Augmented Reality in Primary Education: An Active Learning Approach in Mathematics

• Published in: Computers (Basel) Vol. 12; no. 10; p. 207
• Main Authors: Volioti, Christina, Orovas, Christos, Sapounidis, Theodosios, Trachanas, George, Keramopoulos, Euclid
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01.10.2023
• Subjects: Active learning; Augmented Reality; Cognition & reasoning; Collaboration; Cooking; Education; Educational objectives; Elementary school students; Engineering education; Games; Geometry; Interactive learning; Learning; Mathematical analysis; Mathematics; Mathematics anxiety; Mathematics education; Mathematics teachers; Methods; primary school; Problem solving; School environment; Student participation; Students; Study and teaching; Teaching; Usability; Visualization; Greece
• ISSN: 2073-431X; 2073-431X
• DOI: 10.3390/computers12100207

Active learning, a student-centered approach, engages students in the learning process and requires them to solve problems using educational activities that enhance their learning outcomes. Augmented Reality (AR) has revolutionized the field of education by creating an intuitive environment where real and virtual objects interact, thereby facilitating the understanding of complex concepts. Consequently, this research proposes an application, called “Cooking Math”, that utilizes AR to promote active learning in sixth-grade elementary school mathematics. The application comprises various educational games, each presenting a real-life problem, particularly focused on cooking recipes. To evaluate the usability of the proposed AR application, a pilot study was conducted involving three groups: (a) 65 undergraduate philosophy and education students, (b) 74 undergraduate engineering students, and (c) 35 sixth-grade elementary school students. To achieve this, (a) the System Usability Scale (SUS) questionnaire was provided to all participants and (b) semi-structured interviews were organized to gather the participants’ perspectives. The SUS results were quite satisfactory. In addition, the interviews’ outcomes indicated that the elementary students displayed enthusiasm, the philosophy and education students emphasized the pedagogy value of such technology, while the engineering students suggested that further improvements were necessary to enhance the effectiveness of the learning experience.