Impact of augmented reality technology on academic achievement and motivation of students from public and private Mexican schools. A case study in a middle-school geometry course

• Published in: Computers and education Vol. 145; p. 103734
• Main Authors: Ibáñez, María Blanca, Uriarte Portillo, Aldo, Zatarain Cabada, Ramón, Barrón, María Lucía
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.02.2020
• Subjects: Applications in subject areas; Augmented reality; Interactive learning environments; Motivation; Interactive learning environments; Motivation; Applications in subject areas; Augmented reality
• ISSN: 0360-1315; 1873-782X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.compedu.2019.103734

In this paper, the authors show that augmented reality technology has a positive impact on learning-related outcomes of middle-school Mexican students. However, the impact varies depending on whether students were enrolled in public or private schools. The authors designed an augmented reality application for students to practice the basic principles of geometry, and a similar application which encompasses identical learning objectives and content deployed in a Web-based learning environment. A 2 × 2 × 2 factorial design was employed with 93 participants to investigate the effect of type of technology (web, augmented reality), type of school (private, public), and time of assessment (pre, post) on motivation, and declarative learning. The results show that: (1) there is an interactive effect of type of technology, type of school, and time of assessment when students' achievement scores are measured; (2) students using the augmented reality-based learning environments scored higher in post-test than those using the web-based application; (3) the augmented reality learning environment was more learning effective compared with the web-based learning environment in public schools, but not in private schools; (4) there is not an interactive effect of type of technology, type of school and time of assessment when students' motivation is measured; (5) students from private schools reported higher levels of motivation compared with those from public schools when using the augmented reality learning environment. The research findings imply that in Mexico, augmented reality technology can be exploited as an effective learning environment for helping middle-school students from public and private schools to practice the basic principles of Geometry. •Interaction effects of technology, school and time of assessment on achievement were explored.•Augmented reality technology is more learning effective than web technology.•Learning effectiveness of augmented reality is different in private and public schools.•No interaction effects on motivation between technology, and school were found.•Private schools' students were more motivated toward augmented reality that public school students.