For the Data, Economics, and Development Policy MicroMasters program, prior training in or exposure to economics, development, political science, public policy, public health, statistics, and related fields will be helpful for prospective learners.
The program team recommends that learners possess a solid understanding of undergraduate-level algebra and calculus before beginning the program. Some DEDP courses require the use of the R programming language for data analysis—these courses will offer an introductory module to get you learners started.
And additionally, learners should be prepared in several important topic areas for each course. Please see the links below each course name for suggested preparation courses. These preparation courses are not required to earn your DEDP MicroMasters credential. We strongly encourage you to take any preparation courses on edX for free on the audit track. Some courses listed are also available on MIT Open Courseware, a database of archived courses.
Learners are invited to use the Course Previews to evaluate their current skills. These previews provide a taste of the content and exercises that will be covered in each course. If you are new to these subjects, or eager to refresh your memory, each course preview also includes some available resources. These resources may also be useful to refer to over the course of the semester.
A score of 60% or above in the course previews indicates that you are ready to take the course, while a score below 60% indicates that you should further review the concepts covered before beginning the course. Please see below for links to the Course Preview Documents.
Preparation Topics and Courses
Core Courses (All learners must complete all three of these courses)
Data Analysis for Social Scientists
Designing and Running Randomized Evaluations
Elective Courses (Learners must choose two of these three courses)
The Challenges of Global Poverty
Various resources will be made available throughout the course for students to learn or refresh on the most important topics.