Review: MITx 6.431xProbability – The Science of Uncertainty and Data

Last year I decided to enroll myself in another Micro-Masters program. The Statistics and Data Science Micro-Masters program is offered by MIT on the edX platform. The program consists of taking 4 courses and a capstone exam at the end.

I started the program by taking the Probability- The Science of Uncertainty and Data course first. This course is definitely a graduate level mathematics course and there are quiet a few topics that one should already know. In the first unit, there is a review of the mathematical concepts that will be re-occuring throughout the course, like sets, sequences and series.

Review undergrad Math. One of the challenges for me was getting used to mathematical symbols again. The first section reviews mathematical concepts like sets, De Morgan’s laws as well as some of the concepts listed below. Before you get started though, I would recommend going over the following concepts:

• – Independence
• – Expectation
• – Variance
• – Sets
• – Sequences and series
• – Mathematical Symbols

Buy the recommended textbook. The reading assigned from the textbook is optional, but I found the textbook to be very helpful. If you are like me, then lectures only get you so far. The course material is quite dense and after 1.5 hours of listening to lectures, I found it difficult to absorb more information. Reading the material before the lecture definitely helped me understand the concepts better.

Don’t wait till the deadline. Do a bit each day. As mentioned, the course material is dry and dense. You will need the time allotted to complete each unit. If you are working full-time, I would recommend spending 1 – 1.5 hours each day on the course. Even if you manage to just spend 30 minutes each day, that is much better than spending the entire weekend on a unit. The assignments and exercises also need time to get through.

Pay attention to recurring concepts. Concepts such as conditionality, independence, computing the expectation and variance are recurring throughout the course. It is important to take the time to understand these concepts thoroughly, as you will encounter them throughout the course.