Much of our competence, and for that matter even the interest we have, in a subject is down to how well we were taught that subject. A good teacher has a profound influence on the capabilities and performance of his pupils in life. Science and engineering education is no exception. With my sights set on taking up teaching and research as a career, I'm always impressed when I come across someone who is exceptional and creative in his pedagogical methods.
Recently, thanks to YouTube, I stumbled upon a few lectures from one such gifted teacher, Professor Walter Lewin, who teaches Physics at MIT. His methods are truly worth emulating as the following video would testify.
With several universities across the world opening up their lecture halls to the world, by providing free access to recorded lectures, the enthusiastic student of today has an invaluable resource to tap from.
Here are a few such links from generous universities:
- MIT Open Course Ware - http://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm
- UCB Webcast - http://webcast.berkeley.edu/courses.php
- NPTEL (A Joint Venture by IITs and IISc) - http://nptel.iitm.ac.in/
- Academic Earth - http://academicearth.org/
- Free Lecture Videos - http://www.freelecturevideos.com/
- 101 Killer Open Courseware Projects from Around the World - http://bestcollegerankings.org/2009/101-killer-open-courseware-projects-from-around-the-world-ivy-league-and-beyond/
