EnterTheVoid Posted June 2, 2012 Posted June 2, 2012 IMO, MIT is probably the best university out there. Their graduates go on to become world leaders, Nobel laureates, high ranking government officers etc etc In science and engineering at least, no doubt, they are among the best. Question is, HOW?
Crookbond Posted June 2, 2012 Posted June 2, 2012 "The Outsider" should be able to answer you this better than anyone. Here's my take - After visiting MIT (and other good universities like Stanford, CMU, Max Planck etc.), you are "prepared" as in seriously prepared to step-out into the world. We are all a product of our environments and these places make sure that the "products" are ready.
EnterTheVoid Posted June 2, 2012 Author Posted June 2, 2012 Noam Chomsky is a professor at MIT. He is one person I would really like to meet :hatsoff:
Swing_n_Speed Posted June 2, 2012 Posted June 2, 2012 This is my reason why.Does IIT have something like this? I have learnt so much through their free matter posted online. It's amazing http://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm
b555 Posted June 2, 2012 Posted June 2, 2012 my take whatever they study, they have students who understand it in the most simple way and they have teachers who can make the students understand it in most simple way so when u understand a thing in a simple way , you can really play with it and can lead to creations of many things from there on , also some discoveries may be hope u get my point the students and teachers out there are the most brilliant minds to out there on earth!
vipin Posted June 2, 2012 Posted June 2, 2012 One fact I would like to contribute here:- Almost all the department toppers (and second and third toppers) from my batch(2009) at IIT Kharagpur are doing their Phd's at MIT. Imagine what an assortment of such minds (or at least such academically skilled personnel) can do together.
Crookbond Posted June 2, 2012 Posted June 2, 2012 This is my reason why.Does IIT have something like this? I have learnt so much through their free matter posted online. It's amazing http://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm :yess: National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning http://nptel.iitm.ac.in/
Crookbond Posted June 2, 2012 Posted June 2, 2012 my take whatever they study, they have students who understand it in the most simple way and they have teachers who can make the students understand it in most simple way so when u understand a thing in a simple way , you can really play with it and can lead to creations of many things from there on , also some discoveries may be hope u get my point the students and teachers out there are the most brilliant minds to out there on earth! I absolutely understand and accept your point. Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. ~ Leonardo Da Vinci Coming back to MIT, to prove your point I would request to watch this interview of Walter Lewin at MIT. Specifically what he has to say about "bad teachers" from 3:04 onwards. sF-m3XZKvLI
Swing_n_Speed Posted June 2, 2012 Posted June 2, 2012 :yess: National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning http://nptel.iitm.ac.in/ Whoaaaaaaaaaaaaa thanks a ton dude. Was rummaging the web looking for stuff on probability and statistics. They have uploaded a entire course. So that's good. Did'nt even know this website existed. Brilliant stuff :two_thumbs_up: That said the website is still rather frugal when it comes to spreading knowledge. The content on MIT is way more thorough with the broadcast quality impeccable. But I'm sure that content on NPTEL too will improve with time, including the quality of the broadcasts.
akshayxyz Posted June 2, 2012 Posted June 2, 2012 Better question(s) should be - How they become so good. How they moved up the ranks, and what (unintentional) factors helped them, (whether/how) was it 'planned'. What did they do 'differently' from their competitors to attract the best....... As of today, they have 'the brand' name. Best students (aim to) go there, best profs (aim to) go there, best of the fin-aids go there... and all these are tightly interlinked. and most importantly.. (as of today).. how can one (someone like IIT D/B/K) plan to rise to similar levels...given that there is support from the govt.
akshayxyz Posted June 2, 2012 Posted June 2, 2012 my take whatever they study, they have students who understand it in the most simple way and they have teachers who can make the students understand it in most simple way so when u understand a thing in a simple way , you can really play with it and can lead to creations of many things from there on , also some discoveries may be hope u get my point the students and teachers out there are the most brilliant minds to out there on earth! This is my reason why.Does IIT have something like this? I have learnt so much through their free matter posted online. It's amazing http://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm you are mixing up cause(s) with effect(s).
Crookbond Posted June 2, 2012 Posted June 2, 2012 Whoaaaaaaaaaaaaa thanks a ton dude. Was rummaging the web looking for stuff on probability and statistics. They have uploaded a entire course. So that's good. Did'nt even know this website existed. Brilliant stuff :two_thumbs_up: If you're looking to learn Probability, look no further than this free video lecture course by Herbert Enderton. http://www.academicearth.org/courses/math-and-proability-for-life-sciences That said the website is still rather frugal when it comes to spreading knowledge. The content on MIT is way more thorough with the broadcast quality impeccable. But I'm sure that content on NPTEL too will improve with time, including the quality of the broadcasts. NPTEL is a baby compared to MIT OCW, so don't expect the quality to be even close to MIT OCW or AcademicEarth (Stanford, Yale,, Berkley et al.). Anyways, at least there is something Indian students can find access to at "home" rather than nothing.
