The effect of augmented reality application on students' achievement and attitudes towards science course

Augmented reality is the replacement of the reality in the world we live in with data such as images, sound, graphics in a virtual environment and enriching this reality by presenting it in three dimensions. Studies on the use of augmented reality in education have been increasing in recent years. However, there are not enough studies to generalize the effect of augmented reality on education. The purpose of this quantitative study is to investigate the impact of augmented reality usage on the students' academic achievement and attitudes in the Science Course. In this study, real-experimental design with a pre-test- and post-test control group was conducted. For this study, the "Electrical Circuits" unit in the 7th grade Science curriculum was selected. The study was conducted with 7th-grade students studying in a secondary school affiliated with the Ministry of National Education in the 2023-2024 academic year. The study was conducted with 22 students in the experimental group and 22 students in the control group, totaling 44 students. While the "Electrical Circuits" unit was taught with augmented reality applications with the experimental group students, it was taught with the control group students according to the current curriculum in the MoNE curriculum. The data were collected through "Seventh Grade "Electrical Circuits" Achievement Test" and "Attitude Scale towards Science" and analyzed with SPSS 25.0 (Statistical Package for the Social Science) statistical program. At the end of the 6-week study, it was concluded that augmented reality applications used in the Science course had a significant positive effect on students' academic achievement and attitudes towards the course.