The effects of augmented reality-facilitated mobile game-based learning on the diversity of life for promoting learning at the natural history museum

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of Augmented Reality-facilitated Mobile Game-based learning (MGAR) approach by comparing the learning achievement, learning motivation and cognitive load of the students who learned with this approach with those learning with the conventional Mobile Game-based Learning (MGL), Augmented Reality-based Learning (ARL), and conventional Web-based Learning (WL). All units were consistently designed for the concept of the diversity of life. The participants were 192 grade 9 students who were randomly assigned into four groups: MGAR (N = 46), MGL (N = 50), ARL (N = 43), and WL (N = 53). The instruments were the pre-test and post-test for achievements, the learning motivation questionnaire, the cognitive load questionnaire, and a semi-structured interview. The overall results show that MGAR was more effective in enhancing students' understanding of the diversity of life and significantly more motivational than the other groups. In addition, the MGAR decreased the cognitive load of the students when compared with the other groups.