Essential MOOC Courses In Business For October

Game Theory

School: Stanford University and the University of British Columbia

Platform: Coursera

Registration Link: Game Theory

Start Date: October 5, 2014 (9 Weeks Long)

Workload: 5-7 Hours Per Week

Instructors:  Matthew O. Jackson, Yoav Shoham and Kevin Leyton-Brown

Credentials:  Jackson, an economics professor at Stanford University, teaches courses in game theory, political economics, and microeconomics. A Stanford Ph.D., Jackson is best known for his book, Social and Economic Networks. He also teaches a Social and Economic Networks MOOCs, with a second part to this Game Theory MOOC starting in January 2015.

A Yale Ph.D., Shoham teaches courses in artificial intelligence, game theory, and electronic commerce in Stanford’s computer science and philosophy schools. He is a fellow at the Association for Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) and has founded several internet companies.

Leyton-Brown, who co-authored a book on game theory with Shoham, teaches computer science courses at the University of British Columbia. Like Jackson, he is a Stanford Ph.D. and researches extensively on the impact on technology on microeconomics. He is an associate editor for several scholarly journals.

Graded: This course includes graded and ungraded tracks. Students who successfully compete the quizzes and final exam will receive a signed certification of completion.

Description: Game theory encompasses the strategic interactions between self-interested parties. It applies mathematic models to predict behavior in everything from stock market purchases to potential actions by nations in conflict. In this course, students will study competition concepts and basic games, applying them to real world scenarios to identify potential responses and repercussions. Although the course relies heavily on video lectures and slideshows, students will also learn concepts through lab exercises, where students will compete with each other online in various games. Students will be evaluated using quizzes, problem sets, and a final exam. And they can receive help from TAs and peers using an online forum. Students can also interact with instructors during regularly-scheduled “screen-side chats.”

Review: “I had no prior experience with this subject and I found it really challenging. It tested my maths but I did pass – just – which was a great relief. The course was well presented by likeable lecturers but because of the nature of the subject I think it would have benefited from more examples and earlier access to results and explanations for the exam questions. I bought the text book, but had to work really hard to understand the more complex areas. But it was very rewarding when I did finally work it all out! For additional reviews, click here.

Additional Note: The professors assume students enroll in the course with a basic knowledge of calculus and probability fundamentals. To preview a lecture, click here. For additional background on the course, students can purchase Essentials of Game Theory by Leyton-Brown and Shoham or A Brief Introduction to the Basics of Game Theory by Jackson.