have coffee with someone from a different part of your organization....

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When I took Model Thinking (my first Coursera class, taken during the fall of 2012), Scott Page talked about how projects (and decisions) can benefit from input from many different people.  Over the intervening couple of years, I've heard several different things in support of that idea.

Dr. Page also talked about how a lot of innovation results from rearranging existing ideas.

The University of Michigan has been working, for the last few years, on getting people from different departments to talk to each other about their work, and has been offering seed money to help jump start cross-disciplinary work.

Here's an idea that's upstream of that -- the U is facilitating faculty having coffee with random other faculty, with the intent that they talk about their work.

Sounds like a great idea to me -- very little cost to anyone, and who knows what might result?

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Archaeology news

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This week's Archaeology's Dirty Little Secrets unit is on "what do you do with the stuff you find?"

One of the articles we are to read is about archaeologists testing their ideas about how something might have worked, by doing [whatever] themselves.  Kon-Tiki is an extreme instance.

The article includes a flute made from a swan bone. 

"Not long after the first figurative carvings appear in the archaeological record about 35,000 years ago, so do the first musical instruments."

(Digression -- I wish "they" would always be careful to say "the earliest known" rather than "the first"...................  End of Digression.)

At the end of the flute info, there is a url for a recording of someone playing a swan-bone flute.  The flute player really knows how to play that kind of flute.  The result is musical and appealing.  I can almost hear the camp-fire crackling, as someone else drums an accompaniment to the flute.....



I think that I have given you a link to the article which will show the whole article, but if you only see the section on flutes, look for a "view all," which will let you see info about Kon-Tiki, the first known noodles, a recreation of a Viking boat that was sailed by a crew of 63 men and women from Denmark to Dublin, Ireland, and several other interesting recreations.



Pondering my Coursera class experience, I think the things I learned in Model Thinking were as interesting as the things I'm learning in Archaeology's Dirty Little Secrets, but, for me, the learning in DLS is much easier.  There's no math for me to struggle with.  Succeeding at Model Thinking was a personal triumph for me, because it was hard, but DLS is more fun (aside from grading other people's assignments, which I am really not enjoying).


Last week I happened across classes beginning soon at Coursera.  I have signed up for Maps and the Geo-Spatial Revolution, which begins as DLS is ending.  You might be amused by the teaser video for Maps -- I was.  He quotes what he terms "the immortal words" of some beauty contestant:  "Some people don't have any maps, and that's sad."  Sad, indeed.

It's also sad that there is some sort of group work, or peer review, or something, required for Official Completion of Required work.  I'm thinking I'm going to decline to participate in that aspect of the class...................

I love maps, and I love the newfangled things we can do with maps and geography, and I bet I'm going to like Maps (especially if I can actually get myself to NOT DO the parts that I think are icky, rather than doing them and wishing I weren't!).

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Model Thinking

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You'll recall that I took Model Thinking through Coursera.org
last fall. 

It was a really interesting (and strenuous) class.  I learned a lot, and was very glad to have taken the class.

It started again, on March 4, and they are saying this may be the last time it is offered.  If you have any interest, I urge you to sign up.

Especially if you remember how to use algebra (then it won't be so strenuous......).

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adieu, Model Thinking

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I guess I'm officially done with Model Thinking.  I happened to be poking around in my Coursera account yesterday, and I discovered that my certificate of completion has been available for me to download since Dec. 26.  (Don't you think it's weird that no one told me it was there?  I do.....)

I was pleased to see that 94%!  The class was pass/fail, with the cutoff at 70%.  I knew I was comfortably above 70%, so I didn't really pay attention to my cumulative score.   I would have guessed I was in the mid-80s.  Ish.

(as always, click on an image to see a larger version)

Not bad, for an old retired person who couldn't remember algebra!

Yay.




As an aside, I think I can tell why it took so long for them to make our certificates available.  Wanna guess?


First, a little Mission Impossible, to set the scene.......

At the bottom of the certificate, there is a whole paragraph, which, summarized, states that the University of Michigan disavows any knowledge of Coursera's actions, including any "classes" provided by Coursera, and does not grant any anything to anyone who might take any of said "classes."

I suppose, in these litigious days (and this litigious country!), I can see why that's necessary, but ... sheesh.

