Using Augmented Reality to Support Children’s Situational Interest and Science Learning During Context-Sensitive Informal Mobile Learning

Extended-Reality Technologies: An Overview of Emerging Applications in Medical Education and Clinical Care.

This study used the Relevance of Science Education (ROSE) survey (Sjoberg & Schreiner, 2004) to examine topics of interest and perspectives of secondary science students in a large school district in the southwestern U.S. A situated learning perspective was used to frame the project. The research questions of this study focused on (a) perceptions students have about themselves and their science classroom and how these beliefs may influence their participation in the community of practice of science; (b) consideration of how a future science classroom where the curriculum is framed by the Next Generation Science Standards might foster students' beliefs and perceptions about science education and their legitimate peripheral participation in the community of practice of science; and (c) reflecting on their school science interests and perspectives, what can be inferred about students' identities as future scientists or STEM field professionals? Data were collected from 515 second year science students during a 4-week period in May of 2012 using a Web-based survey. Data were disaggregated by gender and ethnicity and analyzed descriptively and by statistical comparison between groups. Findings for Research Question 1 indicated that boys and girls showed statistically significant differences in scientific topics of interest. There were no statistical differences between ethnic groups although. For Research Question 2, it was determined that participants reported an increase in their interest when they deemed the context of the content to be personally relevant. Results for Research Question 3 showed that participants do not see themselves as youthful scientists or as becoming scientists. While participants value the importance of science in their lives and think all students should take science, they do not aspire to careers in science. Based on this study, a need for potential future work has been identified in three areas: (a) exploration of the perspectives and interests of non-mainstream students and urban students whose representation in this study was limited; (b) investigation of topics where students expressed low interests topics; and (c) development and design of authentic communities of practice in the science classroom.

The importance of increasing and widening participation in post-compulsory science and informal science learning (ISL) spaces is widely recognized—particularly for working-class and minority ethnic communities. While there is a growing understanding of the intersection of femininity with class, ethnicity, and science learning across formal and informal settings, there has been little work on how masculinity may shape urban boys’ science (non)participation and (dis)engagement. This article analyzes performances of masculinity enacted by 36 urban, working-class boys (from diverse ethnic backgrounds) during school science museum visits, exploring how these performances relate to science identity and engagement. We identify three main performances of masculinity enacted during the visits (“laddishness,” “muscular intellect,” and “translocational masculinity”), and trace the implications of each for boys’ science engagement. We consider the power implications of these performances, notably the extent to which hegemonic masculinity is normalized within the science museum space, the ways in which this normalization is co-constitutive of the boys’ performances of masculinity, and the implications of the boys’ performances of masculinity for other students (notably girls and less dominant boys). The article concludes with implications for research, policy, and practice regarding how to promote equitable participation and science learning within ISL.

Problem. A significant segment of the U.S. population, under-represented students, is under-engaged or disengaged in secondary science education. International and national assessments and various research studies illuminate the problem and/or the disparity between students’ aspirations in science and the means they have to achieve them. To improve engagement and address inequities among these students, more contemporary and/or inclusive pedagogy is recommended. More specifically, multicultural science education has been suggested as a potential strategy for increased equity so that all learners have access to and are readily engaged in quality science education. While multicultural science education emphasizes the integration of students’ backgrounds and experiences with science learning , multimedia has been suggested as a way to integrate the fundamentals of multicultural education into learning for increased engagement. In addition, individual characteristics such as race, sex, academic track and grades were considered. Therefore, this study examined the impact of multicultural science education, multimedia, and individual characteristics on under-represented students’ engagement in secondary science. Method. The Under-represented Students Engagement in Science Survey (USESS), an adaptation of the High School Survey of Student Engagement, was used with 76 highschool participants. The USESS was used to collect pretest and posttest data concerning their types and levels of student engagement. Levels of engagement were measured with Strongly Agree ranked as 5, down to Strongly Disagree ranked at 1. Participants provided this feedback prior to and after having interacted with either the multicultural or the nonmulticultural version of the multimedia science curriculum. Descriptive statistics for the study’s participants and the survey items, as well as Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for internal consistency reliability with respect to the survey subscales, were conducted. The reliability results prompted exploratory factory analyses, which resulted in two of the three subscale factors, cognitive and behavioral, being retained. One-within one-between subjects ANOVAs, independent samples t-test, and multiple linear regressions were also used to examine the impact of a multicultural science education, multimedia, and individual characteristics on students’ engagement in science learning. Results. There were main effects found within subjects on posttest scores for the cognitive and behavioral subscales of student engagement. Both groups, using their respective versions of the multimedia science curriculum, reported increased engagement in science learning. There was also a statistical difference found for the experimental group at posttest on the measure of “online science was more interesting than school science.” All five items unique to the posttest related to the multimedia

