Game-Based Learning for Competency Abilities in Blended Museum Contexts for Diverse Learners.

In recent years, competency-based learning has attracted worldwide attention in the educating of lifelong learners who are capable of dealing with complex issues and addressing challenges arising in the future. Competency refers to a highlevel ability to integrate learned knowledge, experiences and related skills in order to solve problems that require critical thinking, creativity, or social skills. However, most schools find it difficult to promote competency-based education due to a lack of interdisciplinary resources and professionals who can develop appropriate curriculums. While teachers are limited by what can be achieved in the classroom, museums can offer a lifelong edutainment environment with flexible choices for the public and also provide fruitful interdisciplinary learning resources to support competency-based education. However, the lack of proper scaffolding and supports in museums can negatively affect learner learning. Further, learners to not all have the same approach to learning and these differences need to be considered when considering the support to be offered. In this study, an innovative learning model to support competency education for lifelong learning in museums is proposed. A game-based learning service named CoboFun that offers various types of problem-solving activities was developed to facilitate learner interaction with exhibits and their peers in the museum. To examine the service design of CoboFun, learners’ perceptions were evaluated and the differences in their cognitive styles were examined (Field Independent (FI) and Field Dependent (FD). The results showed that both FI and FD learners enjoyed learning with CoboFun but that flexible learning tools needed to be provided to satisfy the different needs for the learners with different cognitive styles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]