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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Model Thinking by University of Michigan

4.8
stars
2,254 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

RK

Nov 18, 2019

This is a fantastic course that I would recommend to anyone interested in learning how to think better. It introduced me to many topics that i want to learn more about. Thank you, Professor Page!

AA

Jun 6, 2016

Wonderful course and equally wonderful instructor. I really like how Scott builds up from a very simple model and by explaining the intuition behind how we got the math, explains the maths.

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201 - 225 of 508 Reviews for Model Thinking

By Nomthandazo M

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Aug 31, 2020

I really enjoyed doing model thinking, one gets to view problems in different perspectives

By Marco Z

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Apr 22, 2018

Very interesting. Especially the part about the game of life and cellular automata models!

By Susan S

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May 24, 2021

Extremely challenging, but I did like the way it was set out. Thank you Professor Scott.

By Andrew S T

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Jun 1, 2020

It has been an absolute delight and opened up my mind regarding day to day phenomenons.

By Nolan C

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May 15, 2019

Great course. Super interesting from start to finish with excellent real-world examples.

By Thomas M

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Nov 6, 2019

Super entertaining and so necessary for critical thinking in an information rich world!

By OJIJO W

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Jul 4, 2019

great source of knowledge in models and how they can be used in real problem scenarios.

By KD H

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Mar 5, 2019

Great content, well explained, straight to the point without filler.

Excellent teacher.

By Zeb S

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Jun 14, 2021

An excellent course, clear instruction, interesting material, and the pace is perfect.

By halil k

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Nov 8, 2020

Thank you Scott for this course. I hope some other follow-up courses shall continue.

By Milind G

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Dec 20, 2018

Excellent Teaching and Good content for getting an introduction for Model Thinking.

By Aleksandr K

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Nov 30, 2022

Dear Mr. Scott! Thank you for this great opportunity to be an intelligent citizen!

By Markus M

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May 31, 2021

This is an amazing guide to various areas of modeling lead by a qualified teacher.

By Fahad A H

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Jun 22, 2016

It's very interesting course. I'm learning new things that were not noticed before

By Nisheed K M

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Jun 21, 2020

Helps you think with clarity while approaching a problem at work or in real life.

By Danilo M F

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Jun 3, 2017

Excellent professor, meaningful insights and great course! Extremely recommended!

By Gareth H

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Oct 8, 2020

Excellent course material, engaging course lecturer and lots of further reading

By Brad P

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Oct 15, 2018

Great course! I love it so much. thanks for all the hard work done by the team.

By Kudzani P

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Jun 22, 2022

Amazing course, it re-introduced me to deliberate intelligent thinking process

By Huazhen M G

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Feb 28, 2024

it's very interesting course and it really made me a better clearer thinker!

By Sergey L

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Jul 19, 2020

It's an amazing course that explains different ways to understand the world.

By Oscar J D R

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Jan 23, 2016

It offers excellent tools so as to understand networks, totally recommended.

By Zhanwen.Han

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Aug 29, 2016

very good for beginner. if speaking speed can slow a little, will be nicer!

By Alfonso P

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Jun 8, 2021

Excellent course, great material, and excellent teacher! Very recommended.

By Jaloliddin R

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Oct 15, 2020

Great course! I learn a lot of new theories and ways of interpreting data.