171 Enrollment and participant satisfaction in online horse courses for adult learners

Abstract

The University of Minnesota Equine Extension Program offers 7 online courses to help equip horse owners and professionals with practical knowledge, research updates, and resources to improve horse care and management on their farms. The courses include Basic Nutrition, Carcass Composting, Growing and Feeding Hay, Horse Biosecurity, Managing Overweight Horses, Manure Management, and Pasture Establishment and Management. Each course is offered annually in January and runs for 6 weeks. An online platform is used to facilitate a semi-self-paced format. Learners meet course objectives by viewing weekly asynchronous lectures, exploring additional resources, and completing weekly assignments (e.g., quizzes). Participating in assignments and scoring at least 70% on quizzes is needed to earn a certificate of course completion. Since 2016, 1,256 learners have taken the courses. The objective of this presentation is to evaluate enrollment and assess participant satisfaction in recent years. The data were analyzed using ANOVA models (α = 0.05) followed by Tukey HSD tests with enrollment and certificate completion as response variables and year and course as fixed effects. From 2021 to 2023, the courses had a total of 697 registrations generating an income of $52,050. Registrants were from 10 countries and 39 states, with many from Minnesota (39%). While enrollment numbers did not vary by year (P = 0.06), they didvary among courses (P < 0.001). On average, Basic Nutrition had the highest annual enrollment (81 enrolled) followed by Pasture Establishment and Management (49 enrolled). For 2021 and 2022, course (P = 0.09) and year (P = 0.06) did not affect the proportion of learners that earned a certificate (59 to 85%). Feedback evaluations that asked Likert questions were used to assess participant (n = 12) satisfaction of the newly added Carcass Composting course. All agreed or strongly agreed that they were satisfied with the course and the information taught was useful for their farm. Perceived learner knowledge increased 41% during the course. Most learners agreed or strongly agreed (58%) they planned to make at least one management change on their farm based on content knowledge. Overall, consistent enrollment numbers from 2021 to 2023 indicate that the courses continue to be valuable resources for horse owners and professionals. Learners were particularly interested in areas of nutrition and pasture management, which suggests efforts to implement similar programs regionally could be worthwhile. Positive feedback from newly added courses highlights the success of a variety of topics that can be taught online to improve outreach efforts.