Machine Learning, Maths & Ethics: Hands-on

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Course description

Would you like to know the basics of machine learning, but don't know where to start? Would you like to learn about the societal challenges of machine learning? Then, this course is for you!

This hands-on course in Machine Learning, Maths & Ethics, teaches you about the foundations of Machine Learning in an intuitive way. It has a heavy focus on exercises and examples of its applications. The course allows you to develop practical skills to build algorithms and stimulate critical thinking on the ethics of machine learning models.

Although the fields of computer science, artificial intelligence and machine learning are changing the world, the truth is that girls and women are still underrepresented in these fields. We prepared this online course, following the guidelines of FOSTWOM Erasmus+ project to develop MOOCs according to a gender conscious perspective in narratives, in the language, and in the use of images. Thus, we expect this MOOC to be a meaningful learning opportunity to empower young people, especially young women to follow these areas of expertise.

Are you going to miss the opportunity to learn about a technology that is transforming the world?

Total workload of the course: 40 hours

This MOOC has been designed by Instituto Superior Técnico (Lisbon), provided by Politecnico di Milano and developed in the frame of the FOSTWOM project.

This MOOC is one of the outputs of the Erasmus+ FOSTWOM project (No.2019-1-ES01-KA203-065924).

Co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union

The European Commission’s support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Information about fees and access to materials

You can access the course absolutely free of charge and completely online.

Course materials will remain available to all enrolled users after the end of the current edition, so they can return to content later. The current course edition will be followed by a new one just after its end.

All videos included in the MOOC are provided with subtitles both in English and Italian.

Learning schedule

Machine Learning, Maths & Ethics: Hands-on is structured in five weeks plus one week for introduction.

• Week 0 – Welcome and introduction
• Week 1 – Learning from experience: Machine learning and supervised learning
• Week 2 – How we are going to work in supervised learning models
• Week 3 – Data preparation, data exploration and statistics
• Week 4 – Training models, evaluating models and matrices
• Week 5 – Ethical challenges of machine learning algorithms

Intended Learning Outcomes

Throughout these topics you will learn:

1. What machine learning is;
   ESCO: principles of artificial intelligence
2. The different types of machine learning, and supervised learning in more detail;
   ESCO: machine learning
3. The standard process of building predictive models;
   ESCO: algorithms
4. The four steps of the standard process: data preparation, data exploration, model training, model evaluation;
   ESCO: algorithms
5. Some fundamental Maths needed to understand machine learning: Statistics and Linear Algebra;
   ESCO: statistics
6. How to program in Python with Google Colab;
   ESCO: ML (computer programming)
7. How to be aware of the challenges of building fair machine learning algorithms.
   ESCO: follow ethical code of conduct

Prerequisites

No prerequisite knowledge is required for this course.

Activities

Over and above consulting the content, in the form of videos and other web-based resources, you will have the opportunity to discuss course topics and to share ideas with your peers in the Forum of this MOOC.

Assessment

At the end of Week 1, 2 and 5 there are graded Quizzes with multiple choice problems, check boxes, numerical input, etc. In Week 3 and 4, there are two Quizzes in each with similar type of problems. Every quiz accounts equally for the final grade. Participants with a final score equal or greater than 60% will receive a completion certificate (without reference of the final grade).

Certificate of Accomplishment

The Certificate of Accomplishment will be released to anyone who successfully completed the course by achieving at least 60% of the total score in the assessed quizzes. You will be able to download the Certificate of Accomplishment directly from the website.

Once you have successfully passed the course, you can request the Certificate of Accomplishment without waiting for the end of the edition.

The Certificate of Accomplishment does not confer any academic credit, grade or degree.

European Qualifications Framework Level

EQF Level 5

Thematic area (ISCED-F classification)

061 Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs)

0619 Information and Communication Technologies not elsewhere classified

Discussion forum

The forum of this MOOC is freely accessible and participation is not guided; you can use it to compare yourself with other participants, or to discuss course contents with them.

Contact details

If you have any enquiries about the course or if you need technical assistance please contact pok@polimi.it. For further information, see FAQ page.