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aria-label="Listen" data-testid="audioPlayButton" class="af fk ah ai aj ak al mp an ao ap ex mq mr mf ms mt mu mv mw s mx my mz na nb nc nd u ne nf ng"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="24" height="24" fill="none" viewBox="0 0 24 24"><path fill="currentColor" fill-rule="evenodd" d="M3 12a9 9 0 1 1 18 0 9 9 0 0 1-18 0m9-10C6.477 2 2 6.477 2 12s4.477 10 10 10 10-4.477 10-10S17.523 2 12 2m3.376 10.416-4.599 3.066a.5.5 0 0 1-.777-.416V8.934a.5.5 0 0 1 .777-.416l4.599 3.066a.5.5 0 0 1 0 .832" clip-rule="evenodd"></path></svg><div class="j i d"><p class="bf b bg z du">Listen</p></div></button></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="bm" aria-hidden="false" aria-describedby="postFooterSocialMenu" aria-labelledby="postFooterSocialMenu"><div><div class="bm" aria-hidden="false"><button aria-controls="postFooterSocialMenu" aria-expanded="false" aria-label="Share Post" data-testid="headerSocialShareButton" class="af fk ah ai aj ak al mp an ao ap ex mq mr mf ms mt mu mv mw s mx my mz na nb nc nd u ne nf ng"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="24" height="24" fill="none" viewBox="0 0 24 24"><path fill="currentColor" fill-rule="evenodd" d="M15.218 4.931a.4.4 0 0 1-.118.132l.012.006a.45.45 0 0 1-.292.074.5.5 0 0 1-.3-.13l-2.02-2.02v7.07c0 .28-.23.5-.5.5s-.5-.22-.5-.5v-7.04l-2 2a.45.45 0 0 1-.57.04h-.02a.4.4 0 0 1-.16-.3.4.4 0 0 1 .1-.32l2.8-2.8a.5.5 0 0 1 .7 0l2.8 2.79a.42.42 0 0 1 .068.498m-.106.138.008.004v-.01zM16 7.063h1.5a2 2 0 0 1 2 2v10a2 2 0 0 1-2 2h-11c-1.1 0-2-.9-2-2v-10a2 2 0 0 1 2-2H8a.5.5 0 0 1 .35.15.5.5 0 0 1 .15.35.5.5 0 0 1-.15.35.5.5 0 0 1-.35.15H6.4c-.5 0-.9.4-.9.9v10.2a.9.9 0 0 0 .9.9h11.2c.5 0 .9-.4.9-.9v-10.2c0-.5-.4-.9-.9-.9H16a.5.5 0 0 1 0-1" clip-rule="evenodd"></path></svg><div class="j i d"><p class="bf b bg z du">Share</p></div></button></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><p id="1140" class="pw-post-body-paragraph nh ni gu nj b hs nk nl nm hv nn no np nq nr ns nt nu nv nw nx ny nz oa ob oc gn bk">Courses on Coursera cover topics ranging from<a class="af od" href="https://www.coursera.org/learn/photography" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank"> photography</a> to<a class="af od" href="https://www.coursera.org/learn/probabilistic-graphical-models" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank"> probabilistic graphical models</a> to<a class="af od" href="https://www.coursera.org/learn/muslim-world" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank"> constitutional struggles in the Muslim world</a>. This diversity makes them hard to categorize. A couple of years ago we overhauled our course categories and implemented a new categorization system we call domains and subdomains. This post covers how we defined and implemented that new system.</p><h1 id="1df7" class="oe of gu bf og oh oi hu oj ok ol hx om on oo op oq or os ot ou ov ow ox oy oz bk">The Previous Course Categories</h1><p id="be48" class="pw-post-body-paragraph nh ni gu nj b hs pa nl nm hv pb no np nq pc ns nt nu pd nw nx ny pe oa ob oc gn bk">Coursera’s original categorization scheme dated back to our founding in 2012, and was heavily influenced by the content available at the time. For example, we had five categories of computer science subfields, but only one category for all of the humanities. The categories were also manually and arbitrarily defined, resulting in redundancies (e.g., “Food and Nutrition” being nearly a subset of “Health and Society”) and vagueness (e.g., “Information, Tech & Design”).</p><p id="095b" class="pw-post-body-paragraph nh ni gu nj b hs nk nl nm hv nn no np nq nr ns nt nu nv nw nx ny nz oa ob oc gn bk">Critically, the original categorization scheme was not meeting our need of effectively matching learner to content. For example, the “Medicine” category attracted two distinct groups of learners — because it contained two distinct groups of courses. The first were courses that appealed to healthcare practitioners (e.g., on <a class="af od" href="https://www.coursera.org/learn/clinical-kidney-transplantation" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">clinical kidney transplantation</a> or <a class="af od" href="https://www.coursera.org/learn/biocontainment" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">biocontainment for infectious diseases</a>). The second were courses on public health issues that appealed to non-practitioners.