Experimentation for Improvement
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937 reviews
937 reviews
Skills you'll gain
- Data Analysis Software
- Quantitative Research
- Statistical Methods
- Plot (Graphics)
- Predictive Modeling
- Scientific Visualization
- Pareto Chart
- Experimentation
- Regression Analysis
- Model Optimization
- Process Optimization
- Statistical Analysis
- Predictive Analytics
- Mathematical Modeling
- Data Analysis
- Analysis
- Data Visualization
- Statistical Modeling
Tools you'll learn
Details to know
See how employees at top companies are mastering in-demand skills
There are 6 modules in this course
We are always using experiments to improve our lives, our community, and our work. Are you doing it efficiently? Or are you (incorrectly) changing one thing at a time and hoping for the best?
In this course, you will learn how to plan efficient experiments - testing with many variables. Our goal is to find the best results using only a few experiments. A key part of the course is how to optimize a system. We use simple tools: starting with fast calculations by hand, then we show how to use FREE software. The course comes with slides, transcripts of all lectures, subtitles (English, Spanish and Portuguese; some Chinese and French), videos, audio files, source code, and a free textbook. You get to keep all of it, all freely downloadable. This course is for anyone working in a company, or wanting to make changes to their life, their community, their neighbourhood. You don't need to be a statistician or scientist! There's something for everyone in here. ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ Over 1500 people have completed this online course. What have prior students said about this course? "This definitely is one of the most fruitful courses I have participated at Coursera, considering the takeaways and implementations! And so far I finished 12 [courses]." "Excelente curso, flexible y con suficiente material didáctico fácilmente digerible y cómodo. No importa si se tiene pocas bases matemáticas o estadísticas, el curso proporciona casi toda explicación necesaria para un entendimiento alto." "I wish I had enrolled in your course years ago -- it would have saved us a lot of time in optimizing experimental conditions." Jason Eriksen, 3 Jan 2017 "Interesting and developing both analytical and creative thinking. The lecturer took care to bring lots of real live examples which are fun to analyze." 20 February 2016. "... love your style of presentation, and the examples you took from everyday life to explain things. It is very difficult to make such a mathematical course accessible and comprehensible to this wide a variety of people!" ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
We perform experiments all the time, so let's learn some terminology that we will use throughout the course. We show plenty of examples, and see how to analyze an experiment. We end by pointing out: "how not to run an experiment".
What's included
5 videos1 reading2 assignments
5 videos•Total 27 minutes
- Promotional video for this course•2 minutes
- 1A: Why experiments are so important•7 minutes
- 1B: Some basic terminology•6 minutes
- 1C: Analysis of your first experiment•9 minutes
- 1D: How NOT to run an experiment•3 minutes
1 reading•Total 10 minutes
- Materials for this section•10 minutes
2 assignments•Total 60 minutes
- Ungraded practice quiz 1•30 minutes
- Module 1 quiz•30 minutes
The focus is on manual calculations. Why? Because you have to understand the most basic building blocks of efficient experiments. We look at systems with 2 and 3 variables (factors). Don't worry; the computer will do the work in the next module.
What's included
5 videos1 reading2 assignments
5 videos•Total 59 minutes
- 2A: Analysis of experiments in two factors by hand•14 minutes
- 2B: Numeric predictions from two-factor experiments•7 minutes
- 2C: Two-factor experiments with interactions•15 minutes
- 2D: In-depth case study: analyzing a system with 3 factors by hand•17 minutes
- Enrichment: Made for you by Madeleine: an interview with Joy•5 minutes
1 reading•Total 10 minutes
- Materials for this section•10 minutes
2 assignments•Total 60 minutes
- Ungraded practice quiz 2•30 minutes
- Module 2 quiz•30 minutes
Now we use free software to do the work for us. You can even run the software through a website (without installing anything special). We look at systems with 2, 3 and 4 factors. Most importantly we focus on the software interpretation.
