MIT OpenCourseware Physics - which version?

[1bassoon]

My ds and I are looking at 2 versions of Physics from MIT:

 

OCW Scholar Classical Mechanics

 

and

 

Classical Mechanics with Lewin

 

He won't be signing up for any courses per se, but rather participating at his own pace.

I'm liking the OCW, since it's totally free with no required textbook. BUT there are no exams. The Lewin Mechanics does have exams available, which makes it appealing, but I'd need to buy a textbook.

Anyone have thoughts or recommendations for me? I'm tempted to go ahead with the OCW, and just award grades based on the homeworks. I'm not sure he'll take the AP Physics exam. Any help is appreciated!

[snowbeltmom]

I debated between those two courses as well.  I decided to go with the Classical Mechanics with Lewin option because it seemed to me to be more organized.   I purchased a used textbook very cheap on Amazon.

[Kathy in Richmond]

I'd heartily recommend the Walter Lewin version. He's simply a fantastic lecturer!

 

I'm going to be taking the MITx version of Lewin's mechanics course starting on Sept. 9. It's free & comes with lots of extras: discussion boards, problems sets, exams (detailed solutions to hw and tests are posted after due dates pass), simulations, etc. Last spring in electricity & magnetism, we had access to a free online textbook, too.

 

You don't have to take the class for a certificate; auditors are welcome. If your son audits, he can work at his own pace and still have free access to all of the above resources. They don't go away after the official time period ends; he can still use them as long as he has an edX account.

 

ETA: the edX course is built upon the same videos as in the MIT OCW Lewin class that you linked.

[regentrude]

Lewin.

[Julie of KY]

I've asked myself the same question and previewed some of both the courses you list and I like Lewin lots better.

[snowbeltmom]

 

I'm going to be taking the MITx version of Lewin's mechanics course starting on Sept. 9. It's free & comes with lots of extras: discussion boards, problems sets, exams (detailed solutions to hw and tests are posted after due dates pass), simulations, etc. Last spring in electricity & magnetism, we had access to a free online textbook, too.

 

 

Thanks for linking this, Kathy.  I missed this option when I was looking at the MIT OCW site.  

 

From reading over the site, it looks like there are firm due dates for those students that would like to obtain the certificate.

 

Are the homework problems/test, etc. posted far enough ahead that if a student needed to miss a week, he could have access to that week's material and homework ahead of time?  Or is the material only posted one week at a time?

 

Also, do you know when the course ends?  I saw the start date, but could not find the course end date.

 

Thanks!

[Kathy in Richmond]

Thanks for linking this, Kathy.  I missed this option when I was looking at the MIT OCW site.  

 

From reading over the site, it looks like there are firm due dates for those students that would like to obtain the certificate.

 

Are the homework problems/test, etc. posted far enough ahead that if a student needed to miss a week, he could have access to that week's material and homework ahead of time?  Or is the material only posted one week at a time?

 

Also, do you know when the course ends?  I saw the start date, but could not find the course end date.

 

Thanks!

 

For his elec & mag course, Dr Lewin posted the weekly lessons (quizzes embedded), problem sets, and lab simulations one week in advance of their due dates. The three midterms and final were posted on Thursdays and due on Monday evening. The course syllabus, e-textbook, and videos (via the MIT OCW website) were always available.

 

There was a lot of grumbling on the message boards about not having assignments posted earlier than one week out. I know that it was difficult for me when I had a travel week during the course! But the course staff stated that they were going to keep the schedule the way it stands so that everyone could experience what real MIT class pacing was like. They posted solutions as soon as deadlines passed, so no credit was granted for anything turned in after that point. 

 

I guess that auditing is the only reasonable solution for students with very busy schedules. You'd still have all the free resources. The assignments and tests are still there, & you can check your answers against the posted solutions.

 

You're right - I don't see the end date for the upcoming 8.01x class either. I'd guess that it would be about the same length as 8.02x, though, which lasted for 16 weeks. That would bring us to the Christmas holidays, which would parallel the dates of the corresponding course at MIT.

[Aras]

I watched the whole semester of Lewin lectures for the mechanics course and the electro-mag course. I loved them! The demonstrations are wonderful! They help me get over some conceptual humps while I was taking university physics. I didn't do the quizzes and test provided because I was already taking a physics class; I used the courses as a supplement instead. I ended up leading study groups because of my understanding of the concepts. 

 

Hope this helps!

 

Sara

[snowbeltmom]

. The three midterms and final were posted on Thursdays and due on Monday evening. 

This option looks great, but I am still on the fence about whether this is going to work logistically for my son's situation. What format are the tests?  Does the student download a file, complete the test using pencil and paper, scan his results, and then upload the scan, OR is the test administered completely online?

 

My son travels quite a bit during the Thursday-Monday time frame.  He would have internet access away from home, but not always access to a printer, let alone a scanner.

 

Thanks for answering these questions.  

[Kathy in Richmond]

This option looks great, but I am still on the fence about whether this is going to work logistically for my son's situation. What format are the tests?  Does the student download a file, complete the test using pencil and paper, scan his results, and then upload the scan, OR is the test administered completely online?

 

My son travels quite a bit during the Thursday-Monday time frame.  He would have internet access away from home, but not always access to a printer, let alone a scanner.

 

Thanks for answering these questions.  

 

It's all done completely online. I worked the problems out w/ pencil & paper, then typed my answers into boxes on the exam page.

 

Most homework and exam questions are just fill in the blank numerical answers (the embedded quizzes in lectures were often multiple choice). No partial credit, just points for the correct answer within a certain error tolerance. You get unlimited chances to answer correctly on homework sets w/o penalty. On exams, though, you're usually allowed between 1 to 4 chances to each question, depending on the difficulty of the problem. It seemed reasonable and fair to me last spring. Lab simulations were also done completely online &  were mainly graded for completion.