</p><p id="89d4" class="pw-post-body-paragraph nh ni gu nj b hs nk nl nm hv nn no np nq nr ns nt nu nv nw nx ny nz oa ob oc gn bk">As our catalog expands to thousands of courses, we need a principled organization technique. We want categories that help the learner find the best content for them. This translates to the following criteria:</p><ol class=""><li id="c30c" class="nh ni gu nj b hs nk nl nm hv nn no np nq nr ns nt nu nv nw nx ny nz oa ob oc pf pg ph bk">Simple (as few categories as possible)</li><li id="237c" class="nh ni gu nj b hs pi nl nm hv pj no np nq pk ns nt nu pl nw nx ny pm oa ob oc pf pg ph bk">Minimally redundant (as mutually exclusive as possible)</li></ol><h1 id="abce" class="oe of gu bf og oh oi hu oj ok ol hx om on oo op oq or os ot ou ov ow ox oy oz bk">t-SNE to the rescue</h1><p id="fe80" class="pw-post-body-paragraph nh ni gu nj b hs pa nl nm hv pb no np nq pc ns nt nu pd nw nx ny pe oa ob oc gn bk">Rather than re-coding by hand, or replicating traditional university departments, we took a data-driven approach.</p><p id="21d1" class="pw-post-body-paragraph nh ni gu nj b hs nk nl nm hv nn no np nq nr ns nt nu nv nw nx ny nz oa ob oc gn bk">We sought to group our courses so that someone interested in one course in that group, say, <a class="af od" href="https://www.coursera.org/learn/guitar" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">playing the guitar</a>, might also be interested in other courses in that group, say, <a class="af od" href="https://www.coursera.org/learn/songwriting-lyrics" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">songwriting</a> or <a class="af od" href="https://www.coursera.org/learn/jazz-improvisation" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">jazz improvisation</a>. The algorithm known as t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding (<a class="af od" href="https://lvdmaaten.github.io/tsne/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">t-SNE</a>) satisfies this requirement.</p><p id="058d" class="pw-post-body-paragraph nh ni gu nj b hs nk nl nm hv nn no np nq nr ns nt nu nv nw nx ny nz oa ob oc gn bk">t-SNE identifies an arrangement of courses such that courses sharing common learners are close and courses that do not share common learners are far apart. For example, <a class="af od" href="https://www.coursera.org/learn/complex-analysis" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Complex Analysis</a> and <a class="af od" href="https://www.coursera.org/learn/galois" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Galois Theory</a> are close together since many learners take both, while <a class="af od" href="https://www.coursera.org/learn/horse-care" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Taking Care of Horses</a> and <a class="af od" href="https://www.coursera.org/learn/general-relativity" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">General Relativity</a> are farther apart as the two courses do not share many learners.</p><p id="e67e" class="pw-post-body-paragraph nh ni gu nj b hs nk nl nm hv nn no np nq nr ns nt nu nv nw nx ny nz oa ob oc gn bk">We utilized the t-SNE algorithm on courses in 2015 to produce the scatterplot output as shown below. Each dot represents a single course. We then group these courses into categories by clustering (represented by the coloring).</p><figure class="pq pr ps pt pu pv pn po paragraph-image"><div role="button" tabindex="0" class="pw px fj py bh pz"><div class="pn po pp"><picture><source srcSet="https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:640/format:webp/0*MKkkbhhYA7Tcus_L 640w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:720/format:webp/0*MKkkbhhYA7Tcus_L 720w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:750/format:webp/0*MKkkbhhYA7Tcus_L 750w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:786/format:webp/0*MKkkbhhYA7Tcus_L 786w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:828/format:webp/0*MKkkbhhYA7Tcus_L 828w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:1100/format:webp/0*MKkkbhhYA7Tcus_L 1100w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:1400/format:webp/0*MKkkbhhYA7Tcus_L 1400w" sizes="(min-resolution: 4dppx) and (max-width: 700px) 50vw, (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 4) and (max-width: 700px) 50vw, (min-resolution: 3dppx) and (max-width: 700px) 67vw, (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 3) and (max-width: 700px) 65vw, (min-resolution: 2.5dppx) and (max-width: 700px) 80vw, (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2.5) and (max-width: 700px) 80vw, (min-resolution: 2dppx) and (max-width: 700px) 100vw, (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2) and (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px" type="image/webp"/><source data-testid="og" srcSet="https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:640/0*MKkkbhhYA7Tcus_L 640w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:720/0*MKkkbhhYA7Tcus_L 720w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:750/0*MKkkbhhYA7Tcus_L 750w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:786/0*MKkkbhhYA7Tcus_L 786w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:828/0*MKkkbhhYA7Tcus_L 