Challenges and opportunities for effective assessments within a quality assurance framework for MOOCs

In the extant literature of MOOCs’ quality issues, assessment has been largely neglected. This study developed a quality assurance (QA) framework for examining MOOCs’ assessments, from two comprehensive and widely adopted QA frameworks of online learning programs. This framework was applied to compare a set of MOOCs and on-campus courses, both provided by a university faculty of hospitality. Findings show that assessments of this MOOC program are generally comparable to the offline QA framework. However, differences also exist. These differences reflect three challenges: namely, (1) the insufficient hurdle role of MOOC assessments in qualification verification, (2) their inadequacies in training and assessing higher-order practical competencies, and (3) the unfulfilled role of learners as co-creators and co-assessors. These challenges can be converted into opportunities for better positioning of MOOCs as valuable educational offerings in hospitality and tourism.