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I have a pretty similar background. I have an undergrad in ChemE who fell in love with machine learning research. As I didn’t had the appropriate background so

by ai_ia 5y ago

I have a pretty similar background. I have an undergrad in ChemE who fell in love with machine learning research. As I didn’t had the appropriate background so I taught myself Computer science using mostly resources such as OCW and teachyourselfcs, videolectures etc. However, what stood out to me was how difficult it is to self study? Universities provide a setting which helps you learn difficult subjects over a longer period of time. Outside of that, no such avenues exist. It’s not just reading up a book or making Anki flash cards(which is quite tedious to be honest) but the process of selecting, vetting what to read next and actually completing it. Or the question are we there yet, with no idea what “there” actually means. I decided to work on creating a platform where people can actually learn difficult subjects on their own. It’s a bit different than normal video based platform, it actually uses text based conversation to facilitate learning. But I truly believe this is the way forward. I have written comic based guide about this problem: https://primerlabs.io/comics/introducing-primer-comics/ https://primerlabs.io/comics/introducing-primer-comics/ We are creating self paced courses on Computer Science and also looking into creating self paced Mathematics/Physics courses as well. We have released two free courses for everyone to try out at https://primerlabs.io https://primerlabs.io

flavio_x 5y ago
I have backgroun in chem Engineering too! Thanks for making this resource availble for us all
maddyboo 5y ago
Excellent intro comic, it got me really excited about your product! I would love to try it out once you release a more advanced course. I signed up, hopefully you will send e-mail updates as you release new courses.
- ai_ia 5y ago
  > I signed up, hopefully you will send e-mail updates as you release new courses. Yes. That's why we have created guest-login for people to test out the product and if they want to get new course release updates, they can sign up. Thank you
vertak 5y ago
This is very well done. I've been hobby researching learning tools for the past couple years and this looks like one of the best. @ai_ia have you seen Andy Matuschak's Orbit project? https://withorbit.com/ https://withorbit.com/ You both seem to be solving similar problems.
- ai_ia 5y ago
  Thank you for your kind words. I am familiar with Andy's Orbit project given that I am a big fan of his writing. I even linked to his essay "Why Book's don't work"[1] in the introductory blog post[2] as well. [1]: https://andymatuschak.org/books/ https://andymatuschak.org/books/ [2]: https://primerlabs.io/blog/introducing-primer/#the-problem-of-retention https://primerlabs.io/blog/introducing-primer/#the-problem-o...
tzs 5y ago
> However, what stood out to me was how difficult it is to self study? Universities provide a setting which helps you learn difficult subjects over a longer period of time. Outside of that, no such avenues exist. It’s not just reading up a book or making Anki flash cards(which is quite tedious to be honest) but the process of selecting, vetting what to read next and actually completing it. One major thing I found when learning at a university that I have trouble with when self studying is pacing. Let's say the textbook covers some topics A, B, C, D, and E in that order. When self studying I start with A, and keep working on A until I'm confident and comfortable with it, then move on to B, and so on. In school we'd spend a while on A, but then usually move on to B before I was fully comfortable and confident with A. Same for B to C, and so on. This was fine, because while I didn't think I was ready to move on the instructors had a lot of experience with teaching this material and knew that we students knew enough A to understand B, and in fact that exercising our A to help us learn B would also strengthen our A.
- porknubbins 5y ago
  This is definitely one of the hardest parts of self study and what gives me enormous appreciation for good teachers. Progress can slow or even halt because you are forced to be so rigid about understanding everything before moving on- otherwise you risk serious gaps in knowledge. I have found CS classes with autograded programming assignments far better than other types of online courses because I known if I at least learned one thing.
WhisperingShiba 5y ago
I would love to self study with more vigor. I studied Mechanical engineering, but I find Math to be so beautiful. I think I chose the right education for the work I find meaningful in the world, but I wish I had more time to learn math that isn't directly relevant to what I am doing. I'll certainly check out your site and save it for when the world is more peaceful.
- lordnacho 5y ago
  Wow that's what I was gonna write. I did engineering too, and all of the topics listed in the course. But something about doing it to apply to other things is wrong, hard to say what. I remember in high school being quite fascinated by certain beautiful things in maths, and the applied stuff just isn't the same. I guess it just seems like tools. All the theorems are just kinda unsurprising, as far as I recall. Things like Stokes Theorem are kinda foreshadowed as you're doing your reading. Or various statements of continuity (DivGradCurl). Luckily he left a link for the pure maths course.
  - mrjangles 5y ago
    Everything that was discovered in math and physics was foreshadowed at the time. Your description means you were being taught correctly by excellent knowledgeable people. If when you moved onto deeper subjects this was no longer the case, it means the learning regime you were undergoing wasn't optimal. This is especially true for pure math. Pure math is an experimental science like any other. It may feel more mystical and interesting when you are learning stuff that seems to exist for no reason, but really you are just missing out.