828w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:1100/0*MKkkbhhYA7Tcus_L 1100w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:1400/0*MKkkbhhYA7Tcus_L 1400w" sizes="(min-resolution: 4dppx) and (max-width: 700px) 50vw, (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 4) and (max-width: 700px) 50vw, (min-resolution: 3dppx) and (max-width: 700px) 67vw, (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 3) and (max-width: 700px) 65vw, (min-resolution: 2.5dppx) and (max-width: 700px) 80vw, (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2.5) and (max-width: 700px) 80vw, (min-resolution: 2dppx) and (max-width: 700px) 100vw, (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2) and (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px"/><img alt="" class="bh mo qa c" width="700" height="687" loading="lazy" role="presentation"/></picture></div></div><figcaption class="qb ff qc pn po qd qe bf b bg z du">Figure 1: t-SNE visualization of courses colored by cluster, circa 2015.</figcaption></figure><h1 id="8d62" class="oe of gu bf og oh oi hu oj ok ol hx om on oo op oq or os ot ou ov ow ox oy oz bk">The general structure of our content</h1><figure class="pq pr ps pt pu pv pn po paragraph-image"><div role="button" tabindex="0" class="pw px fj py bh pz"><div class="pn po qf"><picture><source srcSet="https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:640/format:webp/1*c_utWA_Qi-HFw4tVDU3JyA.png 640w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:720/format:webp/1*c_utWA_Qi-HFw4tVDU3JyA.png 720w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:750/format:webp/1*c_utWA_Qi-HFw4tVDU3JyA.png 750w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:786/format:webp/1*c_utWA_Qi-HFw4tVDU3JyA.png 786w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:828/format:webp/1*c_utWA_Qi-HFw4tVDU3JyA.png 828w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:1100/format:webp/1*c_utWA_Qi-HFw4tVDU3JyA.png 1100w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:1400/format:webp/1*c_utWA_Qi-HFw4tVDU3JyA.png 1400w" sizes="(min-resolution: 4dppx) and (max-width: 700px) 50vw, (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 4) and (max-width: 700px) 50vw, (min-resolution: 3dppx) and (max-width: 700px) 67vw, (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 3) and (max-width: 700px) 65vw, (min-resolution: 2.5dppx) and (max-width: 700px) 80vw, (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2.5) and (max-width: 700px) 80vw, (min-resolution: 2dppx) and (max-width: 700px) 100vw, (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2) and (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px" type="image/webp"/><source data-testid="og" srcSet="https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:640/1*c_utWA_Qi-HFw4tVDU3JyA.png 640w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:720/1*c_utWA_Qi-HFw4tVDU3JyA.png 720w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:750/1*c_utWA_Qi-HFw4tVDU3JyA.png 750w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:786/1*c_utWA_Qi-HFw4tVDU3JyA.png 786w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:828/1*c_utWA_Qi-HFw4tVDU3JyA.png 828w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:1100/1*c_utWA_Qi-HFw4tVDU3JyA.png 1100w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:1400/1*c_utWA_Qi-HFw4tVDU3JyA.png 1400w" sizes="(min-resolution: 4dppx) and (max-width: 700px) 50vw, (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 4) and (max-width: 700px) 50vw, (min-resolution: 3dppx) and (max-width: 700px) 67vw, (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 3) and (max-width: 700px) 65vw, (min-resolution: 2.5dppx) and (max-width: 700px) 80vw, (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2.5) and (max-width: 700px) 80vw, (min-resolution: 2dppx) and (max-width: 700px) 100vw, (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2) and (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px"/><img alt="" class="bh mo qa c" width="700" height="416" loading="lazy" role="presentation"/></picture></div></div><figcaption class="qb ff qc pn po qd qe bf b bg z du">Figure 2. General subject area of courses.</figcaption></figure><p id="98ec" class="pw-post-body-paragraph nh ni gu nj b hs nk nl nm hv nn no np nq nr ns nt nu nv nw nx ny nz oa ob oc gn bk">Looking at Figures 1 and 2, the first thing we see is that courses are organized in a globally consistent way: humanities, social sciences, and business courses are in the top right half of the plot, while natural sciences, engineering, and computational sciences courses fall in the bottom left half.