What's included
5 videos1 reading2 assignments
5 videos•Total 39 minutes
- 3A: Setting up the least squares model for a 2 factor experiment•6 minutes
- 3B: Solving the mathematical model for a 2 factor experiment using software•9 minutes
- 3C: Using computer software for a 3 factor experiment•9 minutes
- 3D: Case study: a 4-factor system using computer software•9 minutes
- Enrichment: Dr. Soo Chan Carusone talks about experiments in a medical context•7 minutes
1 reading•Total 10 minutes
- Materials for this section•10 minutes
2 assignments•Total 60 minutes
- Ungraded practice quiz 3•30 minutes
- Module 3 quiz•30 minutes
This is where the course gets tough and rough, but real. The quiz at the end if a tough one, so take it several times to be sure you have mastered the material - that's all that matters - understanding. We want to do as few experiments as possible, while still learning the most we can. Feel free to skip to module 5, which is the crucial learning from the whole course. You can come back here later. In module 4 we show how to do *practical* experiments that practitioners use everyday. We learn about important safeguards to ensure that we are not mislead by Mother Nature.
What's included
9 videos1 reading3 assignments
9 videos•Total 88 minutes
- 4A: The trade-offs when doing half-fraction factorials•13 minutes
- 4B: The technical details behind half-fractions - math warning!•10 minutes
- 4C: A case study with aliasing in a fractional factorial•7 minutes
- 4D: All about disturbances, why we randomize, and what covariates are•11 minutes
- 4E: All about blocking•9 minutes
- 4F: Introducing aliasing notation•12 minutes
- 4G: Using aliasing notation to plan experiments•11 minutes
- 4H: An example of an analyzing an experiment with aliasing•10 minutes
- Enrichment: My colleague, David, and his student Jeff, talk about water treatment experiments•6 minutes
1 reading•Total 10 minutes
- Materials for this section•10 minutes
3 assignments•Total 90 minutes
- Ungraded practice quiz 4: [4A,B,C,D]•30 minutes
- Ungraded practice quiz [4E, 4F, 4G, 4H]•30 minutes
- Module 4 quiz [4A to 4H]•30 minutes
This is the goal we've been working towards: how to optimize any system. We start gently. We optimize a system with 1 factor and we also show why optimizing one factor at a time is misleading. We spend several videos to show how to optimize a system with 2 variables.
What's included
8 videos1 reading4 assignments
8 videos•Total 95 minutes
- 5A: Response surface methods (RSM): an introduction•6 minutes
- 5B: Response surface methods (RSM): one variable•19 minutes
- 5C: Why changing one factor at a time (OFAT) will mislead you•6 minutes
- 5D: The concept of contour plots and which objectives should we maximize•4 minutes
- 5E: RSM in 2 factors: introducing the case study•19 minutes
- 5F: RSM case study continues: constraints and mistakes•14 minutes
- 5G: RSM case study continues: approaching the optimum•17 minutes
- Enrichment: An interview with Dr. Joe Kim (McMaster University)•11 minutes
1 reading•Total 10 minutes
- Materials for this section•10 minutes
4 assignments•Total 120 minutes
- Ungraded practice quiz [5A, 5B, 5C, 5D]•30 minutes
- Ungraded practice quiz [5E, 5F, 5G]•30 minutes
- Module 5 quiz [5A, 5B, 5C, 5D]•30 minutes
- Module 5 quiz [5E, 5F, 5G]•30 minutes
We close up the course and point out the next steps you might follow to extend what you have learned here.
What's included
1 video1 reading1 assignment
1 video•Total 8 minutes
- 6: The big picture (wrapping it up, and other topics)•8 minutes
1 reading•Total 10 minutes
- Materials for this section•10 minutes
1 assignment•Total 30 minutes
- Final survey: your feedback and comments•30 minutes
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Reviewed on Jun 13, 2017
Very useful and implementable course. Highly recommended for students and professionals alike who are in the business of developing new product and processes.
Reviewed on Feb 21, 2018
Fantastic course for college engineering students or even recent grads whose program's, as they increasingly do, do not cover DOE in their required coursework.
Reviewed on Apr 10, 2019
Satisfying course content and structure. Reasonable course speed. Nice, practical reference. Good introduction to design of experiments and response surface methods.
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