Middle school students' perceptions of augmented reality in mathematics and their views on this subject

The aim of this study is to measure middle school students' perceptions of augmented reality used in mathematics lessons and to examine their views on this issue. Since the research contains quantitative and qualitative data, the explanatory design of mixed method was used. For this purpose, firstly, the "Augmented Reality Perception in Mathematics (ARPM) Scale" was developed. Together with this scale, a Structured Interview Form (SIF) was developed and used as a qualitative data collection tool. The participants of the study consisted of students studying in secondary schools selected from a province in the Southeastern Anatolia Region in the 2023-2024 academic year. Firstly, AR introductory lessons were given to the sample in order to provide them with information about Augmented Reality (AR) and to enable them to apply it, and then the MAGA scale was applied to a total of 698 participants. Afterwards, the final ARPM Scale was developed by applying scale development steps. The data obtained from the ARPM scale were analyzed using a survey design. Among the students selected from the sample to which the ARPM scale was applied, 81 people were asked their opinions about AR by administering the SIF. Content analysis techniques and descriptive statistics were used together to analyze the data related to this form. The data obtained from 698 participants were divided into two parts for Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). Microsoft Excel, Word, SPSS, Lisrel and Smart PLS programs were used to analyze the data. Qualitative data were analyzed under common themes. It was found that there was no significant difference between the ARPM gender scores of the middle school students participating in the study, ARPM scores differed according to the grade and academic achievement variables, and there was a positive relationship between ARPM and mathematics achievement. Students viewed ARPM positively in terms of learning/teaching processes and the development of cognitive and affective skills. They also stated that ARPM may have individualized and technical problems. They emphasized that ARPM improves the learning process and individual development regarding its use in mathematics. They stated that ARPM created an internal and external development at the point of concretization. They mentioned the positive and negative contributions of ARPM to affective domain, self-confidence and mathematics achievement. They also suggested that AR can be used in numerical and verbal disciplines other than mathematics. Therefore, QR codes that reveal objects similar to the AR applications used in this study can be added to middle school textbooks.