After finishing over 20 Data Science courses on Coursera, I’d like to share some tips and recommendations for those who are planning to start their Data Science journey on this wonderful platform.
1. Apply!
The best learning is through experience. Acquiring new knowledge isn’t enough to make real progress in Data Science. You have to make sure that you apply your new knowledge in real-life, whether it’s a personal project, a company project or a Kaggle competition. The way I did it was like that: Before taking courses on Coursera, I’ve signed up for a Kaggle competition (the classical Titanic would be a good place to start, but you can choose another one that is of an interest to you), and just tried my luck with the knowledge I had. Afterwards, I started learning a new course, and during the course I made sure to apply the new knowledge to my Kaggle submission, even when it wasn’t really necessary for the competition. This way I made sure I really understand the new materials and could apply them to my code in a different environment. Anyhow, the important thing is to apply the new knowledge you acquire on a new dataset and in a different environment than the one on the course. This is highly important for your learning.
2. Make Good Notes.
Actively take notes during the videos and assignments. This promotes active thinking, helps concentration, and boosts your understanding. I used Jupyter notebooks for taking notes, and started a new notebook for every new topic (for example Pandas, Visualization, NN, etc.). I also made sure to copy important code snippets from the assignments.
3. Pay, it’s worth it!
There are three main reasons to pay for a certificate: a. You’ll get a certificate, and that’s a great way to officially certify your completion and your new acquired knowledge. Share this certificate on LinkedIn and mark it down on your resume. It looks great. b. You’ll be able to submit assignments and get feedback from the course staff. That’s important for your learning. c. It will help your commitment, and “drive” you further to commit significant time and effort. Paid learners are significantly more likely to finish a course compared to unpaid learners.
4. Learn One Course at a Time.
Multitasking is a fiction. You must stay focused on your goal. Your learning would be much better, as well as your productivity, than if you were trying to learn many courses at once. It is hard anyways to learn a new subject, and making sure you’re focused on your goals is highly important.
5. Manage Your Time.
It takes a lot of time to finish a course successfully. You should make sure you do have the time for that. It’s better to study 10 hours a week and finish a course in two weeks, than studying 2 hours a week and finishing a course in 10 weeks. Get ready to a big workload with a lot of lectures, readings, and assignments every day (and then applying everything!). Try to finish the weekly materials as soon as possible. With that being said, you also have to manage your breaks. Resting is crucial for high performance learning. I suggest taking small breaks between lectures or topics, and also a bigger break during the weekend. This will re-energize you and give you time and space to “digest” the new materials.
6. Make Sure you Succeed.
You are on a long journey. To make it, you must “collect” small successes and avoid small failures. This is super important for your self-efficacy, self-will, and self-confidence. Don’t take the hardest course on Coursera at the beginning. Start small and easy, and pick a course that you are sure you can finish successfully. It is much better than taking a hard course at the beginning that will make you frustrated. Take things gradually. Step by step. Success by success. Even if you already know everything in that course, it’s better to “collect” this succuss to your self-efficacy bank and to your resume or LinkedIn profile. Besides that, there will always be new things you can learn from super talented professors and practitioners like Andrew Ng.
Best of luck!
Shai.