Augmented Reality Serious Game Design for Promoting Children's Science Education Cognition
Condition: Educational Problems; Augmented Reality; Serious Game
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      Background：The process of constructing knowledge in the context of children's science
      education plays a significant role in fostering the development of early scientific literacy.
      Nevertheless, children sometimes struggle to comprehend scientific knowledge due to the
      presence of abstract notions.

      Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of augmented reality (AR) games as a teaching tool for
      enhancing children's understanding of optical science education.

      Methods: 36 healthy children between the ages of 6 and 8 years old were included in this
      study. Individuals were randomly divided into an intervention group (n=18) and a control
      group (n=18). Interventions, namely a 20-minute AR science education including three game
      lesson modules, while the control group was asked to learn 20-minute same knowledge with
      non-AR science learning app. POE (predict-observe-explain) test of 3 games including animal
      vision, color-light mixing and light refraction were conducted for all participants before
      and after the experiment. Also, intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI) test including
      interest-enjoyment (INT-ENJ), perceived competence (COMP), effort-importance (EFF-IMP), and
      tension-pressure (TEN-PRESS) were conducted for children after the experiment.
    

Detailed description: 
      Guardians of children with independent mobility provided informed written consent for their
      participation in the study. Participants were randomly assigned to the experimental and
      control groups using a randomization list maintained by members of the study group uninvolved
      in any other aspect of the research. Participants' guardians received and opened opaque,
      sealed envelopes containing group assignments following the initial evaluation. The evaluator
      in charge of assessing the results of the AR scientific education course had no access to
      participant information or group assignment.

      Sample size calculations were performed using PASS based on the POE test scores from the
      pre-experiment. Group sample sizes of 18 and 18 achieve 90.118% power to reject the null
      hypothesis of equal means when the population mean difference is μ1 - μ2 = 3.2- 1.0 = 2.2
      with a standard deviation (SD) for two groups of 2.0 and 1.9, and with a significance level
      (a) of 0.050 using a bilateral, two-sample, equal-variance t-test.

      This experiment was a randomized controlled trial, and the participants were randomly
      separated into the experimental group and the control group. The random numbers were
      generated by applying SAS software analysis system on computer simulation, and no
      experimental group was allowed to be selected at random. Every child was tested in the
      company of a guardian and two experimentalists.

      The independent variable was the type of game ("Light and Color", a light science educational
      product and AR game we designed). The independent variable was the type of game ("Light and
      Color", a light science educational product and AR game that we created). The dependent
      variables for both experimental and control group students were the difference between the
      pre- and post-test results of the POE test and the children's motivation to play the game. To
      create control variables for the experiment, both games were based on animal vision, light
      transmission, and color-light mixing, and neither game involved the teacher. In addition,
      there were no significant gender or age differences between the two student groups.
    

Intervention name(s): Augmented reality serious game design for promoting children's science education cognition:
Intervention type(s): Combination Product
Intervention description(s): The experimental group utilized the three game lesson modules of the AR science education app designed for this study, including "Animals vision," " Light transmission," and "Color-Light mixing".
The experimental group's total learning time was limited to 20 minutes, the testing process was completed under the supervision of the instructor and the experimenter, and the children's behavioral characteristics were recorded. During the experiment, the participants were not disturbed in any way; researchers only intervened when they faced difficulties or requested assistance. The participants were given a 15-minute respite at the conclusion of the trial to take another POE test. Before and after the intervention, each participant's performance on the game was recorded.
Other intervention name(s): AR serious game
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single (Participant)
Primary purpose: Other
Keywords: augmented reality; serious game; science education