</p><p id="724c" class="pw-post-body-paragraph nh ni gu nj b hs nk nl nm hv nn no np nq nr ns nt nu nv nw nx ny nz oa ob oc gn bk">Digging in more granularly reveals additional nuance:</p><ul class=""><li id="cf60" class="nh ni gu nj b hs nk nl nm hv nn no np nq nr ns nt nu nv nw nx ny nz oa ob oc qg pg ph bk">Courses on business and finance are clustered together on the right</li><li id="11c1" class="nh ni gu nj b hs pi nl nm hv pj no np nq pk ns nt nu pl nw nx ny pm oa ob oc qg pg ph bk">Courses about the natural sciences (physics, chemistry, and biology) are on the left</li><li id="5b6b" class="nh ni gu nj b hs pi nl nm hv pj no np nq pk ns nt nu pl nw nx ny pm oa ob oc qg pg ph bk">Courses on the computational sciences (math, cs, and statistics) are at the bottom</li><li id="02ce" class="nh ni gu nj b hs pi nl nm hv pj no np nq pk ns nt nu pl nw nx ny pm oa ob oc qg pg ph bk">Courses on the social sciences and humanities are at the top</li></ul><figure class="pq pr ps pt pu pv pn po paragraph-image"><div role="button" tabindex="0" class="pw px fj py bh pz"><div class="pn po qh"><picture><source srcSet="https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:640/format:webp/1*-yZ59kN7MjqgnKq2tXTlQA.png 640w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:720/format:webp/1*-yZ59kN7MjqgnKq2tXTlQA.png 720w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:750/format:webp/1*-yZ59kN7MjqgnKq2tXTlQA.png 750w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:786/format:webp/1*-yZ59kN7MjqgnKq2tXTlQA.png 786w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:828/format:webp/1*-yZ59kN7MjqgnKq2tXTlQA.png 828w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:1100/format:webp/1*-yZ59kN7MjqgnKq2tXTlQA.png 1100w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:1400/format:webp/1*-yZ59kN7MjqgnKq2tXTlQA.png 1400w" sizes="(min-resolution: 4dppx) and (max-width: 700px) 50vw, (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 4) and (max-width: 700px) 50vw, (min-resolution: 3dppx) and (max-width: 700px) 67vw, (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 3) and (max-width: 700px) 65vw, (min-resolution: 2.5dppx) and (max-width: 700px) 80vw, (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2.5) and (max-width: 700px) 80vw, (min-resolution: 2dppx) and (max-width: 700px) 100vw, (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2) and (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px" type="image/webp"/><source data-testid="og" srcSet="https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:640/1*-yZ59kN7MjqgnKq2tXTlQA.png 640w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:720/1*-yZ59kN7MjqgnKq2tXTlQA.png 720w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:750/1*-yZ59kN7MjqgnKq2tXTlQA.png 750w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:786/1*-yZ59kN7MjqgnKq2tXTlQA.png 786w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:828/1*-yZ59kN7MjqgnKq2tXTlQA.png 828w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:1100/1*-yZ59kN7MjqgnKq2tXTlQA.png 1100w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:1400/1*-yZ59kN7MjqgnKq2tXTlQA.png 1400w" sizes="(min-resolution: 4dppx) and (max-width: 700px) 50vw, (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 4) and (max-width: 700px) 50vw, (min-resolution: 3dppx) and (max-width: 700px) 67vw, (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 3) and (max-width: 700px) 65vw, (min-resolution: 2.5dppx) and (max-width: 700px) 80vw, (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2.5) and (max-width: 700px) 80vw, (min-resolution: 2dppx) and (max-width: 700px) 100vw, (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2) and (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px"/><img alt="" class="bh mo qa c" width="700" height="413" loading="lazy" role="presentation"/></picture></div></div><figcaption class="qb ff qc pn po qd qe bf b bg z du">Figure 3. General division of science and humanities courses.</figcaption></figure><figure class="pq pr ps pt pu pv pn po paragraph-image"><div role="button" tabindex="0" class="pw px fj py bh pz"><div class="pn po qi"><picture><source srcSet="https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:640/format:webp/1*A-lEgYtSuSKQZ21ves4JOw.png 640w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:720/format:webp/1*A-lEgYtSuSKQZ21ves4JOw.png 720w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:750/format:webp/1*A-lEgYtSuSKQZ21ves4JOw.png 750w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:786/format:webp/1*A-lEgYtSuSKQZ21ves4JOw.png 786w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:828/format:webp/1*A-lEgYtSuSKQZ21ves4JOw.png 828w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:1100/format:webp/1*A-lEgYtSuSKQZ21ves4JOw.png 1100w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:1400/format:webp/1*A-lEgYtSuSKQZ21ves4JOw.png 1400w" sizes="(min-resolution: 4dppx) and (max-width: 700px) 50vw, (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 4) and (max-width: 700px) 50vw, (min-resolution: 3dppx) and (max-width: 700px) 67vw, (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 3) and (max-width: 700px) 65vw, (min-resolution: 2.5dppx) and (max-width: 700px) 80vw, (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2.5) and (max-width: 700px) 80vw, (min-resolution: 2dppx) and (max-width: 700px) 100vw, (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2) and (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px" type="image/webp"/><source data-testid="og" srcSet="https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:640/1*A-lEgYtSuSKQZ21ves4JOw.png 640w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:720/1*A-lEgYtSuSKQZ21ves4JOw.png 720w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:750/1*A-lEgYtSuSKQZ21ves4JOw.png 750w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:786/1*A-lEgYtSuSKQZ21ves4JOw.png 786w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:828/1*A-lEgYtSuSKQZ21ves4JOw.png 828w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:1100/1*A-lEgYtSuSKQZ21ves4JOw.png 1100w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:1400/1*A-lEgYtSuSKQZ21ves4JOw.png 1400w" sizes="(min-resolution: 4dppx) and (max-width: 700px) 50vw, (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 4) and (max-width: 700px) 50vw, (min-resolution: 3dppx) and (max-width: 700px) 67vw, (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 3) and (max-width: 700px) 65vw, (min-resolution: 2.5dppx) and (max-width: 700px) 80vw, (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2.5) and (max-width: 700px) 80vw, (min-resolution: 2dppx) and (max-width: 700px) 100vw, (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2) and (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px"/><img alt="" class="bh mo qa c" width="700" height="557" loading="lazy" role="presentation"/></picture></div></div><figcaption class="qb ff qc pn po qd qe bf b bg z du">Figure 4. Substructure of courses within each half of the plot.</figcaption></figure><p id="5fd8" class="pw-post-body-paragraph nh ni gu nj b hs nk nl nm hv nn no np nq nr ns nt nu nv nw nx ny nz oa ob oc gn bk">Dissecting each of these large regions further, we see that even within each grouping, courses are arranged logically. For example, courses in natural history span a continuum roughly from the biological sciences to the physical sciences. Similarly, courses in humanities and social science range roughly from music to the visual arts, humanities, and social sciences, and then practical business.</p><p id="9577" class="pw-post-body-paragraph nh ni gu nj b hs nk nl nm hv nn no np nq nr ns nt nu nv nw nx ny nz oa ob oc gn bk">Even at the level of individual courses, t-SNE captures the interdisciplinary nature of courses. Courses in business law, for example, fall on the boundary between business and law, and courses on quantitative methods for the social sciences fall between math and the social sciences.</p><figure class="pq pr ps pt pu pv pn po paragraph-image"><div role="button" tabindex="0" class="pw px fj py bh pz"><div class="pn po qf"><picture><source srcSet="https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:640/format:webp/1*_uuoe43USer2SKMxm98igA.png 640w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:720/format:webp/1*_uuoe43USer2SKMxm98igA.png 720w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:750/format:webp/1*_uuoe43USer2SKMxm98igA.png 750w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:786/format:webp/1*_uuoe43USer2SKMxm98igA.png 786w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:828/format:webp/1*_uuoe43USer2SKMxm98igA.png 828w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:1100/format:webp/1*_uuoe43USer2SKMxm98igA.png 1100w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:1400/format:webp/1*_uuoe43USer2SKMxm98igA.png 1400w" sizes="(min-resolution: 4dppx) and (max-width: 700px) 50vw, (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 4) and (max-width: 700px) 50vw, (min-resolution: 3dppx) and (max-width: 700px) 67vw, (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 3) and (max-width: 700px) 65vw, (min-resolution: 2.5dppx) and (max-width: 700px) 80vw, (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2.5) and (max-width: 700px) 80vw, (min-resolution: 2dppx) and (max-width: 700px) 100vw, (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2) and (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px" type="image/webp"/><source data-testid="og" srcSet="https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:640/1*_uuoe43USer2SKMxm98igA.png 640w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:720/1*_uuoe43USer2SKMxm98igA.png 720w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:750/1*_uuoe43USer2SKMxm98igA.png 750w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:786/1*_uuoe43USer2SKMxm98igA.png 786w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:828/1*_uuoe43USer2SKMxm98igA.png 