This study qualitatively investigated how children's situational interests were triggered and developed during the Tree Investigators project, an outdoor, tablet‐mediated biology learning program. Utilizing a situative learning framework, we elucidate a comprehensive account of the children's expression and development of science‐related situational interests. Video recordings of five dyads of children (aged 9–11) were collected during summer camp sessions at a nature center. Video‐based analyses were conducted to identify patterns of the children's situational interest development while they learned about tree life cycles at the camp. Our analyses focused on how the children's interactions with the physical settings (e.g., mobile app, trees) and other people (e.g., peers) triggered and maintained situational interest in different ways. Our findings contribute to an understanding of the relationships between children's situational interests, cognitive and emotional engagements, and socio material interactions, especially in an outdoor, tablet‐mediated education environment. In order to support children's situational interests, our findings suggest including tactile and open‐ended activities, considering the different influences of the same resources to different children, and respecting diverse areas of interests within peers.

Frazing is a manual task in turbine blade manufacturing companies, in which the operators must discover and repair the defects of the workpieces. Such detection is so attention-demanding and time-consuming that the operators sometimes miss the defects, resulting in poor human performance and quality. Hence, this study aims to guide the operators with a systematic visual search using augmented reality (AR). For this purpose, an AR-based assistance system was built. To evaluate the system’s usability and effectiveness, a user study was conducted on 24 skilled operators. The results showed that the performance of the augmented operators was enhanced as the task completion time and detection misses decreased using the AR tool by 11.6 and 100 percent, respectively. The mental workload declined significantly after using the AR system. The most prominent finding of this research is that the AR tool was quite effective in reducing mental fatigue and workload, leading to improved human performance in ever-changing tasks.

We attempted to address the challenge of effectively conveying the innovative literary device known as the Rashomon effect (tRe), using a digital tool. We opted for Augmented Reality (AR) in combination with MERGE cubes for this purpose. These cubes served as a practical medium for illustrating the complexities of tRe, a narrative technique renowned for its ability to offer multiple perspectives on a single event or storyline. This narrative device is known for its ability to create narrative uncertainty, withholding a clear and absolute truth, and instead exposing the readers to an assortment of interpretations. The Rashomon Augmented Reality Cube (RARc) was designed with two main goals in mind. Firstly, it was created to provide a vivid visual representation of the Rashomon effect. This not only makes storytelling engaging but also serves as a stepping stone for students to explore a variety of interpretations. Secondly, it was conceived as an educational tool for introducing students to key CT principles, such as abstraction, solution design, and computational innovations. By instilling these principles, students acquire problem-solving skills that are increasingly essential in our technology-driven world. This AR tool, known as the RARc, serves as a hands-on digital activity crafted for creative writers, with a particular focus on engaging female participants. It encourages them to unleash their creativity and explore the nuances of storytelling within an immersive and interactive learning experience. In this paper, we share development and implementation strategies that were utilized throughout the design of the RARc. The Rashomon Augmented Reality Cube (RARc) was designed with two main goals in mind. Firstly, it was created to provide a vivid visual representation of the Rashomon effect. This not only makes storytelling engaging but also serves as a stepping stone for students to explore a variety of interpretations. Secondly, it was conceived as an educational tool for introducing students to key CT principles, such as abstraction, solution design, and computational innovations. By instilling these principles, students acquire problem-solving skills that are increasingly essential in our technology-driven world. This AR tool, known as the RARc, serves as a hands-on digital activity crafted for creative writers, with a particular focus on engaging female participants. It encourages them to unleash their creativity and explore the nuances of storytelling within an immersive and interactive learning experience. In this paper, we share development and implementation strategies that were utilized throughout the design of the RARc.

