Oct 2026· Journal of Civil Engineering Education· Vol 152· 0 citations· 34 references
TL;DR
The results reveal that the integration of AR with social presence cues significantly enhanced students’ understanding of abstract concepts, reduced feelings of isolation, and fostered peer collaboration.
Abstract
Although asynchronous online education offers flexibility, it can sometimes limit student engagement, especially in the absence of opportunities for interaction and collaboration. Emerging technologies like augmented reality (AR) show promise in addressing these challenges, yet their effectiveness in fostering collaborative learning and enhancing social presence remains underexplored. This study investigates the role of a novel Social Presence–Enabled Augmented Reality (SPEAR) tool, which integrates real-time voice chat and AR-based visualization, in improving student engagement, collaboration, and comprehension of complex engineering concepts. Seven focus group discussions were conducted with undergraduate engineering students who used the SPEAR tool in an online Strength of Materials course. The results reveal that the integration of AR with social presence cues significantly enhanced students’ understanding of abstract concepts, reduced feelings of isolation, and fostered peer collaboration. Participants praised the tool’s interactive features, such as real-time manipulation of three-dimensional (3D) structural models, which bridged the gap between theoretical learning and practical application. Voice chat further enriched the learning experience by facilitating instant peer support and fostering a sense of community. This study highlights the transformative potential of AR in online engineering education and proposes a framework for integrating social presence cues to optimize engagement and learning outcomes. Future research should explore scaling AR tools to diverse contexts and incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual reality (VR) for deeper immersion. These findings contribute actionable insights to the development of more interactive, collaborative online learning environments.
Virtual Reality (VR) being an promising tool for immersive learning nowadays, nevertheless, in K-12 classrooms across the UAE, it's still underexplored thus highlighting a research gap in VR in the UAE context. This study collected data from twenty-five teachers in a single UAE private school who used VR with their students. Using qualitative focus group interviews and data thematic analysis, the study explores the teachers' hands-on experiences, perceived educational impacts, challenges, and practical considerations regarding VR integration in the UAE educational context. The findings discussed the discrepancies of VR's perceived educational benefits and the issues associated with integrating VR into education. Themes identified include student involvement and engagement in VR learning, lack of cultural-related curriculum for Arabic implementation, strategies used by teachers to create innovative solutions for classroom delivery with the lack of resources, technical barriers for both students and teachers, and safety-related issues concerning young children using VR technology. One point that emerged was the difference in what VR was presumed to accomplish regarding teaching and learning and how effective VR is when being actively implemented in an actual educational environment. This study highlights the need for Emirati localized content development, robust infrastructure, and continuous educational support to benefit from the VR's full potential. This paper contributes to the growing body of literature on immersive learning by providing a detailed, context-specific model for VR adoption in a non-Western educational system, offering valuable understandings for educators, policymakers, and technology developers.
R. Zein, Osama Taani, Rafiq Hijazi et al.· Frontiers in Education· 0 citations
Effective pedagogical interactions are an important prerequisite for the cognitive, emotional, and motivational development of students and the health of teachers. Yet the dynamics of pedagogical interactions have not yet been sufficiently conceptualized or adequately researched from multiple perspectives. The INTAKT study addresses these gaps by investigating teachers’ and students’ behaviors and experiences in secondary school classes–from their subjective perspectives (insider view) and by classroom observations (external view). In this paper, we present the INTAKT pilot study, which examined the feasibility of this multi-perspective approach in 16 classes (
n
= 209 students). Descriptive analyses yielded insightful results on the (perceived) quality of 18 interaction features from the distinct perspectives in each participating class, e.g., visualized by radar charts. Effect sizes suggest substantial differences across perspectives, with the largest and most consistent discrepancy observed for cognitive activation (
d
′ > 1.0). We exemplify these results with two contrast groups built on observer ratings (low vs. high quality). A comparison of these two groups indicates that the perspective differences were larger in the low-quality group. In addition, we present how we translated the findings into personalized feedback reports for the participating teachers. As an outlook, we document preliminary psychometric diagnostics. In the discussion, we argue that the INTAKT approach is feasible and yields meaningful findings with high face validity. As for the feedback reports, we discuss their potential to support teachers in reflecting on and developing their instructional practice. Beyond that, we critically reflect on the pilot study's sample quality (small number of classes, convenience sample) and outline the main study's strategy to further analyze the scales’ psychometric properties and the generalizability of the observed effects.