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industrial uses for knitted textiles

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The University of Michigan has a new program which encourages faculty to collaborate with others in different departments.

One of the main points in Model Thinking was that a diverse group of people will (on average) find better solutions to complex problems than a group of similar people (or than one totally brilliant person).

Here is one example of a trio of people working on a collaborative project.  Hand knitters have known for a long time that a continuously knit object has many strengths an object composed of pieces does not have.  The researchers working on this project are looking at using computer-controlled machines to knit objects for many different purposes.  Medical, industrial, building construction.....

Cool.


Here's where to browse the projects that have been funded.

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so interesting, how differently people's brains work

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Think Again has been full of "maybe" and "might" and "it depends on context."

In Week 4, we have "true" and "false." 

My particular brain leaps up and embraces "true" and "false" with a glad cry:  "Hooray!  *At last* something we can depend on!!!!  It's true, or it's not.  Period.  The end.  Yay!!!!"

It is so interesting that the point made in the purple rectangle is clearly not joyously obvious to everyone.

The first Think Again lecture which touched on this point spent at least five minutes going over it.

The second, likewise. 

We conclude that what is beautifully and crystally clear to some is muddy and impenetrable to others.


I am reminded of a point from Model Thinking -- that a diverse group of people, working on a problem, are more likely to come up with a good solution than are a group of people who are not as diverse.  I bet this sort of diversity, whatever you want to call it, between people for whom this sort of classical logic is clear and lovely, and people for whom it ... isn't, would be one of the kinds of diversity that is helpful..................

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Think Again

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I mentioned that we got email, as Think Again began, saying the course would begin by defining what an argument is, and I embedded video of the Monty Python bit that came immediately to mind.

I was tickled when one of the first lectures sent us to that same skit.

This is the longer version:


The prof pointed out that the other offices in the skit offered things that are NOT arguments (though they are often mistaken for arguments).  "Hitting on the head" lessons.  Verbal abuse.  Complaints.

Gotta love a class that begins with Monty Python.............


In other Think Again notes -- it is apparently the most popular class ever offered at Coursera -- 160,000 students.  !!!!!

I am finding the material interesting, and much easier to absorb than Model Thinking.  No numbers, no calculations............  Think Again has about half as much content per week.  About one hour of lectures, in Think Again, as contrasted with two hours, in Model Thinking.  Think Again does have optional "go deeper into the concepts" lectures (which will not be included in any quizzes or exams).

Think Again has exercises after every lecture, so we can check that we have understood the content of that lecture.  I hadn't realized the exercises were there, so I did a bunch of exercises at once, after I understood they were there for us.

I accidentally began exercises for a lecture I hadn't heard, yet, and I was able to figure out the right answers to all the questions.  THAT was never happening in Model Thinking!

As you would guess, with 160,000 students, there is so much going on in the discussion fora that it is impossible to keep up.  (And the way Coursera organizes and presents it doesn't help.  There's no way to search within a thread, for example.....)  There's a lively thread on whether non-human animals can argue.  The formal definition for "argument" that the class is using requires use of language.  Given that definition, I believe that, at this point, we do not have evidence that non-humans can argue.  Not to say they can't but we can't demonstrate that they do.........

In another discussion thread, people talked a bit about other Coursera classes they've taken.  Modern Poetry was well-liked by everyone who spoke up, and I've heard good things about World Music, and a "design of everyday objects" class, too...............

This method of presentation-of-material is clearly a work in progress, but -- how cool to be in on the ground floor!

I urge you to check out the offerings and take a class.  It's free, and you can watch lectures without doing any of the quizzes or whatever..........  No risks.  Give it a try.  :-)


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collaboration leads to innovation

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One of the recurrent themes in Model Thinking was that for organizations to continue to grow, they must innovate.  New ideas often lead to recombination with other ideas, leading to even more new ideas.

The University of Michigan is now specifically supporting cross-disciplinary collaboration.

Go Blue.

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I *RULE*!!!!!

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Not only did I open a jam jar for my 24-yr-old daughter today, but I passed the final exam for my Model Thinking class.

Old, schmold, that's what I have to say about that!  Hah!