828w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:1100/1*_uuoe43USer2SKMxm98igA.png 1100w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:1400/1*_uuoe43USer2SKMxm98igA.png 1400w" sizes="(min-resolution: 4dppx) and (max-width: 700px) 50vw, (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 4) and (max-width: 700px) 50vw, (min-resolution: 3dppx) and (max-width: 700px) 67vw, (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 3) and (max-width: 700px) 65vw, (min-resolution: 2.5dppx) and (max-width: 700px) 80vw, (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2.5) and (max-width: 700px) 80vw, (min-resolution: 2dppx) and (max-width: 700px) 100vw, (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2) and (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px"/><img alt="" class="bh mo qa c" width="700" height="397" loading="lazy" role="presentation"/></picture></div></div><figcaption class="qb ff qc pn po qd qe bf b bg z du">Figure 5. Interdisciplinary courses sit roughly between the right clusters.</figcaption></figure><p id="9737" class="pw-post-body-paragraph nh ni gu nj b hs nk nl nm hv nn no np nq nr ns nt nu nv nw nx ny nz oa ob oc gn bk">Returning to the set of courses previously categorized as “medicine,” we now have three sub-categories. First is a relatively disjointed cluster of courses targeted to the medical professional (e.g., “<a class="af od" href="https://www.coursera.org/learn/ebola-essentials-for-health-professionals" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Ebola: Essential Knowledge for the Healthcare Professional</a>”). Second is a cluster of courses on healthcare policy (e.g., “<a class="af od" href="https://www.coursera.org/learn/systems-thinking" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Systems Thinking in Public Health</a>”), and lastly, we have a cluster on basic biology (e.g., “I<a class="af od" href="https://www.coursera.org/learn/genetics-evolution" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">ntroduction to Genetics and Evolution</a>”).</p><p id="25bc" class="pw-post-body-paragraph nh ni gu nj b hs nk nl nm hv nn no np nq nr ns nt nu nv nw nx ny nz oa ob oc gn bk">The result is noteworthy because there is no strong reason why t-SNE should arrange our courses by subject matter. We weren’t feeding in course descriptions or transcripts, just the enrollment behavior of learners. We attribute the clusterability of courses to the fact that learners are much more likely to be interested in multiple courses in a particular subject area rather than to be influenced in their course decision by non-subject-matter factors such as the style of instruction or the institution offering the course.</p><p id="664e" class="pw-post-body-paragraph nh ni gu nj b hs nk nl nm hv nn no np nq nr ns nt nu nv nw nx ny nz oa ob oc gn bk">That said, this assumption does not hold across the full catalog. For example, among non-English content, the language of instruction is more a driver of enrollment than the subject area. Correspondingly, a French or Russian course is more likely to be grouped with other courses taught in the respective language than it is to be grouped with other courses on the same subject.</p><p id="478e" class="pw-post-body-paragraph nh ni gu nj b hs nk nl nm hv nn no np nq nr ns nt nu nv nw nx ny nz oa ob oc gn bk">After some clean up, we landed at 36 course clusters, which rolled up into nine larger clusters. On the Coursera platform today, we term the original clusters “subdomains” and the larger clusters “domains.” We launched the new system of domains and subdomains in summer 2015. In the past three years, it has become an integral part of Coursera’s content discovery experience, allowing us to scale content categorization and drive personalization for each and every learner on our platform.</p><h2 id="c134" class="qj of gu bf og qk ql dy oj qm qn ea om nq qo qp qq nu qr qs qt ny qu qv qw qx bk">Acknowledgements</h2><p id="4ee7" class="pw-post-body-paragraph nh ni gu nj b hs pa nl nm hv pb no np nq pc ns nt nu pd nw nx ny pe oa ob oc gn bk"><em class="qy">Credit for the t-SNE approach goes to </em><a class="af od" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/zhenghao-chen-44865036/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank"><em class="qy">Zhenghao Chen</em></a><em class="qy">, a previous Coursera data scientist.</em></p><p id="e9e1" class="pw-post-body-paragraph nh ni gu nj b hs nk nl nm hv nn no np nq nr ns nt nu nv nw nx ny nz oa ob oc gn bk"><em class="qy">I also want to thank</em><a class="af od" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/egsands/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank"><em class="qy"> Emily Glassberg Sands</em></a><em class="qy"> for reading through and giving feedback on drafts.