Investigation of the effect of augmented reality based learning environment on students' academic achievement and permanence of learning in social studies course

The aim of this study is to test the effectiveness of the augmented reality learning environment on disasters and environmental problems in the 5th grade in the social studies course and to measure the effect on the academic success of the students. Disasters are natural events that affect human life both in the world and in our country and have been going on since the formation of the world. Being prepared for disasters is very important for countries in disaster areas such as Turkey. The internalization of students who have not experienced in this subject remains limited. Augmented reality technology can create an important opportunity for students to gain experience in disasters and environmental problems. This research, which was carried out in order to test the effectiveness of providing disaster experience without endangering students, was planned as a mixed study. The quantitative part of the research, which was designed as an exploratory sequential mix, was carried out first, while the qualitative part was planned by focusing on explaining the quantitative data. The effectiveness of the application was statistically examined with the quantitative part, which was designed as quasi-experimental with pre-test-post-test equalized control group, and a case study was preferred in the qualitative part to describe the process with students' opinions. The fact that the research is experimental shows that the research can reveal the cause and effect relationship and that this result can be generalized under similar conditions. In this study, the predictions made about the possible outcome of the research, namely the hypotheses, are expressed as hypotheses. The study was carried out with 44 students, 22 of whom were in the experimental group and 22 in the control group, who were studying in the 5th grade in a secondary school in the province of Bartın. While the AR-based learning environment was applied to the students in the experimental group, the students in the control group continued to teach with their current teachers and the curriculum of the Ministry of National Education. The implementation phase of the AR-based teaching environment was completed in 3 weeks, with a total of 9 course hours, 3 course hours per week, in the fall semester of the 2021-2022 academic year. Academic achievement test developed by the researcher, rubrics, in-class evaluation activities and semi-structured interview form were used to collect qualitative data. The development of the academic achievement test was carried out with the 6th grade students who had seen the subject before and the 4th grade students who had never seen the subject at the school where the application was made. The semi-structured interview developed by the researcher for the collection of qualitative data was validated by taking expert opinion. The academic achievement test was administered to the students in the experimental and control groups as pre-test, post-test and retention test. Mann Whitney-U test and Wilcoxon signed-rank test were used in the statistical analysis of the data obtained from the tests. Content and descriptive analysis techniques were used in the analysis of qualitative data. By using the inductive technique, the data were coded and sub-themes and themes were created. The created themes and sub-themes were interpreted according to their frequency. According to the quantitative findings of the study, the AR supported teaching process applied to the experimental group students was effective in increasing the academic success of the students; The current program did not change the academic success of the control group students. A significant difference was found between the retention test scores of the experimental and control group students in favor of the experimental group. According to the qualitative findings, the participant students presented their views on four themes: augmented reality and education, disaster education achievements, regional disasters and flood disaster. When interpreted in general, it has been determined by the students' opinions that AR applications are effective in the academic success of the students, they are realistic with virtual experience, they are aware of the disaster threats in their region, and they become conscious about flood disasters. According to the findings, it can be recommended to expand the scope of AR supported teaching processes, to carry out the necessary studies for students to reach this opportunity, to prefer AR supported teaching that provides learning by experience in the lessons, and to popularize the use of AR supported teaching that provides permanent learning, especially in disaster education. Keywords: Augmented reality, disaster, environmental education, geography, social studies