copy and paste this into dev console while on the course listings page for performance gains

coursera-courses-js

// #1 I do not have access to the 'added' timestamp (for the purposes of sorting), so I just used the first class date as a substitute.
// #2 I disabled the image loading (inView()) functionality, because using $(element).hide() caused significant lag when scrolling.
// This issue could probably be corrected by adding an additional filter on the $('img') search triggered by inView()

jQuery.ajax({
	url: 'https://www.coursera.org/maestro/api/topic/list?full=1',
	success: function(catalog) {
		var compressed = [],
		course_names = [],
		instructors = []; 

		// comment out the following block and uncomment the block in showMatches()
		// to re-enable dynamic loading of images
		jQuery(window).off('scroll');
		jQuery('img').each(function(index,el) {
			if (jQuery(el).attr('data-src')) {
				el.src = jQuery(el).attr('data-src');
				jQuery(el).removeAttr('data-src');
			}
		});

		jQuery('.coursera-course-listing-box').each(function(i1,el) {
			course_names.push(jQuery(el).find('.coursera-course-listing-name'));
			instructors.push(jQuery(el).find('.coursera-course-listing-instructor'));
		});


		var bindIdsToDom = function() {
			for(var i1 in catalog) {
				if (catalog[i1].display != true)
					continue;

				for(var i2 in course_names) {
					if (jQuery(course_names[i2]).text() === catalog[i1].name &&
					jQuery(instructors[i2]).text() === catalog[i1].instructor) {
						jQuery(course_names[i2]).closest('.coursera-course-listing-box').attr('data-id',catalog[i1].id);
						break;
					}
				}
			}
			var startingKey = -1;
			jQuery('.coursera-course-listing-box:not([data-id])').each(function(index,el) {
				var $el = jQuery(el),
				timeMeta,
				tmp = {
					id: startingKey,
					text: '',
					name: $el.find('.coursera-course-listing-name').text(),
					universities: []
				};
				
				$el.attr('data-id',startingKey--);

				timeMeta = $el.find('.coursera-course-listing-meta').find('span');
				tmp.start = Date.parse(timeMeta[0]);
				tmp.added = Date.parse(timeMeta[0]);

				if (typeof timeMeta[1] != 'undefined')
					tmp.duration = parseInt(timeMeta[1]);
				else
					tmp.duration = null;

				$el.find('.coursera-course-listing-university div').each(function(index,el2) {
					tmp.universities.push(jQuery(el2).text());
				});

				tmp.text += " " + tmp.name;
				tmp.text += " " + $el.find('.coursera-course-listing-instructor').text();
				compressed.push(tmp);
			});
		};

		var compressData = function() {
			for(var i1 in catalog) {
				if (catalog[i1].display != true)
					continue;

				var start_date,
				tmp = {
					id: catalog[i1].id,
					text:'',
					name: catalog[i1].name,
					categories: [],
					universities: []
				};


				tmp.text += " " + catalog[i1].name;
				tmp.text += " " + catalog[i1].instructor;
				tmp.text += " " + catalog[i1].short_description;

				tmp.categories = catalog[i1]['category-ids'];
				for(var i2 in catalog[i1].categories) {
					tmp.text += " " + catalog[i1].categories[i2].name;
				}

				tmp.universities = catalog[i1]['university-ids'];
				for(var i2 in catalog[i1].universities) {
					tmp.text += " " + catalog[i1].universities[i2].name;
				}
				tmp.text = tmp.text.toLowerCase();
				
				start_date = catalog[i1].courses[(catalog[i1].courses.length) - 1].start_month + '-';
				start_date += (catalog[i1].courses[(catalog[i1].courses.length) - 1].start_day != null) ? catalog[i1].courses[(catalog[i1].courses.length) - 1].day : 1;
				start_date += '-' + catalog[i1].courses[(catalog[i1].courses.length) - 1].start_year;
				tmp.added = Date.parse();
				tmp.duration = parseInt(catalog[i1].courses[(catalog[i1].courses.length) - 1].duration_string);
				if (isNaN(tmp.duration))
					tmp.duration = null;
				tmp.start = Date.parse(catalog[i1].courses[(catalog[i1].courses.length) - 1].start_date_string);
				compressed.push(tmp);
			}
		};

		var getCriteria = function() {
			var text, category, university, sorting;