Crookbond Posted June 2, 2012 Posted June 2, 2012 Better question should be - How they become so good. (How they moved up the ranks). Now they have 'brand' name. Best students (aim to) go there, best profs (aim to) go there, best of the fin-aids go there... and all these are tightly interlinked. I see your point but there's another trend. The difference between the 10th ranked and 20th ranked university in India is five times as that of the same in US. You see where I'm going. :regular_smile:
akshayxyz Posted June 2, 2012 Posted June 2, 2012 I absolutely understand and accept your point. Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. ~ Leonardo Da Vinci Coming back to MIT, to prove your point I would request to watch this interview of Walter Lewin at MIT. Specifically what he has to say about "bad teachers" from 3:04 onwards. sF-m3XZKvLI[/] equivalent quote: Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away. Antoine de Saint-Exupery
vipin Posted June 2, 2012 Posted June 2, 2012 Whoaaaaaaaaaaaaa thanks a ton dude. Was rummaging the web looking for stuff on probability and statistics. They have uploaded a entire course. So that's good. Did'nt even know this website existed. Brilliant stuff :two_thumbs_up: That said the website is still rather frugal when it comes to spreading knowledge. The content on MIT is way more thorough with the broadcast quality impeccable. But I'm sure that content on NPTEL too will improve with time, including the quality of the broadcasts. I don't think you have used any of the websites yet. You have Full Video Lectures on the NPTEL whereas on the OCWeb, you only have bits and pieces of the courses.
akshayxyz Posted June 2, 2012 Posted June 2, 2012 I see your point but there's another trend. The difference between the 10th ranked and 20th ranked university in India is five times as that of the same in US. You see where I'm going. :regular_smile: that does not explain anything (in context of OP). Infact, IITs/IIMs can claim to have done more (relatively speaking), despite not so much of support/resource/conducive-environment. USA had a head start in development (~200 years vs ~60 years)...(and competent/lucky defense/policies), and they managed to attract best brains and nurture them. When they were landing on the moon, more than 50% or our population was thinking about how to get 2nd (and if lucky, 3rd) meal of the day. Rewind back couple of 1000 years, and roles can be reversed...India was at the peak as a civilization, and I don't even know whether there is anything to say about "American History" around that time. US is at a peak as a civilization, and as long as they have open policy and ability to attract the "best" and defend their natural and 'acquired' resources by alliances/politics/military-defense.. they can continue to be on top - at least within our lifetimes ..... (unless they/someone do something magical/revolutionary (and affordable) to extend our lifetimes beyond our current imaginations).
akshayxyz Posted June 2, 2012 Posted June 2, 2012 :yess: National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning http://nptel.iitm.ac.in/ good initiative..but they should have at least a search feature.. it wont take more than a day or two to implement :mad:
Swing_n_Speed Posted June 2, 2012 Posted June 2, 2012 I don't think you have used any of the websites yet. You have Full Video Lectures on the NPTEL whereas on the OCWeb' date=' you only have bits and pieces of the courses.[/quote'] Huh? The MIT OC is quite comprehensive. For instance let's say u wanna learn mathematics. They have the entire course content for a few subjects. For instance single variable calculus. Not only do they have(in this case) all 20 video lectures but also assignments and lecture notes, including the exam papers. Off-course assuming u majoring or minoring in mathematics, one would need to clear a whole lot more courses. I don't expect MIT to offer the entire degree for free. But whatever info they have put up quite a bit of it is extremely through. The NPTEL website while extremely useful, I just didn't find to be as through.
vipin Posted June 2, 2012 Posted June 2, 2012 Huh? The MIT OC is quite comprehensive. For instance let's say u wanna learn mathematics. They have the entire course content for a few subjects. For instance single variable calculus. Not only do they have(in this case) all 20 video lectures but also assignments and lecture notes, including the exam papers. Off-course assuming u majoring or minoring in mathematics, one would need to clear a whole lot more courses. I don't expect MIT to offer the entire degree for free. But whatever info they have put up quite a bit of it is extremely through. The NPTEL website while extremely useful, I just didn't find to be as through. Well, of course, where they do have the lectures along with all the material, it is good. But for 80% of the courses they just have the scrap without the videos. In case of NPTEL, they ARE offering the entire degree for free. The Professors seldom produce customized lecture notes there, but they do let you know the best books and material available, so its easy. Infact, on the website you do not see the video links for many of the courses yet because they are still being edited/ fixed for copyright etc.. When we were students, we had links to all those courses available through the campus LAN.
flamy Posted June 2, 2012 Posted June 2, 2012 equivalent quote: Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away. Antoine de Saint-Exupery Magnificent! :two_thumbs_up:
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