Engineering students are used to learn their subjects and courses inside the classroom. The conventional way of learning is that there is a teacher in front of students for instruction, and pay for the education the students get.
But what if we completely dissolve that idea? What if we learn engineering online and complete the whole course, more so in a challenging amount of time without even paying for it?
Source: Dataconomy
That is what essentially the MIT Challenge is about as instigated by Scott Young, who managed to finish a four-year computer science degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in less than a year without taking a single class. It seemed quite impossible for some, but this was barely a challenge for this Canadian fella.
Source: Amazon
Being interested in learning about many subjects especially computer science, Scott found a way to get another degree in a field that he didn’t even know if he will get a job with. He had a limited timeline and finances which led him to explore the possibility of learning the entire course substantially by just following the syllabus of the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) of MIT.
Source: Scott Young
Scott Young’s TEDxEastSidePrep Talk
He started the MIT Challenge, as what it is now popularly called, in October of 2011 and ‘graduated’ in September of 2012. Scott engaged himself with full video lectures, interactive apps, programming projects, and tons of help to get the degree, alongside the public resources that he could acquire. It was all self-effort and self-study.
It wasn’t even a time that MOOCs was at its peak, the more reason this guy should be praised for coping up with a new learning system. The structure of the MOOC is entirely different from that in the classroom; most people, a good 95% of those who try, just give up along the way. But never Scott.
He did this challenge open through his website that kept him motivated to complete the course. He also shared an important quote that will summarize the experience:
If you tie yourself to the mast, you can avoid the allure to give up later.
Of course every topic in his degree wasn’t his cup of tea. He struggled in learning Electromagnetics and Applications, but found delight in his favorite subjects in programming, from AI applications to computer graphics.
What’s more fascinating about his feat is his ability to absorb all those information in just a minimum amount of time, and maintaining the focus on the matter.
Luckily, he is generous enough to tell his secret in speeding up the online learning process.
At its core, his strategy to learn faster is structured on coverage, practice, and insight.
Coverage
Get a general sense of what you need to learn. This is the first step to learn anything deeply. You will need to watch lectures, read textbooks, and extend your research. Write sparse notes while doing them to improve retention.
But this is not the most important stage yet like others would think. This is but the warm-up.
Practice
Practice, practice, practice. This is the key to boost understanding. With a solution key in hand, you can check your work right away. If you don’t get your solutions checked or not getting any feedback, it hinders your effectiveness.
Insight
After you have accomplished the coverage and practice, it leads you to a moment of insight where you assess what you understand and what you don’t. But this is illusive, as there are times that we think we exactly know the topic but there’s actually something lacking.
You have to seek for opportunities to explore beyond what is learned to get better understanding at the topics.
Nonetheless, the MIT Challenge is actually quite an achievable challenge. All you will ever need is the determination to finish the degree with ample resources and a mind that is hungry for learning.
Article Sources:
Calnewport
Scott Young
Student Advisor
