The impact of different collaboration formats on mathematical problem-solving in augmented reality

Abstract

Augmented reality (AR), where digital holograms are layered over the real world, is rapidly being applied to different educational domains, including mathematics education. However, little is known about how AR can be effectively designed for collaborative use. There are both practical and theory-based reasons to set up collaboration in AR in different ways, which result in different costs and opportunities for learning. Here we compare parallel collaboration, where each student separately experiences AR holograms on their own AR device, to observer/observed collaboration, where one student experiences AR overlays on their AR device, while another observes their first-person camera feed, to joint collaboration, where students see a single, synced AR hologram that updates based on their partners’ actions. We report a pre-registered within-subjects study where n = 70 high school students in pairs confronted holographic geometry tasks. We examine their actions and gestures, as well as their post-test performance, as it varied by the collaboration condition through which they learned the target mathematical concepts. Results suggest that parallel collaboration is most effective overall, with some evidence that joint collaboration might be superior for higher-knowledge learners. In addition, different collaboration formats predict different uses of gestures and actions, but we do not see positive associations between these gestures and actions and post-test performance. Implications for theory, design, and educators are discussed.