</em></p></div></div></div></div></section></div></div></article></div><div class="ab cb"><div class="ci bh fz ga gb gc"><div class="qz ra ab jm"><div class="rb ab"><a class="rc ay am ao" rel="noopener follow" href="/tag/data-science?source=post_page-----89de0104bcbd---------------------------------------"><div class="rd fj cx re ge rf rg bf b bg z bk rh">Data Science</div></a></div><div class="rb ab"><a class="rc ay am ao" rel="noopener follow" href="/tag/education?source=post_page-----89de0104bcbd---------------------------------------"><div class="rd fj cx re ge rf rg bf b bg z bk rh">Education</div></a></div><div class="rb ab"><a class="rc ay am ao" rel="noopener follow" href="/tag/technology?source=post_page-----89de0104bcbd---------------------------------------"><div class="rd fj cx re ge rf rg bf b bg z bk 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Each dot represents a single course. We then group these courses into categories by clustering (represented by the coloring).","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"ImageMetadata:0*MKkkbhhYA7Tcus_L":{"__typename":"ImageMetadata","id":"0*MKkkbhhYA7Tcus_L","originalHeight":795,"originalWidth":811,"focusPercentX":null,"focusPercentY":null,"alt":null},"Paragraph:235d9560959f_14":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"235d9560959f_14","name":"bd3b","type":"IMG","href":null,"layout":"INSET_CENTER","metadata":{"__ref":"ImageMetadata:0*MKkkbhhYA7Tcus_L"},"text":"Figure 1: t-SNE visualization of courses colored by cluster, circa 2015.","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"Paragraph:235d9560959f_15":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"235d9560959f_15","name":"8d62","type":"H3","href":null,"layout":null,"metadata":null,"text":"The general structure of our content","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"ImageMetadata:1*c_utWA_Qi-HFw4tVDU3JyA.png":{"__typename":"ImageMetadata","id":"1*c_utWA_Qi-HFw4tVDU3JyA.png","originalHeight":766,"originalWidth":1292,"focusPercentX":null,"focusPercentY":null,"alt":null},"Paragraph:235d9560959f_16":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"235d9560959f_16","name":"87a0","type":"IMG","href":null,"layout":"INSET_CENTER","metadata":{"__ref":"ImageMetadata:1*c_utWA_Qi-HFw4tVDU3JyA.png"},"text":"Figure 2. General subject area of courses.","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"Paragraph:235d9560959f_17":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"235d9560959f_17","name":"98ec","type":"P","href":null,"layout":null,"metadata":null,"text":"Looking at Figures 1 and 2, the first thing we see is that courses are organized in a globally consistent way: humanities, social sciences, and business courses are in the top right half of the plot, while natural sciences, engineering, and computational sciences courses fall in the bottom left half.","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"Paragraph:235d9560959f_18":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"235d9560959f_18","name":"724c","type":"P","href":null,"layout":null,"metadata":null,"text":"Digging in more granularly reveals additional nuance:","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"Paragraph:235d9560959f_19":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"235d9560959f_19","name":"cf60","type":"ULI","href":null,"layout":null,"metadata":null,"text":"Courses on business and finance are clustered together on the right","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"Paragraph:235d9560959f_20":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"235d9560959f_20","name":"11c1","type":"ULI","href":null,"layout":null,"metadata":null,"text":"Courses about the natural sciences (physics, chemistry, and biology) are on the left","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"Paragraph:235d9560959f_21":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"235d9560959f_21","name":"5b6b","type":"ULI","href":null,"layout":null,"metadata":null,"text":"Courses on the computational sciences (math, cs, and statistics) are at the bottom","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"Paragraph:235d9560959f_22":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"235d9560959f_22","name":"02ce","type":"ULI","href":null,"layout":null,"metadata":null,"text":"Courses on the social sciences and humanities are at the top","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"ImageMetadata:1*-yZ59kN7MjqgnKq2tXTlQA.png":{"__typename":"ImageMetadata","id":"1*-yZ59kN7MjqgnKq2tXTlQA.png","originalHeight":784,"originalWidth":1332,"focusPercentX":null,"focusPercentY":null,"alt":null},"Paragraph:235d9560959f_23":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"235d9560959f_23","name":"36cc","type":"IMG","href":null,"layout":"INSET_CENTER","metadata":{"__ref":"ImageMetadata:1*-yZ59kN7MjqgnKq2tXTlQA.png"},"text":"Figure 3. General division of science and humanities