dc.description.abstract | The effects of matching/mismatching have been recognized as an important topic in education fields for a long while. A number of studies suggested that matching instruction has positive impacts on student learning. Among such studies, several works also indicated that the cognitive style was a key factor in determining the effects of matching/mismatching because it refers to an individual’s preferred and habitual approach to organizing and representing information. Therefore, research into the influences of matching/mismatching and cognitive styles on student learning mushroomed in the past decades. However, such research had not paid much attention to a game-based learning environment. On the other hand, there is a lack of research to investigate the effects of background music even though it is an indispensable element in a game-based learning environment. In this vein, this dissertation aims to examine how background music and cognitive styles affect learners’ reaction to a game-based learning system from a matching/mismatching aspect. To reach this aim, two empirical studies are conducted. Study One is to investigate whether learners react differently to a game-based learning system with background music and that without background music while Study Two is to compare the effects of matching background music and mismatching background music in a game-based learning system.
The results from Study One indicate that the use of background music in the game-based learning system may be not an important factor for reasoning ability, but it certainly changed learners’ behavior and perceptions. Additionally, it seems not to be an influential factor for Holists whereas it will influence Serialists’ learning behavior and negatively affects their learning perception. On the other hand, the findings from Study Two demonstrate that the matching/mismatching background music in the game-based learning system would affect learners’ reasoning ability and learning behavior but it may not significantly influence participants’ learning perception. Moreover, the matching background music would negatively influence Holists’ reasoning ability and learning behavior. In contrast, the matching/mismatching background music appears not to be an effective factor for Serialists. Finally, two frameworks are produced based on the results of each study. These frameworks can make designers, researchers, instructors and students have a better understanding of background music and can apply to improve developments of game-based learning systems. | en_US |