Is There an Interactive Online GR Course Available?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers around the search for an interactive online course in General Relativity (GR) suitable for someone with an undergraduate physics background. Participants express a desire for a course that includes graded homework, discussions, and video lectures, contrasting this with existing offerings that lack interactivity.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Homework-related

Main Points Raised

  • One participant, glamotte7, is seeking an interactive online GR course due to the lack of offerings in their area and expresses a willingness to pay for such a course.
  • Another participant mentions their own experience with graduate coursework and expresses a desire for more interactive learning opportunities, particularly in field theory.
  • Links to online resources are shared, including a course from the Open University, but it is noted that this is an undergraduate survey rather than a graduate-level course.
  • Further links are provided to PIRSA lectures on GR, with questions raised about the level of interactivity available in those resources.
  • Participants discuss the challenges of finding courses that offer meaningful interaction with instructors and peers.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree on the desire for interactive online courses in GR, but multiple competing views remain regarding the availability and quality of such courses. The discussion remains unresolved regarding specific offerings that meet the criteria outlined.

Contextual Notes

Limitations include the lack of consensus on available courses that provide the desired level of interactivity, as well as the potential for varying definitions of what constitutes a graduate-level course.

Who May Find This Useful

Individuals interested in pursuing online education in General Relativity, particularly those seeking interactive learning environments, may find this discussion relevant.

glamotte7
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Hello All,

I have an undergrad physics degree. I've been studying GR on my own for a while, including Hartle, Schutz, Carroll, etc. There is NO GR course offered this fall in the state of CO, which is where I live. This fall I'd like to take a real ONLINE class in beginning GR included graded homework, discussions with prof and students and video lectures, etc. With today's technology I don't think this would be too difficult for a university to do or even a group of well educated individuals. I'd gladly pay for the course. Does anyone know of such an offering? MIT has online courses as do perhaps others but they are not interactive.

Any advice is very much appreciated. I've wanted to do this for about a year now and finally have the time.

glamotte7
 
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Yeah, it would be very cool to find someone online offering real graduate-level physics courses (not just videos available to download). I have a PhD in physics, but I didn't get nearly as much from my graduate coursework as I would have liked. I would love to be able to go back and, for example, really learn field theory, rather than just learning to crank out calculations using Dirac matrices. Unfortunately, I'm just not aware of anyone offering anything like this. I've also heard a lot of horror stories about people taking undergraduate courses online that basically had no interaction with the prof -- or even any evidence that the prof was present and paying attention.
 
Interesting link, atyy, thanks! But it's an undergraduate survey of relativity and cosmology, not a graduate course in GR.
 
bcrowell said:
Interesting link, atyy, thanks! But it's an undergraduate survey of relativity and cosmology, not a graduate course in GR.

Yes, I just couldn't resist - did you know that this lady - or is it more proper to say Dame - also worked at the Open University http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jocelyn_Bell_Burnell ?
 
Thanks atyy---I took a look. Unfortunately the class doesn't start until Feb 2011 so I won't be able to do it this fall.

Thanks xepma---I took a look at PIRSA. The lectures by Myers on GR are at just the level I'm at. You said that's it's possible to "take the whole course". Does that include interaction with the staff there or simply watching all the lectures? Again I'm looking for something interactive. If I can't find interactive, I suspect these may be the best lectures out there as they look quite good.

To All---Any other info on an online GR course you have would be helpful, particularly about an interactive environment as I mentioned above. Does Physics Forums support any
study group type of structure for further education?

glamotte7
 

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