Abstract
The Horse Course massive open online course (MOOC) was first offered through the Coursera platform in 2014. The course is a basic introduction to equine physiology, care, and use. It was offered over 6 weeks as an instructor-paced course in 2014, and again in 2015. Beginning in 2016, the course was offered as self-paced (on demand). To date, a total of 36,737 learners have joined the course from 164 different countries. Of these, 20,722 learners visited the course and 17,296 viewed one lecture. Total lectures viewed have reached 490,552. A total of 57,977 weekly quizzes were taken with 65,184 submitted exercises. In the course message board, a total of 18,798 forum posts were made and viewed a total of 108,953 times. Of the students that enrolled, a total of 3,154 (9%) went on to pass (>70%) all the quizzes and assignments to earn a course certificate. Of those learners that viewed at least one lecture, completion rates increased by 18%. Current data for the on-demand model indicates a sustained enrollment of 1,196 ± 35.5 new learners per month. These data would indicate an elevated level of interest and sustained enrollment in an equine-focused MOOC.
 Teaching a Species-Specific Massive Open Online Course (MOOC): Lessons from the | [ ] | 518 kB |