 

The work was challenging, but not impossible. Between 10 and 30 percent of the students would score close to perfect on most tests. There was a fairly generous cutoff for earning the class certificates, too. For 8.02 it was 60% of all possible points to pass & earn the basic certificate, and 85% to earn the honors level.

 

[Twigs]

:bigear:

[1bassoon]

Thanks so much for this! We decided to go the audit route with Classical Mechanics/Lewin.

 

My only question - he registered, but I didn't see where to indicate he's auditing. Perhaps because the class doesn't start until the 9th?

[1bassoon]

And forgive the repeated questions.  .  . . I'm assuming I can count this for a full credit of h.s. physics? Thanks!

[Kathy in Richmond]

Cool, I'll see you there in September!

 

You don't have to do anything but sign up. There's no need to indicate formally that he's auditing. He can do any part of the course (videos, labs, homeworks, tests, message board Q&A) that he likes & at his own speed.  Earning a certificate isn't required & no one will say anything to him either way. Lots of people audited last term in 8.02.

 

It's most definitely a full college course in mechanics, being very similar to the MIT version of 8.01 physics. So, yes, it's more than enough for a high school credit!

 

ETA: Their estimate that the course is designed to take 12 hours per lesson week is pretty accurate in my experience. So 15 weeks of work times 12 hours per week makes a full 180 hour class.

[Julie of KY]

Is it worthwhile to buy the text or just use the online version? (for the online class as discussed)

[Kathy in Richmond]

Is it worthwhile to buy the text or just use the online version? (for the online class as discussed)

 

I just plan to use my old Resnick & Halliday physics text, which matched up fairly well last term in E&M.

 

I personally can't stand using e-texts primarily, but occasionally it was useful to me when the professor referenced it for particular homework problems.

[1bassoon]

Kathy, that's neat! You can look for my son, not me :)

 

Do you think it would be worth it for me to get the text for the course? Or are the online sources enough?

[Kathy in Richmond]

I'm not going to buy the text myself.

 

I was able to learn the material in 8.02 mainly from the video lectures. Between the notes that I took and the problems I worked out during the course, I filled 3 spiral notebooks. :laugh:

 

Occasionally (maybe 5% of the time), I consulted a physics text (Resnick, Halliday, & Krane Physics, 5th ed) that I already have on my shelf. Any good calc-based mechanics text will do, and it does not have to be a very recent or new edition for mechanics.

 

If it's like last term, Dr Lewin will reference useful sections of the e-textbook to accompany each video lecture & homework problem. Those were the only times that i used the e-text, & it did occasionally prove useful for specific topics that weren't addressed elsewhere.

[CupOCoffee]

So, I've been looking at this very physics myself, for my son.  I can't figure out whether this would be over his head, having only had Alg I for math.  I am having a terrbile time choosing his next science.  He has done Physical and Biology.  He will be doing Alg II/Geom concurrent for this next cycle.

 

If he does this particular physics, will it overwhelm him?

 

Thanks!

 

~coffee~

[Kathy in Richmond]

So, I've been looking at this very physics myself, for my son.  I can't figure out whether this would be over his head, having only had Alg I for math.  I am having a terrbile time choosing his next science.  He has done Physical and Biology.  He will be doing Alg II/Geom concurrent for this next cycle.

 

If he does this particular physics, will it overwhelm him?

 

Thanks!

 

~coffee~

 

This MIT course is calculus-based physics, so it's not going to be a good fit for your son at this stage.

 

How about something like Udacity's algebra-based physics as an intro instead? It's self-paced & he can start at any time.

 

[regentrude]

So, I've been looking at this very physics myself, for my son.  I can't figure out whether this would be over his head, having only had Alg I for math.  I am having a terrbile time choosing his next science.  He has done Physical and Biology.  He will be doing Alg II/Geom concurrent for this next cycle.

If he does this particular physics, will it overwhelm him?

 

As Kathy said: the MIT course is calculus based, so it would not be suitable for your son.

If he wants to do physics, he should choose an algebra/trig based course. The trig needed for that can be learned in half an hour if he had geometry and is familiar with right triangles and the concept of similarity.

 

[CupOCoffee]

This MIT course is calculus-based physics, so it's not going to be a good fit for your son at this stage.

 

How about something like Udacity's algebra-based physics as an intro instead? It's self-paced & he can start at any time.

 

 

That was the other one I was looking at and thanks for confirming what I was pretty much suspecting all along.

 

~coffee~

[C_l_e_0..Q_c]

 

I'm going to be taking the MITx version of Lewin's mechanics course starting on Sept. 9. 

 

Hey me too!

I must admit that I doubt I'll see it to the end though. But Lewin is an impressive lecturer.

[1bassoon]

Just to confirm - he can just participate in the class, at his own speed, and access everything there, just not submit for grading? I'll handle the grading myself? Sorry to sound like such a doofus!!  He's upstairs now, watching the first lecture, and is concerned b/c he said "Mom, I don't see anywhere to indicate that i'm auditing!"

 

Will the info/answers/etc remain on past the close of the semester? That would be my only concern.

Thanks for holding my hand!

[Kathy in Richmond]

I just checked my account since I'm ready to get started, too!

 

The physics 8.02 course that I took last spring is still there. I can still view the lectures, homeworks, tests, demos, etc.

 

As long as he's not trying to earn the certificate, your son can audit & do as he pleases! The only thing that changes after the deadlines pass is that the homework checker won't give him an automatic score. He can, however, view the answers to any problem and check himself. There will also be full solutions posted after official deadlines pass.

 

have fun!