Augmented Reality Serious Game Design for Promoting Children's Science Education Cognition

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.

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.

Eligibility Criteria:
Inclusion Criteria:

* native Chinese children (6-8 years old)
* Clear cognition

Exclusion Criteria:

* Poor listening and comprehension abilities