ABSTRACTThis study aimed to investigate the relationships among the middle school students’ perceptions of science teacher support, students’ motivation and students’ engagement in learning science. Student motivation was addressed with task value and academic self-concept while student engagement included aspects of agentic, behavioural, emotional and cognitive engagement. In the study, survey method was used and the data were collected though previously validated self-report questionnaires. Valid data were obtained from 1006 middle school students enrolled in one of the nine public schools in Turkey. The path analysis revealed that perceived science teacher’s support positively predicted students’ task value and academic self-concept in science. Furthermore, students who reported high levels of task value and academic self-concept showed higher levels of engagement in science. Accordingly, it seems important for science teachers to listen to the students, behave fairly and help them to solve their problems in order to motivate them for learning science and increase their engagement in science class.

Formula-S: Situated Visualization for Traditional Chinese Medicine Formula Learning.

IntroductionThe introduction of augmented reality (AR) in medical education has been demonstrated to improve learning of medical students and young clinicians. Use of AR is often linked to Head Mounted Displays (HMD), whose high costs and expertise demands make them less widely applicable.MethodsThe open-source application Medical Imaging XR (MIXR), developed by Medicalholodeck™, was used to visualize computed tomography examinations in augmented reality on mobile devices, including smartphones and tablets. Cases were presented during Radiology lectures. Clinical cases relevant to each lecture topic—thorax, abdomen, gynecology, musculoskeletal system, and emergency medicine—were selected from our local picture archiving system. The cases were demonstrated on mobile devices during a radiological lecture, either in person or via video conference. To evaluate the educational experience, students provided feedback through a structured questionnaire.ResultsMedical students received a demonstration with AR in the lecture and were asked to answer a questionnaire. 47 students replied to the questionnaire. Students rated their experience with MIXR in a positive manner. 36.2% of students considered AR images to be very comprehensible, whereas only 21.3% considered conventional images as very comprehensible. 32 out of 47 considered that AR demonstration contribute to better understanding of the case as whole. 91.8% of students would like to continue using AR in the studies and 80.9% would like to have similar tools available for future interactions with patients.Conclusion/DiscussionIntroduction of AR in radiology lectures is well received by medical students, who would be interested in continuing using AR tools in their studies and future career. Using mobile device-based AR proved viable, contributing to democratization of AR, in a low-cost manner and with no need for extended expertise.

BackgroundPrompted by fewer females compared to males enrolling in physics and advanced mathematics at both secondary and university levels, our research investigated the views and experiences of female students currently studying upper secondary school physics. We interviewed 18 female students about influences they considered important to their own science education, interest in science, and future science-related aspirations. Our purpose was to identify the experiences that these students most strongly associated with the generation and maintenance of their engagement in science, particularly represented in this research by their enrolment in upper secondary physics.ResultsThe research team used a systematic, iterative process to identify the main themes in the transcribed interview data. We identified the influence each girl reported as the strongest (ranked first). We also combined all influences that the participants had nominated, regardless of their ranking, to further examine all factors participants suggested as influential in their sustained engagement in school science (represented by their decision to study upper secondary physics). Systematic analysis of the interview data confirms that the influences on these females’ choices to study physics at upper secondary originate from a combination of their teachers, their school’s science culture, members of their family, the participants themselves and their peers.ConclusionsThe interviews highlighted the idiographic complexities in understanding the wide range of important influences on these students studying physics at upper secondary school and their engagement in science. The unique contribution of this work is giving voice to the participants and reflecting on what these high-achieving females have to say about the influential factors in their decisions to pursue science. Supportive teachers and the school science culture play essential roles, and other cultural and/or social factors such as family members and peers are identified as important. References to the culture and expectations of the school, family holidays, and conversations with siblings are support factors that seem to interact and overlap. At the same time, the importance of policy-amenable factors such as competent and caring science teachers, and science-supportive school cultures should be emphasised and encouraged.

