In recent years, customization and personalization were widely applied to accommodate the needs of different cognitive style groups. Such two approaches have different advantages and disadvantages but there is a lack of studies to compare these two approaches from the perspective of game-based learning, which is currently popular in educational settings. To this end, we developed a customized game-based learning system and a personalized game-based learning system and conducted two empirical studies to examine how cognitive styles affected learner's reactions to these two game-based learning systems. The results from the customized game-based learning system showed that Holists might not always favor to listen to music because they frequently switched on/off music. On the other hand, Serialists did not prefer to use hints. In addition, learners with the customized game-based learning system had more positive perceptions while learners with the personalized game-based learning system had more negative perceptions though both systems were useful to enhance learners' learning performance, regardless of their cognitive styles.
['Oskar Y. M. Ku', 'C.H. Hou', 'Sherry Y. Chen']
Incorporating customization and personalization into game-based learning: A cognitive style perspective