I learned today that a new Model Thinking class will open soon.  (Not sure what the definition of "soon" is....  No later than January, I bet, but I don't know.)

Any of you who have been intrigued by my comments about Model Thinking should give it a shot.  Extremely interesting content, well taught!  Hard work! -- especially if you can't remember algebra.  If you don't know how to compute an average, I think the math is over your head.  If you did well in algebra in high school, you can manage the class, I think, but the math may be a slog if you forgot as much of it as I did.  It came back, but  v_e_r_y slowly....

Massive Open Online Courses are (one of) the thing(s) of the moment!  Here's an article from the New York Times on the topic.......

I'm not a particularly tech-forward person, so I'm amused to be near the cutting edge of the MOOC phenomenon.

No one has asked to interview me yet, but as a 60-yr-old woman who has successfully completed a strenuous MOOC, I think they should!

Having all of this fascinating content available to anyone who has internet access is seriously cool.  I will definitely take more classes in the future!

And I'll open more jam jars, too!

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October 11

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Getting ready for the 5th Model Thinking quiz.....

After the quiz.  Walking.

Many maple leaves.....

Gingko.

Guessing zelkova.

Gorgeous skies.

Maple.

I'm going to guess burning bush.  I wasn't paying attention, when I picked up the leaf....

Seed head from that autumn clematis we've been enjoying.  Isn't this excellent?

Oh my -- the "hairs" on the curly bits!

!!!

The sky...............

Later, the seeds and curly bits on my piece of printer paper.

Maple.

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qwerty

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This week, in Model Thinking, we've looked at path dependence (outcomes that depend on the sequence of things that happened -- not just the set of events, but the order in which the set of events happened).

One of the things touched on is the way the QWERTY key layout came to dominate the typewriter world.

(My own editorial note -- Standards are good, and much better when wisely chosen!)

I love this drawing of a typewriter, by Shari Blaukopf, whose blog I follow.  Its title is QWERTY, so that's two completely separate appearances of QWERTY in my week.

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a thought that arose from Model Thinking

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My current Model Thinking section is on networks.

My native skill-set includes spatial reasoning.  I'm learning the nomenclature associated with looking at, and analyzing, networks, but the ideas............  It's as if I've always known 'em.

A lovely contrast to all the math-heavy stuff where I was writing down practically every word he said, and taking it all on faith (at least at first).................

He's walking through the concepts as carefully and step-wise as usual, and, for once, I'm thinking "Yep, yep, yep, yep, yep" instead of "Yep, what? what? what? what?"  There have been a lot of "yep"s along the way through the course, but not whole lectures full of them.

Isn't it interesting, how different we all are in terms of what's easy and hard?

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things I'm learning in Model Thinking

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I am picking up all sorts of bits and pieces from the content in Model Thinking.

One of them is that humans have biases that stop us from making purely rational decisions about things.

One well-studied bias is the Status Quo Bias.  We are more likely to keep doing the same thing than to stop and do something different.

I find this to be true at most times during my day.  I'd rather keep reading my novel, or keep messing around on the computer, say, if that's what I'm doing, than put down what I'm doing and do the other of those two things.  Let alone put it down and do something icky, like lift weights..............

This isn't exactly news to me, but it's interesting to learn that it's a known and studied issue in human behavior.

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Model Thinking class

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I've been talking about my Model Thinking class.

I've said that I think it's cool that so many people from all over are signed up for the class.

On the 19th, we got a general email about the class, which said that "nearly 89,000" people are signed up for the class.  !!!!!

One of my classmates set up a Google map.  All of us who choose to do so can locate ourselves on the map.  I tried to link to the active map, but it insists on showing a closeup of the Indian coastline, rather than the whole world, so here is a screen capture from the 18th.  (As always, click on the image to embiggen.)

It makes this experience richer, for me, knowing that my classmates are scattered all over the planet........  As one person said, learning things about each other "turns strangers into class mates."


Lots of the people taking the class are clever and funny.

Here are a few snippets of conversations from the discussion fora:

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"I was just looking through the forum and the general discussion. It strikes me how many threads there are about where everyone is from and how there are so many discussion groups based on home country and nationality. To me that's neither good nor bad, but remarkable. Remarkable because it doesn't seem relevant, right now, in this context.

