Investigating Learners’ Views of Assessment Types in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are changing the contours of the teaching and learning landscape. Assessment covers an important part of this landscape and may be a key driver for learning. This paper presents preliminary results of a qualitative study that investigated learners’ views on assessment types within a MOOC. A thematic analysis of learners’ interactions in a MOOC Facebook Group and twelve online interviews of learners in the same MOOC reveal that participants identify benefits in peer assessment but they prefer automated assessment as an already-known type. Self-assessment was not preferred by these learners. They reported that clear guidance assists them to carry out peer assessment more effectively. Some learners favored the combination of assessment types, as each of them serves a different purpose for their learning. The learners’ socio-cultural context emerged as a theme affecting both their learning and assessment activities and will be considered for future research.