Augmented reality (AR) is an innovative learning tool that is gaining popularity in educational settings as it has the potential to significantly enhance interactive learning. In addition, AR has been a significant contributor to blended learning because it can be used in addition to conventional learning aids like text, images, video tutorials and the internet. However, there is a lack of research on the application of AR in the context of programmes with technical and practical components particularly with reference to the possibilities it may offer in terms of Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC). This paper reports on the first phase of an action research study done in an architecture department in a higher education institution that offers a module on Construction Technology. The learning unit for which AR is particularly explored is Construction Methods, Assembly, and Materials. A qualitative research approach was applied where principles of the Delphi method were used after selecting a group of eight experts who were purposively sampled. The participants were exposed to the AR technology, viewed a simulation, and were encouraged to explore three-dimensional model building for themselves by using the AR tool. Themes that emerged from group discussion were recorded to illustrate the possibilities of the application of AR in the context of the module as well as possible limitations or concerns. Curriculum outcomes were then proposed to enhance an interdisciplinary component, incorporating the AR project outcomes with wider applicability than architecture only. The implications shared should be applicable to skill development in engineering and construction education in learning units that deal with construction methods, assembly and materials.

Access to quality education remains a challenge in developing nations, including Indonesia. Augmented reality (AR) has emerged as a promising tool to address this gap. This review aimed to examine AR applications in education from 2001 to 2024, focusing on their impact on learning outcomes and accessibility. The study analyzed 171 articles selected through a systematic search in databases like scopus and IEEE explore. Key aspects reviewed include AR tools, applications, evaluation methods, and target demographics. Findings highlight AR’s effectiveness in STEM education, vocational training, and cultural learning through features like 3D visualizations, interactive simulations, and animations, enhancing engagement and skill acquisition. AR aligns with sustainable development goals 4 (quality education), 9 (industry, innovation, and infrastructure), and 10 (reduced inequality) by improving access to education and reducing inequalities. However, challenges such as inadequate teacher training, limited infrastructure, and the need for localized content hinder broader implementation. The review concludes that AR tools should address pedagogical and contextual needs for optimal impact. Recommendations include expanding teacher training, improving access to technology, and developing culturally relevant content. Future research should explore scalable, long-term AR solutions to enhance global education

The integration of augmented reality (AR) in education has demonstrated significant potential to transform traditional learning into interactive and immersive experiences, particularly in language learning. This study explores the perceptions and experiences of undergraduate student facilitators in designing and implementing an AR-enhanced adventure game to improve English proficiency. The research involved 23 participants utilizing the EyeJack application to develop situational learning activities that incorporated cognitive and language skills. A convergent mixed-methods approach was employed, combining surveys, structured interviews, and artifact-based observations to evaluate communication, the quality of instructional materials, the use of AR tools, and logistical considerations. The results reveal that AR significantly enhanced engagement, motivation, and practical language application among participants. However, challenges such as technical constraints, the need for facilitator training, and adaptation to diverse learning contexts were highlighted. Participants emphasized AR’s potential to foster meaningful and enjoyable educational experiences while advocating for improvements in logistical support and training. The findings provide valuable insights for educators and policymakers into how AR can be effectively integrated into language learning to enhance collaboration, critical thinking, and task-based learning. Furthermore, this study contributes to the broader academic field by advancing knowledge on the pedagogical applications of AR, offering a framework for scaling its implementation across diverse educational settings. This study concludes that AR-enhanced activities, when strategically designed and executed, can revolutionize language education by bridging traditional and technology-enhanced methodologies. By addressing current challenges, AR tools can serve as transformative resources, promoting inclusive and innovative learning practices that align with the evolving demands of education in the digital age.

There are many augmented reality (AR) applications available that can be used to create educational contents for these mobile devices. This paper surveys the most popular augmented reality applications and we select AR eco-systems to be used in daily teaching activities which are user friendly, do not require programming skills and are free. Different augmented reality technologies are explored in this paper to create teaching activities with animations, videos and other information to be shown on top of interactive documents. It is presented the creation of a novel augmented reality book that was developed with teachers and students. Several examples are also presented that are used in educational activities, from kindergarten to elementary and secondary schools, to improve reading, comprehension and learning of music.KeywordsAugmented realitye-learningm-learning