			text = jQuery(".coursera-catalog-search").val().toLowerCase();
			category = jQuery('input.coursera-catalog-filter-category').val()
			university = jQuery('input.coursera-catalog-filter-university').val()

			return {
				text: text,
				category: category,
				university: university
			}
		}

		var findMatchIds = function() {
			var criteria,
			matchKeys = [],
			matchIds = [],
			tmp = [];			
			criteria = getCriteria();
			
			for(var i1 in compressed) {
				matchKeys.push(i1);
			}

			if (criteria.category != 'all') {
				for(var i1 in matchKeys) {
					if (jQuery.inArray(criteria.category,compressed[matchKeys[i1]].categories) > -1) {
						tmp.push(matchKeys[i1]);
					}
				}
				matchKeys = tmp;
				tmp = [];
			}
			if (criteria.university != 'all') {
				for(var i1 in matchKeys) {
					if (jQuery.inArray(criteria.university,compressed[matchKeys[i1]].universities) > -1) {
						tmp.push(matchKeys[i1]);
					}
				}
				matchKeys = tmp;
				tmp = [];
			}
			if (criteria.text.length > 1) {
				for(var i1 in matchKeys) {
					if (compressed[matchKeys[i1]].text.search(criteria.text) > -1) {
						tmp.push(matchKeys[i1]);
					} 
				}
				matchKeys = tmp;
			}
			for (var i1 in matchKeys) {
				matchIds.push(compressed[matchKeys[i1]].id);
			}
			showMatches(matchIds);
		};

		var showMatches = function(matchIds) {
			jQuery('.coursera-catalog-results-none').hide();
			jQuery('.coursera-course-listing-box').hide();
			if (matchIds.length === 0) {
				jQuery('.coursera-catalog-results-none').show();
			} else {
				for (var i1 in matchIds) {
					jQuery('.coursera-course-listing-box[data-id="' + matchIds[i1] + '"]').show();
					/*
					* uncomment this for dynamic loading of images
					jQuery('.coursera-course-listing-box[data-id="' + matchIds[i1] + '"]').show().find('img').each(function(i1,el) {
						el.src = jQuery(el).attr('data-src');
					});
					*/
				}
			}
		};

		var alterDropdownCss = function(ctx) {
			var $this = jQuery(ctx),
			criteria = $this.text(),
			criteriaCode = $this.attr('data-value'),
			$dropdown = $this.closest(".btn-group"),
			label = $dropdown.find("span.dropdown-label"),
			maxHeight = 0,
			thisHeight, currentHeight;

			$dropdown.find('input').val(criteriaCode);
			label.empty();
              		label.css("font-size", Math.max(14, 24 - Math.ceil(criteria.length / 3))); 
			label.append(criteria);

		        jQuery(".coursera-catalog-filters .btn-group").each(function() {
				thisHeight = $dropdown.find(".btn").height();
				thisHeight > maxHeight && (maxHeight = thisHeight);
		        });
		        currentHeight = Number(jQuery(".coursera-catalog-filters").css("height"));
		        (isNaN(currentHeight) || Math.abs(maxHeight - currentHeight) > 10) && jQuery(".coursera-catalog-filters").height(maxHeight + 20);
		};

		bindIdsToDom();
		compressData();

		jQuery(".coursera-catalog-filters ul li a").off('click');
		jQuery(".coursera-catalog-filters ul li a").click(function() {
			alterDropdownCss(this);
			findMatchIds();
		});

		jQuery(".coursera-catalog-sort").off('change');
		jQuery(".coursera-catalog-sort").on('change', function() {
			var sortKey = jQuery(this).val();
			compressed.sort(function(a,b) {
				if (a[sortKey] == null && b[sortKey] == null)
					return 0;
				else if (a[sortKey] == null)
					return 1;
				else if (b[sortKey] == null)
					return -1;
				else if (a[sortKey] < b[sortKey])
					return -1;
				else if (a[sortKey] === b[sortKey])
					return 0;
				else
					return 1;
			});
			for(var i1 in compressed) {
				jQuery('.coursera-catalog-listings').append(jQuery('.coursera-course-listing-box[data-id="' + compressed[i1].id + '"]'));
			}
		});

		jQuery(".coursera-catalog-search").unbind();
		jQuery(".coursera-catalog-search").on("keyup input textinput change", findMatchIds);

	}
});