"Does anyone know what I mean?

"Cheers, A
"Anna D"

---

"It is the equivalent of small talk at a party. Totally pointless, but passes the time and it is considered anti-social if you don't participate. People are supposed to be actively engaged in the course and that is the easiest point of entry for engagement. I used to teach online graduate courses with 100 + students per class from around the world and we'd ask students to give their bios, use a chat line, and other such nonsense so they start to feel part of a community and start to participate. I've always thought it silly, but you would have had this kind of interaction with your peers if you were in a conventional (in-person) class and they're trying to re-create the experience to help keep people participating. Basic social marketing principle that if you get somebody to commit a little time (even something mindless) then they're more likely to continue to commit time as doing so has become consistent with how they think of themselves.
"Nathan G"

---

"Never thought about it that way, Nathan. Interesting... will remember to ask people where they are from when I need them to do something next time ;)
"Anna D"

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Topic:  Do we really have to read the recommended readings?

"Hello. the title can be missunderstood, i say it in a curious way. i always like to have some extra material to read and learn and etc. But also i like to read it later, it means after i complete the course like some support or complementary material after the goal is reached. Having said that...

"i would like to know if anyone has already read the first pdf from the Syllabus The Model Thinker: Prologue, Introduction and Chapter 1

"i've read the other pdf which is shorter with only 5 pages, but the forementioned is 32 pages!

"It would be a bad use of time if i spend maybe a couple of hours reading that and later realize that i didn't need it to red it on that moment.
"Danilo J"   

---

"Alice: Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"

"The Cat: That depends a good deal on where you want to get to."

"Alice: I don't much care where."

"The Cat: Then it doesn't much matter which way you go."

"Alice: So long as I get somewhere."

"The Cat: Oh, you're sure to do that, if only you walk long enough."

"(Quotes from Alice in Wonderland)

"If you are worried about the final exam, check the relevant thread for an answer (when it comes up). In that case you could also have just upvoted that question.

"If you are not worried about the exam, my take is that whether you read it now or later does not matter that much (unless you have to discuss Schelling or Granovetter in the meantime). Personally, I tend to try to read stuff before the lecture and see if it enhances my lecture experience. In this case, I thought it kind of spoiled it, because Scott E. does not go much beyond the readings. So personally I think that reading them after the lecture will suit me better. But that is a personal choice.
"Christoph S"

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Topic:   Clarification on Quizzes

"So, as I understand it, we have to do each quiz before the time limit. We have to answer the questions. We can do each quiz as many times as we like.

"And as long as we complete each quiz and the exam at least one time, whether our answers are perfectly correct or every single answer is completely wrong, we get a certificate at the end of the class.
"Anne P"

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"Exactly right!
"Thomas H (Staff)"

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"Thanks for the clarification.
"Anne P"

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"Thomas, I am confused, as presently there are 5 tries for quiz 1, so it's not limitless to begin with. Also, this is the first Coursera course where there is no cutoff score for getting a certificate, as I gather from your reply.

"If you truly issue a certificate to anyone, that's, I have to say, is disappointing. Yes, we all understand that it's just a PDF file, but we like to think it's a PDF file we earned. Please don't turn into Udacity. Have the usual 70% cutoff limit - with 5 non-penalized tries for each quiz everyone will make it anyway. Please don't rob us of the ability to pretend we go to a real school.
"Anonymous"

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"Anonymous: Everyone can choose between pretending and not pretending. If you wanna feel like going to real school then don't use material during the tests, try only once and try to reach 70% at least.

"The upper are my goals. If I complete those, I'll be happy and I'll feel I will have completed this class with the given expectations towards myself :)
"Antal G"

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"Interesting approach. That works too, but many Universities top tier included do have some open book tests for technical classes:) Good input though, Antal.
"Jacob"

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"I was thinking of doing a model to determine whether or not it would be worth my time to do the quiz. Then I thought, what would it be worth to me if someone just gave me the answers? Then I thought, if I just do the quiz, I could be a model student. Finally, I thought, what would it be worth to me to be a model student. This led to an endless loop, which I ultimately resolved with the toss of a coin.

"Just a bit of model humor. I am enjoying the lectures, they're very well done.
"Anonymous"


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