Question

Hi, I just came across the MIT Open courseware. My son is in 9th grade and wishes to learn programming. HE has never taken any programming course before but is very strong at Math. Is the course MIT 6.00 Intro Computer Science (OCW) appropriate for him?
Do you get a cirtificate if you complete successfully? Please advise. Thanks!

Answer 1

(I think) The course was designed for MIT freshmen whose major is other than Computer Science. It expects a certain level of mathematics understanding - concepts mostly. There are plenty of comments here and in discussion forums for the equivalent EDx course regarding a perceived over-emphasis of mathematical concepts. But with an open mind and a willingness to learn on your own it can be a great course - I liked it, I had the basic understanding they were expecting and i spent a lot of time reading up on topics presented to gain a better understanding. It is mainly a computer science class - introducing computer science concepts. They do not spend much time teaching you how to program - there are some good free resources.

Answer 2

bwCA, Thank you for your response. Gives me better idea about the class. Thanks for taking time!

Answer 3

Staford's CS106A Programming Methodologies is required of all Stanford students and is less on the math. I've done both courses, and I recommend the Stanford one. http:see.stanford.edu and click on the courses tab.

Answer 4

rsmith6559, Thank you very much for your recommendation! We'll definitely take a look at the Stanford one.

Answer 5

I learned intro computer science and programming from MIT OCW in the ninth grade. I did already have a certain level of mathematical and logical maturity, and I supplemented heavily from Project Euler and other online programming problem sets. I would guess that in terms of math, a basic understanding of functions and algebra should suffice.