Open course ware

[MUSIC PLAYING] SARAH HANSEN: Today on Chalk Radio, we're expanding our traditional understanding of economics. FRANK SCHILBACH: At the end of the day, what economists should be trying to do or economics should try to do is maximize people's well-being. SARAH HANSEN: I'm your host, Sarah Hansen. Today we're talking about economics and well-being. From exploring the impact of sleep trends in decision-making, to dissecting why students procrastinate, Dr. Frank Schilbach is working to understand how our psychological well-being impacts our economic behaviors and vice versa. FRANK SCHILBACH: My name is Frank Schilbach. I'm an associate professor at MIT in the Economics Department. I study mostly issues related to poverty, studying development economics for developing countries, and I'm specifically interested in issues that disproportionately affect the poor that are, in one way or the other, psychological or have psychological effects. These include s...

[MUSIC PLAYING] SARAH HANSEN: Today, on Chalk Radio, making calculus a little less abstract. GIGLIOLA STAFFILANI: We put together a lot of problems that come from concepts that we see in real life. If it's connected with something which is more real, you are more willing to work through that. SARAH HANSEN: I'm your host, Sarah Hansen. Calculus has an intimidating reputation, but our guest today has been experimenting with creative new ways to teach this complex subject. Gigliola Staffilani is a Professor of Mathematics, and one of the lead instructors of introductory course, Calculus I. And she's found that with a little help, students often find calculus to be more intuitive than they first expect. GIGLIOLA STAFFILANI: I feel like calculus actually gets introduced without students really knowing about it-- like when they start doing algebra, and they start talking about functions, and also by watching movies, documentaries, and so on. You often learn about fu...

Akin: And today I will present to you one of the most interesting topics in my field of study, which is graph theory. Um, I know the topic might sound a little bit intimidating, but what you need to understand this presentation is quite simple. So, if you can do the basic math, like simple additions or simple multiplication, you are pretty good to go. And what you'll need is the observation skills and that's probably all you need to have for understanding this presentation. Before I jump in, can I ask like, if any of you guys have been familiar with this topic before? Student: A little bit, a little bit. Akin: Okay, um, yeah, I hope you get something out of today's presentation. Hope it will be useful. Okay. Okay about today's agenda, we'll go over some definitions to see what the graph is. And next we are going to explore one of the most interesting questions in graph theory, which is the shortest path problem. And then we are going to see some exampl...

Mujtaba: Today, we're going to learn about Ohm's Law. Mujtaba: I'm curious how many of you have heard of or know about Ohm's Law? Student: I know. Student: I do. Student: I've yeah, yeah. I've heard about it. Yeah. Mujtaba: So the simplest way it is represented is V equals IR. That is, the voltage drop, or the potential drop across a resistor in this case is just the current that passes through the resistor times its current. So if we were to draw a resistor right here with a value R, and this is the current, then the voltage drop across this resistor, this V is equal to the current times that resistor value that the resistor has so the resistance value of the resistor and the current path that passes through it. Current is the flow of electrons and V is the potential. So think of it as a force essentially, that allows or enables these electrons to move from an area of higher potential to low lower potential. So if you guys have drunk boba bubble t...

Hi! I'm Pritish Today, we will be talking about Trigonometry. This is the first video on Trigonometry. I would like to start with "Why do we want to study Trigonometry?" and "What is Trigonometry?" You would certainly know that Euclidean geometry is very fundamental to how we think about nature. The way we visualize things in Physics, for example, we use Euclidean geometry in the way we think. And often, Euclidean geometry requires some amount of innovative thinking to reason about problems. And often when you want to talk about Physics, you don't want geometry to be your bottleneck in thinking about Physics. So Trigonometry and Coordinate Geometry are two subjects which try to make a more systematic study of Geometry. And what is "Trigonometry"? Trigonometry is about a study of angles in an "algebraic" way. You would feel more comfortable doing Algebra Algebra is something you can do in a more mechanical way. Whereas, Geome...

GILBERT STRANG: OK. So today is unforced-- that means zero on the right-hand side, looking for null solutions-- damped-- that means there is a coefficient B in the first derivative. And what's the solution? This is really a basic, basic equation. In many applications, A would be the mass. In a spring, for example, A would be a mass. B is the damping, the friction. And C is the spring constant, the force that pulls the mass back. Or in electronics, B would be the resistance. It's giving some friction, giving some heat. So that's our equation. Just we have to be able to solve it. And we want to look for exponentials. A pure exponential is just right for a constant coefficient equation like that. So I'll substitute y equals e to the st. And what happens? Well, so there's a C e to the st. That's a Cy. The derivative brings down an s. Two derivatives bring down s squared. So I simply have As squared, Bs, and C all together, multiplying e to the st. And ...

Sarah Hansen: Today on the podcast, we're highlighting the power of open educational resources or OER. Elizabeth Siler: I love using OER. One thing I love about teaching OER is that I get to teach what I want to teach. What I think my students need to know, in the way they need to learn it. Instead of just defaulting to what the textbooks say. Sarah Hansen: In this episode, I invited two instructors in to talk about open educational resources. One of them teaches negotiation and management here at MIT and shares her course materials in MIT OpenCourseWare. The other recently adapted those materials for use in her own course at another university. An organizational ombudsperson at MIT for 42 years, adjunct professor Mary Rowe was among the very first instructors to put her course materials on OpenCourseWare almost 20 years ago. That course is titled 15.667, Negotiation and Conflict Management. Associate professor Elizabeth Siler has used and adapted the materials from t...

[MUSIC PLAYING] SARAH HANSEN: Today on Chalk Radio, letting experience be the teacher. ARI EPSTEIN: I always believed in the power of people having control of their own learning, and I believe in it much more strongly now. SARAH HANSEN: My guest for the episode is Ari Epstein, Associate Director and Senior Lecturer in the Terrascope Program at MIT. ARI EPSTEIN: So Terrascope is a learning community for first-year undergraduates at MIT. We have at MIT four of these learning communities. It's entirely voluntary. About a fifth of the first-year class is involved in one or another of the learning communities. And we vary in a lot of different ways. What we have in common is that all of the learning communities are both social and academic in nature. We go on outings, and we have meals with them, and we do a variety of things. We really build a social support network that is multigenerational. So upper-year students also have a role in the community. Alumni also have a rol...