7th grade students on "particulate structure of matter and pure substances" of augmented reality technology impact on academic achievements and student opinions

In today's conditions, students, needs, requirements, interests, and motivations are changing rapidly. In recent years, children's exposure to technology at a very early age has led to a diversification of their expectations and demands. Considering the rapid development of technology, it is evident that teaching methods used approximately twenty years ago are no longer sufficient to meet the objectives of contemporary education. In order to educate individuals who can adapt to these changes, the question of how technology can be effectively integrated into classroom environments has become a central focus of recent educational research. Among the technologies that can be used in classroom settings, Augmented Reality (AR) applications have been observed to find a wide range of applications in the related literature. In this study, Augmented Reality (AR)-supported instructional activities implemented within the "Particulate Nature of Matter and Pure Substances" unit of the Science course were examined in terms of their effects on seventh-grade students' academic achievement, motivation toward science learning, and attitudes toward AR applications. The study was conducted with a total of 60 seventh-grade students attending a public secondary school located in the Tuşba district of Van province. The experimental and control groups were selected from two different classes. The research was carried out over a period of five weeks in accordance with the science curriculum. At the beginning of the research process, the "Particulate Nature of Matter and Pure Substances Achievement Test" was administered to both the experimental and control groups as a pre-test. Following the pre-test application, selected topics within the unit were taught to the experimental group using augmented reality applications, while the same unit was taught to the control group using traditional teaching methods. Voluntary students in the experimental group were asked to complete the "AR Applications Opinion Form" to gather their views on the AR applications, while the opinions of the course teacher were collected through the "Course Teacher Opinion Form." The quantitative data obtained in the study were analyzed using .(Statistical Package for the Social Sciences). The results revealed that lessons taught with AR applications had positive effects on students' academic achievement. It was also observed that students' levels of information and technology use contributed positively to their learning through augmented reality in science courses. Findings from the qualitative part of the study indicated that AR-based digital applications increased students' motivation, helped concretize abstract concepts, reduced prejudices, and encouraged active participation. Based on the results of the study, it was recommended that learning environments be appropriately prepared to benefit from AR technologies, that AR-based activities be included in textbooks, and that teachers receive training on the use of these applications