Laura Schwitter, Boris Eckstein, A. Wettstein et al.· Frontiers in Education· 0 citations
This study examines how mobile technologies used in blended learning environments affect student participation and motivation levels during English for Specific Purposes (ESP) classes at Omani higher education institutions. The research aims to identify effective uses of mobile devices, examine how mobile applications promote interaction and motivation, and determine which applications best support these outcomes. The researchers used a qualitative case study approach, which included semi-structured interviews with five ESP teachers and three focus group discussions with second-year students at a maritime college. The thematic analysis process produced five primary themes. The results show that mobile technology enables users to communicate in real-time while working together and participating actively through gamified tools, AI-supported feedback, and interactive platforms, including Microsoft Teams, Moodle, Kahoot, Quizlet, and ChatGPT. Students experienced higher levels of confidence, independence, and greater enthusiasm when activities matched their professional development needs. The study identified several challenges, including unstable internet connectivity, device limitations, cognitive overload from using multiple platforms, and overreliance on AI-generated feedback and social media distractions. The study shows that effective mobile integration requires both technology availability and strategic instructional design, which follows motivational principles.
Kawkab Al Balushi, M. Hamzah· Journal of Education and e-L...· 0 citations
The integration of augmented reality (AR) into Life Sciences education has the potential to enhance interactive teaching and strengthen learners’ conceptual understanding. Although AR is increasingly adopted in education systems in many developed countries, its use in developing contexts, including South Africa, remains limited, a finding supported by this study involving thirty Life Sciences teachers before and after a professional development intervention. As an interactive platform that overlays virtual elements onto real-world environments, AR offers significant pedagogical value, particularly for visualizing abstract scientific concepts. However, limited empirical evidence exists on teachers’ capacity to effectively utilize AR affordances to foster interactive learning. This study, therefore, examined Life Sciences teachers’ perceptions of AR affordances for promoting interactive learning. The study was guided by social constructivist theory, which emphasizes knowledge co-construction through social interaction, and distributed cognition theory, which highlights the interaction between individuals and technological artifacts in cognitive processes. Quantitative design was employed, and data were collected from thirty Life Sciences teachers using questionnaires administered before and after a professional development intervention on AR integration. The pre- and post-intervention comparison enabled an assessment of changes in perceptions of AR affordances. Findings revealed a shift from initially negative perceptions to more positive attitudes following training, indicating increased recognition of AR’s potential to support interactive learning. Overall, the results underscore the need for sustained professional development to equip Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) teachers with the skills required for meaningful AR integration.
Vuyo Kamati, L. Mavuru, Sam Ramaila· The International Journal of...· 0 citations
Virtual reality (VR) has become an increasingly valuable tool for learning because it can transform abstract ideas into concrete, meaningful concepts. However, students’ perceptions of this emerging approach are crucial for developing an effective VR-based teaching model. This study aimed to explore the perceptions of intermediate-level Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) students toward a VR-embedded station rotation learning model. A qualitative case study design was employed, using focus group interviews and open-ended questionnaires with 30 intermediate-level CFL students from a college in China who participated in the VR-embedded station rotation model for one semester. Data were collected at mid-semester and at the end of the semester. The findings revealed seven themes: five positive—VR technology, vividness, practice, personalization, and receiving help—and two negative—challenging tasks and technology use. Students appreciated the immersive VR experiences, interactive activities, and personalized feedback, but also encountered difficulties with task complexity and technical issues.
Virtual Reality (VR) has become one of the most revolutionary technologies in the education sector to help create immersive and interactive learning experiences, thereby increasing student engagement and retention of knowledge. This paper will discuss the effectiveness, accessibility issues and implementation problems of VR in learning. In this study, a systematic literature review of existing literature conducts the systematic literature review with the help of Preferred Reporting Items of Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA). The Scopus database was selected in order to gather high quality data and coverage. We selected seventy-two studies that met the eligibility criteria and they were related to a broad spectrum of topics and possessed various goals. The results show that VR has been applied across a range of different learning modalities, thus improving the formal and informal education setting and it facilitates affective engagement, skill acquisition, and learner motivation. VR provides engagements that encourage active engagement and practice of complicated actions. Although it has potential, VR implementation is usually affected by increased implementation costs, technological limitations, cybersickness, cognitive load and insufficient pedagogical readiness among the teaching community that suggests that most of the studies rely on short term measurement and self-reported measures, which necessitate longitudinal evidence and standardized assessment systems. In this study, VR is highlighted as gaining high educational effect when it becomes part of blended learning models and user-centered design principles. Future research should emphasize accessibility-oriented development, collaborative virtual environments and rigorous evaluation of real world learning transfer to enhance universally accessible immersive education.
V. S. A. Goud, K. C, Manimekalai R et al.· Genetics and Molecular Resea...· 0 citations
