The effects of STEAM-based mobile learning on learning achievement and cognitive load

In order to explore whether STEAM education in combination with elementary school curriculums can help students' learning performance, this study developed a digital learning system. This digital learning system combined STEAM concepts with elements of gamebased learning. This study developed the curriculum content based on the unit of transportation vehicles and presented it in a digital learning manner. In the experiment, the students were divided into an experimental group and a control group. The experimental group students were given the system developed in this study to assist their learning, and the control group students the lecturer-centered narrative curriculum. The study results show that the experimental group was superior to the control group in learning effectiveness. In the aspect of cognitive load, the cognitive load generated by the experimental group in their learning activities was also lower than that of the control group. By classifying students according to their learning styles, the visual type students had better learning effectiveness than the verbal type students when learning through the system developed by this graduate institute. As for the sequential type and global type students learning with the system developed, there were no significant differences in their learning effectiveness.