Ask Slashdot. Best Online Science Course? 166
First time accepted submitter blubadger writes "Having slept through chemistry at school, I'm looking to fill in the gaps in my science education by following a short online course or two. I've been searching for 'Chemistry 101,' 'Basics of Physics,' 'Biology Primer,' and so on. There's some high-quality stuff on offer – from Academic Earth, MIT and others – but it tends to take the form of videos of traditional university lectures. I was hoping to cut through the chit-chat and blackboards and get straight into the infographics and animations that will help me understand complex ideas. Flash and HTML5 Canvas seem wasted on videos of lectures. If the quality were high enough I would be willing to pay. Have Slashdotters seen anything that fits the bill?"
two words (Score:0, Informative)
Khan Academy. JFGI.
Khan Academy (Score:5, Informative)
KhanAcademy (Score:5, Informative)
I suggest you take a look at the videos at http://www.khanacademy.org/ [khanacademy.org]. The guy that makes these has quite a talent for teaching and the sketches help a lot with more difficult subjects. I'm currently about half way through with the macroeconomy playlist and I find the information very easy to obtain in the format it is provided there.
YouTube series: Crashcourse (Score:5, Informative)
It's a work in progress, but there's a new YouTube series called Crash Course [youtube.com] which presently covers biology and world history. They're planning to encompass other subjects in the future as well, but it just recently started. The history lessons are taught by author/nerd John Green and the biology is taught by his brother Hank Green. I suggest you check it out; it's got lots of neat graphics, simple explanations, and is easy to follow.
As mentioned in other posts, Khan Academy [khanacademy.org] is also a fantastic online resource. It's not quite as spiffy as Crash Course, but covers far more subjects, and is easy to follow.
Open Learning Initiative (Score:4, Informative)
You should take a look at Carnegie Mellon University's Open Learning Initiative ( http://oli.cmu.edu ). They have whole courses, which are typically not video-based, and they include lots of interactive exercises to help you grasp the concepts. (Full Disclosure: I'm currently working on a new chemistry course for OLI, which should be available later this year or early next year.)
Re:I personally love Khans accademy. (Score:5, Informative)
Chem
http://www.khanacademy.org/science/chemistry [khanacademy.org]
and
Organic Chem
http://www.khanacademy.org/science/organic-chemistry [khanacademy.org]
Thinking I just got trolled by two ACs.
Re:Dear Slashdot, (Score:5, Informative)
The Feynman Lectures on Physics are awesome. Better than any other materials I ever encountered on the subject of Physics. I don't recall how difficult they are -- i.e., whether they require calculus or not.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Feynman-Lectures-Physics-boxed/dp/0465023827 [amazon.com]
If anyone could recommend something comparable for Calculus, I'd love to hear it. I need a Calculus refresher.