Instructor Insights

Instructor Insights pages are part of the OCW Educator initiative, which seeks to enhance the value of OCW for educators.

Instructor Insights

I think the evening Common Room is one of the best elements of the class . . . We find students working individually as well as collaboratively, and periodically interacting with the staff, either at the board or at their desk—very immersed and engaged in the homework problems, and in sorting out ideas and misconceptions related to these.

— George Verghese

Below, Professor George Verghese describes how the teaching team facilitated 6.011 Signals, Systems and Inference.

Meet the Educator

What Makes this Subject Distinctive?

Supporting Students with Supplementary Opportunities

How Would You Like Your Grade: Regular, Lower-Friction, or Project-Based?

 

Curriculum Information

Prerequisites

The essential prerequisites for this course are 6.003 Signals and Systems and 6.041A Intro to Probability I (or equivalents), and the 18.03 Differential Equations material related to solving linear, time-invariant systems of first-order differential equations using eigenvalues and eigenvectors.

Requirements Satisfied

6.011 can be applied toward a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Offered

Every spring semester

The Classroom

  • Lecture hall with red tiered tablet chairs.

    Click for previous classroom. Room 1 of 3 Click for next classroom.

    Lecture

    Lectures were held in a tiered classroom equipped with an A/V system.

  • View from right side of classroom. A long table and three rows of chairs. A blackboard in front.

    Click for previous classroom. Room 2 of 3 Click for next classroom.

    Recitation

    Recitation sessions were held in a classroom with a chalkboard, a moveable table, and three rows of chairs.

  • View from left side of classroom. A long table and two rows of chairs. A huge blackboard in front.

    Click for previous classroom. Room 3 of 3 Click for next classroom.

    Common Room

    Common Room sessions were held in a classroom with a chalkboard, a moveable table, and chairs.

 

Assessment

The students' grades were based on the following activities:

The color used on the preceding chart which represents the percentage of the total grade contributed by participation. 15% Participation

Instructor Insights on Assessment

The teaching team offers students three grading schemes in the course.

Student Information

47 students took this course when it was offered in Spring 2018.

Breakdown by Year

Undergraduate and graduate students

Breakdown by Major

Mostly electrical engineering and computer science

Typical Student Background

The students in the class have increasingly varied backgrounds, varying in the extent of their general academic preparation, in their curricular concentrations, in their taste for theoretical material versus applications, and in their comfort with the prerequisite material (from a first course in signals & systems, and a first course in probability). This can make the class challenging for both the lecturer and the students, but having the lectures supplemented through recitation sections conducted by a professor, optional tutorials conducted by the teaching assistants, evening “Common Room” hours facilitated by one or two of the staff, and a textbook written specifically for this course all help to deal with the diverse student backgrounds and motivations.

 

 

How Student Time Was Spent

During an average week, students were expected to spend 12 hours on the course, divided as follows:

In Class

2 hours per week
  • Met 2 times per week for 1 hour per session; 24 sessions total.
  • Class sessions were lecture-based.
 

Recitation

2 hours per week
  • Met 2 times per week for 1 hour per session; 24 sessions total.
  • Recitations provided an opportunity for students to clarify and work with concepts and results from lecture in a more informal and interactive setting.
 

Out of Class

8 hours per week

Outside of class students completed assignments and had the opportunity to attend Common Room sessions and optional tutorials.

 

Semester Breakdown

WEEK M T W Th F
1 No classes throughout MIT. Recitation scheduled. Lecture scheduled. Recitation scheduled. No session scheduled.
2 Lecture scheduled. Recitation scheduled. Lecture scheduled. Recitation scheduled. No session scheduled, but a problem set due.
3 No classes throughout MIT. Recitation scheduled. Lecture scheduled. Recitation scheduled. No session scheduled, but a problem set due.
4 Lecture scheduled. Recitation scheduled. Lecture scheduled. Recitation scheduled and problem set due. No session scheduled.
5 Lecture scheduled. Recitation scheduled. Lecture scheduled. Recitation scheduled and problem set due. No session scheduled.
6 Lecture scheduled. Recitation scheduled. Lecture scheduled. Quiz 1 scheduled. No session scheduled.
7 Lecture scheduled. Recitation scheduled. Lecture scheduled. Recitation scheduled. No session scheduled, but a problem set due.
8 No classes throughout MIT. No classes throughout MIT. No classes throughout MIT. No classes throughout MIT. No classes throughout MIT.
9 Lecture scheduled. Recitation scheduled. Lecture scheduled. Recitation scheduled and problem set due. No session scheduled.
10 Lecture scheduled. Recitation scheduled. Lecture scheduled. Recitation scheduled and problem set due. No session scheduled.
11 No classes throughout MIT. No classes throughout MIT. Lecture scheduled. Recitation scheduled. No session scheduled.
12 Lecture scheduled. Recitation scheduled. Quiz 2 scheduled. Recitation scheduled. No session scheduled.
13 Lecture scheduled. Recitation scheduled. Lecture scheduled. Recitation scheduled. No session scheduled, but a problem set due.
14 Lecture scheduled. Recitation scheduled. Lecture scheduled. Recitation scheduled. No session scheduled, but a problem set due.
15 Lecture scheduled. Recitation scheduled. Lecture scheduled. No session scheduled. No classes throughout MIT.
16 No classes throughout MIT. No classes throughout MIT. No classes throughout MIT. No classes throughout MIT. No classes throughout MIT.
Displays the color and pattern used on the preceding table to indicate dates when classes are not held at MIT. No classes throughout MIT
Displays the color used on the preceding table to indicate dates when lecture sessions are held. Lecture
Displays the symbol used on the preceding table to indicate dates when assignments are due. Problem set due
Displays the color used on the preceding table to indicate dates when no class session is scheduled. No class session scheduled
Displays the color used on the preceding table to indicate dates when recitations are held. Recitation
Displays the symbol used on the preceding table to indicate dates when quiz is held. Quiz