Surveying students' conceptions of learning science by augmented reality and their scientific epistemic beliefs

Previous studies have addressed the positive influences of augmented reality (AR) on science learning. However, few studies have explored how learners consider learning science by such an emerging technology, particularly from the perspectives of conceptions of learning. This study therefore aimed to develop a survey to understand students' conceptions of learning science by AR (CLSAR) considering their demographic characteristics and scientific epistemic beliefs. The CLSAR survey was validated by the responses of 267 junior high school students. The results indicate that the students generally exhibited positive conceptions, with stronger perceptions of learning science by AR as increasing motivation and interaction. Although they expressed less negative conceptions, their considerations of learning science by AR as diminishing learners' imagination about the scientific information were stronger than those as interrupting learning. The students' grade level played a role in their conceptions, but their gender did not. However, when considering the relationships between the students' scientific epistemic beliefs and their conceptions, the gender factor may interfere with the relations. Based on the findings, some suggestions for the development of AR-related science learning systems are discussed.