Improving Children's Cultural Heritage Experience Using Game-based Learning at a Living Museum

Abstract

This empirical study was conducted to design, develop, and evaluate children's experiences with a game-based mobile guide (GBMG) application at Sarawak Cultural Village (SCV). The Interaction Design lifecycle model was used for the systematic development of the GBMG application. A total of 45 children took part in this study who were divided into two groups: a paper-based pamphlet and GBMG application group. The Museum Experience Scale were used to evaluate the overall experience with the GBMG application in this study. Results showed that the children in the mobile-based groups have a higher mean for the four dimensions of MES, although the difference is only significant for the emotional connection dimension. This study shows that the game-based mobile guide application did not significantly improve children's museum experience at SCV except for their emotional connection. Additional findings from the Heuristic Evaluation with six Human-Computer Interaction experts offered a deeper understanding of why the GBMG did not improve the children's visitor experience at SCV. The outcome of this study contributes to the research field of game-based mobile applications to enhance children's experiences at living museums with several issues raised for further research.