Peer Review

A Mathematical Theory of Communication

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Reviewed:: Nov 27, 2021 by ICT Literacy

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Ratings

Overall Rating:

Content Quality:

Effectiveness:

Ease of Use:

Overview:

Claude Shannon's seminal paper framed information theory as a mathematical model of communication. At the time, Shannon worked for Bell System telecommunications. His intent was to examine the statistical structure of messages to minimize their distortion. This article impacted encoding, compression and wireless communication.

Type of Material:

Open Journal-Article

Recommended Uses:

This article can be used in several ways, depending on the course objectives. The article can be read individually outside class, and then discussed in class in terms of its concepts and impact. The instructor might ask students to research Shannon and his legacy, which would be appropriate for library/information science students. Information systems students can discuss how Shannon's theory applies to current practice. Mathematics majors can discuss the statistical aspects of the theory.

Technical Requirements:

.pdf file

Identify Major Learning Goals:

Dstinguish between the fundamental notions in mathematical communication theory;
Define the fundamental parts of communication as a source of information that generates a message;
Understand how external/tangent formal information systems interact (such as the set of real numbers, mu theory, etc.);
Explain the effect of noise on communications channels, and discuss how to optimize the fidelity of communication information messages.

Target Student Population:

College Upper Division, Graduate School, Professional clectronic engineering, Information systems, Computer sciencec Mathematics and statistics, Library and information science

Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:

To fully appreciate the article, the reader should have advanced math knowledge (e.g., advanced algebra), calculus, probability and statistics.

Content Quality

Rating:
Strengths:: With a sharp focus on the statistical efficiency of information transfer, the Mathematical Theory of Communication research lays the groundwork for rigorous examination of binary communication (given channel noise, etc.). The scholarly and research-based explanation comprises scenarios ranging from simple to complex, allowing students and professionals to grasp the application in a multidisciplinary way. The resource material can be used separately or integrated holistically across curricula.
Concerns:: The content itself is masterful, but may be hard to comprehend without advanced math knowledge. Students may have difficulty seeing the practical applications.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:
Strengths:: This article provides an impresssive mathematical basis for optimizing communications fidelity. Shannon builds his case very clearly, which can serve as a model for mathematical theory building. The resource material does an excellent job of distinguishing between the technical problem of delivering a message and the problem of understanding what a message means. This step allowed engineering discipline to focus on the message delivery system. With this in mind, it successfully solved problems for a very abstract (thus widely applicable) model of a communication system that includes both discrete (digital) and continuous (analog) systems. This is a clear demonstration and reinforces the core concepts and relationships between each other. The material includes examples of real-life situations that can be used as prompts for assignments. The resource material is easily integrated into the discipline's current curriculum and pedagogy. Finally, it provides a comprehensive guide to mathematical theory of communication, allowing students/professionals to gain knowledge quickly and easily apply it to academic work or any field of specialization. Even without much mathematical knowledge, students are likely to be impressed with the deep analysis of communications failure -- and optimization.
Concerns:: Students who lack a strong math background may give up quickly, and not appreciate the mathematical elegance.

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:
Strengths:: The highly sophisticated journal article is well-written and simple to follow independently. Illustrations, graphs, and figures aid comprehension. There are no help features required, and the.pdf file is ADA-compliant.
Concerns:: This is a classic theoretical paper, which does not invite the casual reader.

Other Issues and Comments:

This is a seminal paper, and should be required of several majors.

The appendix on illustrations and applications of the theorems found at the end is exceedingly well thought out and concise.

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