by ai_ia 5y ago

flavio_x 5y ago

I have backgroun in chem Engineering too! Thanks for making this resource availble for us all

maddyboo 5y ago

Excellent intro comic, it got me really excited about your product! I would love to try it out once you release a more advanced course. I signed up, hopefully you will send e-mail updates as you release new courses.

ai_ia 5y ago
> I signed up, hopefully you will send e-mail updates as you release new courses. Yes. That's why we have created guest-login for people to test out the product and if they want to get new course release updates, they can sign up. Thank you

vertak 5y ago

This is very well done. I've been hobby researching learning tools for the past couple years and this looks like one of the best. @ai_ia have you seen Andy Matuschak's Orbit project? https://withorbit.com/ https://withorbit.com/ You both seem to be solving similar problems.

ai_ia 5y ago
Thank you for your kind words. I am familiar with Andy's Orbit project given that I am a big fan of his writing. I even linked to his essay "Why Book's don't work"[1] in the introductory blog post[2] as well. [1]: https://andymatuschak.org/books/ https://andymatuschak.org/books/ [2]: https://primerlabs.io/blog/introducing-primer/#the-problem-of-retention https://primerlabs.io/blog/introducing-primer/#the-problem-o...

tzs 5y ago

> However, what stood out to me was how difficult it is to self study? Universities provide a setting which helps you learn difficult subjects over a longer period of time. Outside of that, no such avenues exist. It’s not just reading up a book or making Anki flash cards(which is quite tedious to be honest) but the process of selecting, vetting what to read next and actually completing it. One major thing I found when learning at a university that I have trouble with when self studying is pacing. Let's say the textbook covers some topics A, B, C, D, and E in that order. When self studying I start with A, and keep working on A until I'm confident and comfortable with it, then move on to B, and so on. In school we'd spend a while on A, but then usually move on to B before I was fully comfortable and confident with A. Same for B to C, and so on. This was fine, because while I didn't think I was ready to move on the instructors had a lot of experience with teaching this material and knew that we students knew enough A to understand B, and in fact that exercising our A to help us learn B would also strengthen our A.

porknubbins 5y ago
This is definitely one of the hardest parts of self study and what gives me enormous appreciation for good teachers. Progress can slow or even halt because you are forced to be so rigid about understanding everything before moving on- otherwise you risk serious gaps in knowledge. I have found CS classes with autograded programming assignments far better than other types of online courses because I known if I at least learned one thing.

WhisperingShiba 5y ago

I would love to self study with more vigor. I studied Mechanical engineering, but I find Math to be so beautiful. I think I chose the right education for the work I find meaningful in the world, but I wish I had more time to learn math that isn't directly relevant to what I am doing. I'll certainly check out your site and save it for when the world is more peaceful.

lordnacho 5y ago
Wow that's what I was gonna write. I did engineering too, and all of the topics listed in the course. But something about doing it to apply to other things is wrong, hard to say what. I remember in high school being quite fascinated by certain beautiful things in maths, and the applied stuff just isn't the same. I guess it just seems like tools. All the theorems are just kinda unsurprising, as far as I recall. Things like Stokes Theorem are kinda foreshadowed as you're doing your reading. Or various statements of continuity (DivGradCurl). Luckily he left a link for the pure maths course.
- mrjangles 5y ago
  Everything that was discovered in math and physics was foreshadowed at the time. Your description means you were being taught correctly by excellent knowledgeable people. If when you moved onto deeper subjects this was no longer the case, it means the learning regime you were undergoing wasn't optimal. This is especially true for pure math. Pure math is an experimental science like any other. It may feel more mystical and interesting when you are learning stuff that seems to exist for no reason, but really you are just missing out.