Beginning the Dialogue on the e-Transformation: Behavior Analysis’ First Massive Open Online Course (MOOC)

Rehfeldt and her team built the first behavior-analysis MOOC. MOOC means Massive Open Online Course. Anyone with internet can join for free.

The course ran on the Coursera platform. The authors simply describe how they did it. They did not run an experiment or collect outcome data.

The paper is a recipe, not a report card. It tells you step-by-step how to launch a free ABA course that can seat thousands.

The authors show screenshots, enrollment stats, and discussion-board tips. They claim the MOOC format can spread behavior analysis world-wide at no cost to learners.

Howard (2019) scanned every free ABA teaching material three years later. She found the cupboard is still bare: few behavior-analyst authors, no full courses. The MOOC idea is still lonely.

Heald et al. (2020) prove big numbers are possible. Their AFIRM autism modules have already trained 64,500 practitioners online. They extend the MOOC dream by giving away bite-sized lessons instead of one giant course.

Gilroy et al. (2019) add the next tool: GitHub. Where the MOOC shares lessons, GitHub shares data and code. Both papers push the same value—give your work away for free.

If you teach RBT coursework or supervise students, you now have a blueprint for a free class that scales. Pair the MOOC skeleton with AFIRM-style modules and host your slides on GitHub. You can cut student costs, reach rural learners, and diversify our pipeline without waiting for universities to catch up.