. Then you will investigate and solve the problem, interpret the answer, and determine if it is reasonable. A few examples of applications in this course are determining compound interest, growth of bacteria, decay of a radioactive substance, and the…

Precalculus II continues the in-depth study of functions addressed in Precalculus I by adding the trigonometric functions to your function toolkit. In this course, you will cover families of trigonometric functions, as well as their inverses, properties, graphs, and applications. Additionally, you will study trigonometric equations and identities, the laws of sines and cosines, polar coordinates and graphs, parametric equations and elementary vector operations. You might be curious how the study of trigonometry, or “trig,” as it is more often referred to, came about and why it is important to your studies still. Trigonometry, from the Greek for “triangle measure,” studies the relationships between the angles of a triangle and its sides and defines the trigonometric functions used to describe those relationships. Trigonometric functions are particularly useful when describing cyclical phenomena and have applications in numerous fields, including astronomy, navigation, music theory, physics, chemistry…

Calculus can be thought of as the mathematics of CHANGE. Because everything in the world is changing, calculus helps us track those changes. Algebra, by contrast, can be thought of as dealing with a large set of numbers that are inherently CONSTANT. Solving an algebra problem, like y = 2x + 5, merely produces a pairing of two predetermined numbers, although an infinite set of pairs. Algebra is even useful in rate problems, such as calculating how the money in your savings account increases because of the interest rate R, such as Y = X0+Rt, where t is elapsed time and X0 is the initial deposit. With compound interest, things get complicated for algebra, as the rate R is itself a function of time with Y = X0 + R(t)t. Now we have a rate of change which itself is changing. Calculus came to the rescue, as Isaac Newton introduced the world to mathematics specifically designed to handle those things that change. Calculus is among the most important and useful developments of human thought. Even though it is over…

This course is the second installment of Single-Variable Calculus.  In Part I (MA101) [1], we studied limits, derivatives, and basic integrals as a means to understand the behavior of functions.  In this course (Part II), we will extend our differentiation and integration abilities and apply the techniques we have learned. Additional integration techniques, in particular, are a major part of the course.  In Part I, we learned how to integrate by various formulas and by reversing the chain rule through the technique of substitution.  In Part II, we will learn some clever uses of substitution, how to reverse the product rule for differentiation through a technique called integration by parts, and how to rewrite trigonometric and rational integrands that look impossible into simpler forms.  Series, while a major topic in their own right, also serve to extend our integration reach: they culminate in an application that lets you integrate almost any function you’d like. Integration allows us to calculat…

Multivariable Calculus is an expansion of Single-Variable Calculus in that it extends single variable calculus to higher dimensions.  You may find that these courses share many of the same basic concepts, and that Multivariable Calculus will simply extend your knowledge of functions to functions of several variables.  The transition from single variable relationships to many variable relationships is not as simple as it may seem; you will find that multi-variable functions, in some cases, will yield counter-intuitive results. The structure of this course very much resembles the structure of Single-Variable Calculus I and II.  We will begin by taking a fresh look at limits and continuity.  With functions of many variables, you can approach a limit from many different directions.  We will then move on to derivatives and the process by which we generalize them to higher dimensions.  Finally, we will look at multiple integrals, or integration over regions of space as opposed to intervals. The goal of Mu…

Math 101: College Algebra is designed to be used to prepare you to earn real college credit by passing the College Algebra CLEP Exam . This course covers topics that are included on the exam, including linear equations, functions, graphing, matrices and more. Use it to help you learn what you need to know about algebra topics so you can succeed on the exam.

The algebra instructors are experienced and knowledgeable educators who have put together comprehensive video lessons in categories ranging from absolute value problems to exponentials to the classification of numbers. Each category is broken down into smaller chapters that will cover topics more in-depth. These video lessons make learning fun and interesting. You get the aid of self-graded quizzes and practice tests to allow you to gauge how much you have learned.

Prepare for the College Mathematics CLEP Exam through Education Portal's brief video lessons on mathematics. This course covers topics ranging from real number systems to probability and statistics. You'll learn to use the midpoint and distance formulas, graph inequalities and multiply binomials. You'll also explore the properties of various shapes and learn to determine their area and perimeter. Our lessons are taught by professional educators with experience in mathematics. In addition to designing the videos in this course, these educators have developed written transcripts and self-assessment quizzes to round out your learning experience.

Prepare for the College Mathematics CLEP Exam through Education Portal's brief video lessons on mathematics. This course covers topics ranging from real number systems to probability and statistics. You'll learn to use the midpoint and distance formulas, graph inequalities and multiply binomials. You'll also explore the properties of various shapes and learn to determine their area and perimeter. Our lessons are taught by professional educators with experience in mathematics. In addition to designing the videos in this course, these educators have developed written transcripts and self-assessment quizzes to round out your learning experience.

Prepare for the College Mathematics CLEP Exam through Education Portal's brief video lessons on mathematics. This course covers topics ranging from real number systems to probability and statistics. You'll learn to use the midpoint and distance formulas, graph inequalities and multiply binomials. You'll also explore the properties of various shapes and learn to determine their area and perimeter. Our lessons are taught by professional educators with experience in mathematics. In addition to designing the videos in this course, these educators have developed written transcripts and self-assessment quizzes to round out your learning experience.

This course is the second installment of Single-Variable Calculus.  In Part I (MA101 [1]), we studied limits, derivatives, and basic integrals as a means to understand the behavior of functions.  While this end goal remains the same, we will now focus on adapting what we have learned to applications.  By the end of this course, you should have a solid understanding of functions and how they behave.  You should also be able to apply the concepts we have learned in both Parts I and II of Single-Variable Calculus to a variety of situations. We will begin by revisiting and building upon what we know about the integral.  We will then explore the mathematical applications of integration before delving into the second major topic of this course: series.  The course will conclude with an introduction to differential equations. [1] http:///courses/ma101/…

Multivariable Calculus is an expansion of Single-Variable Calculus in that it extends single variable calculus to higher dimensions.  You may find that these courses share many of the same basic concepts, and that Multivariable Calculus will simply extend your knowledge of functions to functions of several variables.  The transition from single variable relationships to many variable relationships is not as simple as it may seem; you will find that multi-variable functions, in some cases, will yield counter-intuitive results. The structure of this course very much resembles the structure of Single-Variable Calculus I and II.  We will begin by taking a fresh look at limits and continuity.  With functions of many variables, you can approach a limit from many different directions.  We will then move on to derivatives and the process by which we generalize them to higher dimensions.  Finally, we will look at multiple integrals, or integration over regions of space as opposed to intervals. The goal of Mu…