courses.","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"ImageMetadata:1*A-lEgYtSuSKQZ21ves4JOw.png":{"__typename":"ImageMetadata","id":"1*A-lEgYtSuSKQZ21ves4JOw.png","originalHeight":868,"originalWidth":1092,"focusPercentX":null,"focusPercentY":null,"alt":null},"Paragraph:235d9560959f_24":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"235d9560959f_24","name":"aed3","type":"IMG","href":null,"layout":"INSET_CENTER","metadata":{"__ref":"ImageMetadata:1*A-lEgYtSuSKQZ21ves4JOw.png"},"text":"Figure 4. Substructure of courses within each half of the plot.","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"Paragraph:235d9560959f_25":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"235d9560959f_25","name":"5fd8","type":"P","href":null,"layout":null,"metadata":null,"text":"Dissecting each of these large regions further, we see that even within each grouping, courses are arranged logically. For example, courses in natural history span a continuum roughly from the biological sciences to the physical sciences. Similarly, courses in humanities and social science range roughly from music to the visual arts, humanities, and social sciences, and then practical business.","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"Paragraph:235d9560959f_26":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"235d9560959f_26","name":"9577","type":"P","href":null,"layout":null,"metadata":null,"text":"Even at the level of individual courses, t-SNE captures the interdisciplinary nature of courses. Courses in business law, for example, fall on the boundary between business and law, and courses on quantitative methods for the social sciences fall between math and the social sciences.","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"ImageMetadata:1*_uuoe43USer2SKMxm98igA.png":{"__typename":"ImageMetadata","id":"1*_uuoe43USer2SKMxm98igA.png","originalHeight":732,"originalWidth":1292,"focusPercentX":null,"focusPercentY":null,"alt":null},"Paragraph:235d9560959f_27":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"235d9560959f_27","name":"def3","type":"IMG","href":null,"layout":"INSET_CENTER","metadata":{"__ref":"ImageMetadata:1*_uuoe43USer2SKMxm98igA.png"},"text":"Figure 5. Interdisciplinary courses sit roughly between the right clusters.","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"Paragraph:235d9560959f_28":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"235d9560959f_28","name":"9737","type":"P","href":null,"layout":null,"metadata":null,"text":"Returning to the set of courses previously categorized as “medicine,” we now have three sub-categories. First is a relatively disjointed cluster of courses targeted to the medical professional (e.g., “Ebola: Essential Knowledge for the Healthcare Professional”). Second is a cluster of courses on healthcare policy (e.g., “Systems Thinking in Public Health”), and lastly, we have a cluster on basic biology (e.g., “Introduction to Genetics and Evolution”).","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[{"__typename":"Markup","type":"A","start":201,"end":259,"href":"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.coursera.org\u002Flearn\u002Febola-essentials-for-health-professionals","anchorType":"LINK","userId":null,"linkMetadata":null},{"__typename":"Markup","type":"A","start":323,"end":356,"href":"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.coursera.org\u002Flearn\u002Fsystems-thinking","anchorType":"LINK","userId":null,"linkMetadata":null},{"__typename":"Markup","type":"A","start":416,"end":453,"href":"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.coursera.org\u002Flearn\u002Fgenetics-evolution","anchorType":"LINK","userId":null,"linkMetadata":null}],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"Paragraph:235d9560959f_29":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"235d9560959f_29","name":"25bc","type":"P","href":null,"layout":null,"metadata":null,"text":"The result is noteworthy because there is no strong reason why t-SNE should arrange our courses by subject matter. We weren’t feeding in course descriptions or transcripts, just the enrollment behavior of learners. We attribute the clusterability of courses to the fact that learners are much more likely to be interested in multiple courses in a particular subject area rather than to be influenced in their course decision by non-subject-matter factors such as the style of instruction or the institution offering the course.","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"Paragraph:235d9560959f_30":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"235d9560959f_30","name":"664e","type":"P","href":null,"layout":null,"metadata":null,"text":"That said, this assumption does not hold across the full catalog. For example, among non-English content, the language of instruction is more a driver of enrollment than the subject area. 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