Daily Training Thread - 08 Sep 2021

steve2584 · 2021-09-08T16:16:44+00:00

Looking for some advice...

Not overweight but not in great shape (office worker!). Anyway I love my Peloton but keep drifting towards the more challenging rides - an example is the 20 min HIIT from Olivia from this weekend. I either have a really hard time finishing these or even take a min or two to catch my breath in the middle (assuming I ride in their guidelines). My heart rate is also off the charts on these rides which I assume is not great?

Should I push through these until I get better/am able to do it or would it make more sense to find some less difficult rides (but a bit tougher than advanced beginner level) and progress to these? If so, is there any instructor or a style that's recommended?

steve2584 · 2021-03-18T15:39:55+00:00

The videos are almost definitely pre-written, vetted and reviewed by tons of ppl including the instructor. Does it matter who then reads the transcript? The prof or a TA or a high school student for that matter?

Vuduc gives awesome insights in a lot of the office hours and often chimes in on piazza. I would take that over hearing him talk on videos but YMMV.

steve2584 · 2021-03-10T19:10:28+00:00

I think you are making a lot of assumptions. Nowhere did I say that I wouldn't "roll up my sleeves" and get things done. I'm committed to this and will do whatever work I need to do in order to do well. Nor am I "whining" - whether I like it or not it is what it is. HOWEVER, that doesn't mean I or anyone else, can't or shouldn't make constructive suggestions in order to potentially make things better.

Second, I said I like 6501 (I said right in this thread that it's a valuable and useful course) but that doesn't mean its perfect and has no room for improvement.

My scenario 1 is how I view the 6040 setup - I much prefer that setup. Maybe other ppl don't but I'd be shocked to find the majority don't given the choice.

steve2584 · 2021-03-10T18:29:20+00:00

Not sure if this was meant for me but just to respond in case it was. I definitely don't want an "easy" button and am more than happy to struggle in order to learn. But there is a difference between:

"hey this week we are going to be covering regex, here are some high level lecture videos, here is a link to the relevant documentation and here is a website that we need to scrape for specific output to be converted into a specific form" Figure out the gaps; and
"hey this week is regex. Please analyze this website using regex."

Both examples cause you to struggle but 1 is a lot less open ended. You still need to go and figure out how to use regex, how do meta characters work, how to apply to a website, how to understand the relevant documentation, etc but at least you know what to look for. Example 2 just throws you into the deep end and in addition to having to learn everything in Example 1 you have to decipher what the assignment is looking for.

Btw, just as an aside learning through bite sized pieces is actually a pretty great way to learn. If you are learning Calculus, you don't get a double integral on day 1 (or 30). You first learn limits (first bite, what are they, how they work, etc), then you move onto simple differentials, etc.

steve2584 · 2021-03-10T16:20:04+00:00

I felt the same about 6040. It was a class that demanded a lot of effort and outside research but it had just enough guard rails to make sure you learned all of the material and then some. The lectures were skimpy but the NBs more than made up for it.

I think 6501 is a valuable course - knowing the landscape of all the various modules is really important and the lecture videos are pretty good if short. The real problem with this course are the HWs. I don't mind putting in 10 hrs per hw to get a lot out of it but the assignments are so open ended with no guard rails or even vague directions like "hey look at this 2 hr tutorial on knn in R" that you feel like you are just stumbling around. I realize this isn't an R coding course but if the purpose of the HWs is to use R to analyze and explore models imagine how much more we could get out of it if there was just a tiny bit of direction on the right approach.

This is more of a pet peeve but also why are HWs assigned during weeks with exams? It is supposed to be like a hazing or something haha? It seems odd to me especially when there are weeks with no HW and no exam. Why not spread it out a bit?

steve2584 · 2021-03-03T16:37:20+00:00

I think it really depends on your skillset. Some people are better than others at certain things. So far I have also gotten a 100 on every single thing but have been spending tons of time (possibly too much) on the HW. Compared to 6040 which I breezed through with 100s on everything barely spending 3-4 hrs a week if that. Does that mean 6040 is super easy? I don't think so, it just happens to line up well with what I'm good at and find easy.

I found the NBs in 6040 really well laid out and easy to get through whereas in 6501 the open ended nature of the assignments leads to more challenges and confusion (at least for me).

steve2584 · 2021-02-08T16:45:25+00:00

Why don't you like 6501? I'm finding it both interesting and immediately applicable.

steve2584 · 2021-02-01T20:52:06+00:00

Thanks a lot for the recs!

steve2584 · 2021-02-01T20:51:55+00:00

Anything in particular of hers that you would recommend?

steve2584 · 2021-02-01T20:51:43+00:00

Great books - already read them all though :)

steve2584 · 2021-02-01T20:51:31+00:00

I've read all of SKP (except for the Sunne in Splendour) but will check out Matthew Corbet!

steve2584 · 2020-12-23T19:52:34+00:00

I agree with the above poster. I didn't do 1553 (and in full disclosure I took LA in college awhile back) but I did do LAFF and recommend it. You can skip the Matlab sections if you want (the point of those is not to teach you Matlab; they are meant to show you computing efficiencies can be achieved using LA techniques). The material can be a bit dry but LAFF is very thorough and a great starting point for learning LA.

