This course provides a practical and theoretical tour of the most essential probability distributions that are most often used for modern machine learning and data science. We will explore the fundamental building blocks for modeling discrete events (Bernoulli, binomial, multinomial distributions) and continuous quantities (Gaussian distribution) and discuss the implications of Bayes Theorem. Moreover, we will discuss two perspectives in estimating the model parameters, namely Bayesian perspective and frequentist perspective and learn how to reason about uncertainty in model parameters themselves using the powerful beta and Dirichlet distributions for Bayesian perspective and maximum likelihood estimate for frequentist perspective. By the end of this course, you will have a fluent command of the mathematical "language" needed to understand, build, and interpret probabilistic models.

Foundations for Machine Learning

Foundations for Machine Learning
This course is part of Practical Machine Learning: Foundations to Neural Networks Specialization

Instructor: Peter Chin
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Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.
Intermediate level
Recommended experience
2 weeks to complete
at 10 hours a week
Flexible schedule
Learn at your own pace
What you'll learn
How to model data with key distributions, apply Bayes and MLE, and quantify uncertainty via conjugate priors.
Tools you'll learn
Details to know

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Assessments
26 assignments
Taught in English
Recently updated!
November 2025
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Build your subject-matter expertise
This course is part of the Practical Machine Learning: Foundations to Neural Networks Specialization
When you enroll in this course, you'll also be enrolled in this Specialization.
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There are 8 modules in this course
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Build toward a degree
This course is part of the following degree program(s) offered by Dartmouth College. If you are admitted and enroll, your completed coursework may count toward your degree learning and your progress can transfer with you.¹
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