  Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) once offered the promise of accessibility
and affordability. However, MOOCs typically lack expert feedback and social
interaction, and have low student engagement and retention. Thus, alternative
programs for online education have emerged including an online graduate program
in computer science at a major public university in USA. This program is
considered a success with over 9000 students now enrolled in the program. We
adopt the perspective of cognitive science to answer the question why do only
some online educational courses succeed? We measure learner motivation and
self-regulation in one course in the program, specifically a course on
artificial intelligence (AI). Surveys of students indicate that students
self-reported assessments of self-efficacy, cognitive strategy use, and
intrinsic value of the course are not only fairly high, but also generally
increase over the course of learning. This data suggests that the online AI
course might be a success because the students have high self-efficacy and the
class fosters self-regulated learning.
