A Literature Review: The Effectiveness of Differentiated Learning in Enhancing 21st Century Competencies

Abstract

The Industrial Revolution 4.0 blurs the physical boundaries between the digital, biological, and physical worlds, impacting the education sector, which faces significant challenges in preparing individuals with the 21^st century competencies, such as critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, and communication skills. Differentiated learning emerges as a solution, adapting education to meet individual needs. Although effective, its implementation encounters challenges such as time constraints and teacher training. This research analyzed the effectiveness of this approach in enhancing 21^st-century competencies and provides recommendations for its implementation. The study employed a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) method to evaluate the relationship between differentiated learning and the 21^st century competencies. Literature searches were conducted with inclusion and exclusion criteria across various databases, with a sample range of articles from 2000 to 2024. Relevant data were thematically analyzed, ensuring the validity and reliability of findings through quality assessments of selected studies. The results of this literature review identify research findings regarding the effectiveness of differentiated learning in enhancing the 21^st century competencies, such as critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, communication, digital literacy, and social-emotional skills. By reviewing articles from internationally indexed Scopus journals, the findings encompass definitions and frameworks of differentiated learning, its impact on the 21^st-century competencies, supporting factors, and implementation challenges. Differentiated learning has proven effective in developing 21^st-century skills, including enhancing students' critical thinking, creativity, communication, collaboration, and computational thinking