An Augmented Reality Serious Game for Children's Optical Science Education: Randomized Controlled Trial.

Abstract

Knowledge construction in the context of children's science education is an important part of fostering the development of early scientific literacy. Nevertheless, children sometimes struggle to comprehend scientific knowledge due to the presence of abstract notions. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of augmented reality (AR) games as a teaching tool for enhancing children's understanding of optical science education. A total of 36 healthy Chinese children aged 6-8 years were included in this study. The children were randomly divided into an intervention group (n=18, 50%) and a control group (n=18, 50%). The intervention group received 20 minutes of AR science education using 3 game-based learning modules, whereas the control group was asked to learn the same knowledge for 20 minutes with a non-AR science learning app. Predict observe explain tests for 3 topics (animal vision, light transmission, and color-light mixing) were conducted for all participants before and after the experiment. Additionally, the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory, which measures levels of interest-enjoyment, perceived competence, effort-importance, and tension-pressure, was conducted for children after the experiment. There was a statistically significant difference in light transmission (z=-2.696; P=.008), color-light mixing (z=-2.508; P=.01), and total predict observe explain test scores (z=2.458; P=.01) between the 2 groups. There were also variations between the groups in terms of levels of interest-enjoyment (z=-2.440; P=.02) and perceived competence (z=-2.170; P=.03) as measured by the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory. The randomized controlled trial confirmed that the AR-based science education game we designed can correct children's misconceptions about science and enhance the effectiveness of science education.