Improving Students’ Collaborative Learning Experiences within a Game-Based Augmented Reality Learning Environment

Abstract

In today’s post-COVID 19 world, the need to re-establish and strengthen collaborative activities is crucial in improving their learning experiences, and technology has become more prevalent as an enabler and a necessity to support this. Therefore there is a need for the development of student learning approaches that can capture their learning experiences and bridge the gap between formal learning and a more authentic, collaborative approach towards learning. Research has suggested that the use of emerging technologies such as Augmented Reality (AR) have been conducive in promoting better understanding of complex and difficult content in classes and offer learners the rich and engaging learning experience of visualizing course content, but have not yet been fully evaluated for their effectiveness in improving the learning experiences of students. As such, this study sought to design a game-based AR environment that investigated students’ attitudes and perceptions of using game-based AR, within a Team-Based Learning (TBL) class structure in their learning process, and its impact on student learning experiences. 56 Undergraduate level students participated in this mixed method research study and in this game-based AR learning environment. Data was collected on their attitudes and triangulated to obtain the study’s results. Findings showed that students were motivated to learn more, that the learning environment improved their collaboration, and were positive to having such learning experiences in their future courses, and a game-based AR learning framework, GALE, was presented. Such findings have important implications for the use of augmented reality as an instructional tool in 21st century learning environments.