Augmented Reality Learning Experiences: Survey of Prototype Design and Evaluation

• Published in: IEEE transactions on learning technologies Vol. 7; no. 1; pp. 38 - 56
• Main Authors: Santos, Marc Ericson C., Chen, Angie, Taketomi, Takafumi, Yamamoto, Goshiro, Miyazaki, Jun, Kato, Hirokazu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Piscataway IEEE 01.01.2014; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Academic Achievement; Augmented reality; Augmented reality learning experience; Cognitive Processes; Complement; Computer Simulation; Computer Software; Computers; Design; Design engineering; Education; Educational Technology; Effect Size; Electronic Libraries; Elementary Secondary Education; evaluation method; Evaluation Methods; Experiential Learning; Instructional Materials; Kindergarten; Learning; Learning Experience; Learning systems; Learning Theories; Learning theory; Literature Reviews; Mathematical models; Memorization; Meta Analysis; Multimedia Instruction; Program Effectiveness; Prototypes; prototyping; Qualitative Research; Questionnaires; Simulated Environment; Technology Uses in Education; Three-dimensional displays; Training; Visualization
• ISSN: 1939-1382; 2372-0050
• DOI: 10.1109/TLT.2013.37

Augmented reality (AR) technology is mature for creating learning experiences for K-12 (pre-school, grade school, and high school) educational settings. We reviewed the applications intended to complement traditional curriculum materials for K-12. We found 87 research articles on augmented reality learning experiences (ARLEs) in the IEEE Xplore Digital Library and other learning technology publications. Forty-three of these articles conducted user studies, and seven allowed the computation of an effect size to the performance of students in a test. In our meta-analysis, research show that ARLEs achieved a widely variable effect on student performance from a small negative effect to a large effect, with a mean effect size of 0.56 or moderate effect. To complement this finding, we performed a qualitative analysis on the design aspects for ARLEs: display hardware, software libraries, content authoring solutions, and evaluation techniques. We explain that AR incur three inherent advantages: real world annotation, contextual visualization, and vision-haptic visualization. We illustrate these advantages through the exemplifying prototypes, and ground these advantages to multimedia learning theory, experiential learning theory, and animate vision theory. Insights from this review are aimed to inform the design of future ARLEs.