Name: Model Thinking
Brand: University of Michigan
Availability: OnlineOnly
Rating: 4.8 (505 reviews)

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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Model Thinking by University of Michigan

4.8

stars

2,241 ratings

About the Course

We live in a complex world with diverse people, firms, and governments whose behaviors aggregate to produce novel, unexpected phenomena. We see political uprisings, market crashes, and a never ending array of social trends. How do we make sense of it? Models. Evidence shows that people who think with models consistently outperform those who don't. And, moreover people who think with lots of models outperform people who use only one. Why do models make us better thinkers? Models help us to better organize information - to make sense of that fire hose or hairball of data (choose your metaphor) available on the Internet. Models improve our abilities to make accurate forecasts. They help us make better decisions and adopt more effective strategies. They even can improve our ability to design institutions and procedures. In this class, I present a starter kit of models: I start with models of tipping points. I move on to cover models explain the wisdom of crowds, models that show why some countries are rich and some are poor, and models that help unpack the strategic decisions of firm and politicians. The models covered in this class provide a foundation for future social science classes, whether they be in economics, political science, business, or sociology. Mastering this material will give you a huge leg up in advanced courses. They also help you in life. Here's how the course will work. For each model, I present a short, easily digestible overview lecture. Then, I'll dig deeper. I'll go into the technical details of the model. Those technical lectures won't require calculus but be prepared for some algebra. For all the lectures, I'll offer some questions and we'll have quizzes and even a final exam. If you decide to do the deep dive, and take all the quizzes and the exam, you'll receive a Course Certificate. If you just decide to follow along for the introductory lectures to gain some exposure that's fine too. It's all free. And it's all here to help make you a better thinker!...

Top reviews

Apr 19, 2020

I have downloaded all the videos and even the lecture notes (as well prepared one). Greatly helpful to my profession. Thank you for this wonderful course.

Apr 19, 2020

Inch deep mile wide - great, wide-ranging overview of models. Gets a bit technical and quantitative sometimes but the information is useful to apply a more critical thinking lens to everyday life.

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501 - 505 of 505 Reviews for Model Thinking

By terrylknox

•

Feb 28, 2021

The videos may be useful for some but are difficult for others to follow (attention, accessibility, and other issues). This, combined with the lack of reading materials available (none) make information - especially the maths component of the course - harder to understand and absorb, given the quick nature and short timeline of the course. Given that the quizzes contain some math problems, it would be more helpful to have reading materials and small exercises to prepare for those quizzes instead of redoing the quiz rendering the learning process poor.