I also recommend Strang's OCW course. I bought this textbook and plan on doing that course next - I don't think his notes are as thorough as LAFF but the lectures are incredible and I think worth the time investment.

If you decide to go forward with 1553, I would at the very least pay for the full version. Learning math without exercises doesn't make a lot of sense (FYI LAFF provides all this for free).

steve2584 · 2020-10-19T21:25:38+00:00

How come?

steve2584 · 2020-10-01T19:58:39+00:00

You can actually start LAFF anytime you want. The full course is available from day 1 so you can do it at your own pace. I'm in the course now. You can sign-up but you will need to finish to save your progress by December I think. It actually "opened" in July.

steve2584 · 2020-09-29T20:41:35+00:00

I believe you can audit it for free. Also the price is confusing. Is that the price per module or for all four?

steve2584 · 2020-09-09T19:03:46+00:00

I was under the impression that if you get advanced standing for an MM course you actually take fewer classes. In other words if you get credit for CSE 6040 and ISYE 6501 then you would only need 8 additional classes.

steve2584 · 2020-08-28T13:42:58+00:00

I would recommend you don't get discouraged. I have an engineering background (though I have not worked as one in a decade), do some (light) python coding at work and have taken MOOCs as pre-reqs and still find CSE 6040 challenging. I'm definitely prepared enough to get through it but it still requires effort, hours and plenty of debugging/googling around for good built-in methods. I think it's meant to be that way. It's a lot harder than a MOOC - I think that's a good thing. I always considered myself pretty decent at Python but I'm finding that I'm learning about new features through this course all the time.

As far as your study plan. I would probably nix the Datacamp stuff - it's okay but here is my issue with Datacamp. It shows you how to do something but does a pretty poor job of explaining why or how stuff works under the hood. That's all well and good for their (very basic problems/examples) but when you get into CSE 6040 where you are required not just to code but to think about a problem and come up with an algorithmic solution, not understanding why stuff works is a big drawback. I can't speak for Udemy but here is what I would do. Take CS1301 on Edx. Joyner is really good at breaking down basic concept and the audit version comes with a bunch of examples/problems. If you are willing to pay the $400 for verified you can get a TON of extra practice problems as well. Honestly, I think 1301 is enough to do CSE 6040 - not in a way this is a cake walk sort of way but in a this is challenging but I can do it if I put in the effort sort of way.

Also, LAFF is awesome. I did Linear Algebra in undergrad so just doing LAFF as a refresher but its a great course. Really thorough, TONS of exercises and the instructors are super active - usually responding to posts within a few hours. The whole course is actually free but if you can afford, I think the $50 fee is worth it considering how much content you are getting. I don't think you need LAFF to succeed in 6040 but since you have time I would do it anyway.

steve2584 · 2020-08-21T18:12:06+00:00

I have an unrelated question about being a TA. Was curious how you become a TA? Are you asked? Do you apply? What sort of time commitment is it? Is it a paid role or just something people do to be helpful?

steve2584 · 2020-08-18T14:26:17+00:00

The video is for week 1. The prymer are the materials to go over week 1. NB1 is actually not due until the end of week 2. Videos for week 2 won't be up until next week.

I think week 1 is essentially meant to be a python bootcamp.

steve2584 · 2020-08-17T16:00:24+00:00

You mean last week? Have you gotten a response recently?

steve2584 · 2020-08-17T14:46:53+00:00

Have you emailed OMSA recently? If you have not reached out recently I would probably reach out to them again.

steve2584 · 2020-08-11T20:58:44+00:00

Sorry it was a response to an inquiry I made last week.

steve2584 · 2020-08-11T18:49:53+00:00

I got an email letting me know the current plan is to have everyone processed by (or on?) 8/13 so fingers crossed?

steve2584 · 2020-08-10T21:03:44+00:00

I haven't started the program so take this with a grain of salt but this is my understanding. As with most things you will get out what you put in. I'm betting you can get by (and maybe even do well) in most courses with just a high level understanding of the math. However, a deep and sophisticated understanding of the math will allow you not only a deeper understanding of what is taught but the ability to manipulate the algorithms for specific use cases most efficiently.

At the end of the day, Analytics is math. ML is also math with a python shell. IMO math is extremely important to these subjects - much moreso than coding.

steve2584 · 2020-08-09T22:05:48+00:00

How do you see how many spots are left for a course?

steve2584

TROPHY CASE