Mobile Augmented Reality in Biological Education: Perceptions of Austrian Secondary School Teachers

Abstract

Today's teachers play a critical role in preparing students for the integration of educational technologies, such as augmented reality (AR), into their lessons. It is thought that AR implementation improves collaboration, motivation, and learning outcomes. Considering this, this study aims to determine the teachers’ perceptions of the benefits and obstacles of employing mobile AR applications (mAR) in their biology education, along with suggestions for practice, app developers, and policymakers. Therefore, a mixed-methods study was used to examine Austrian secondary school biology teachers’ opinions. A questionnaire containing open-ended and closed-ended questions was distributed to 35 teachers. Descriptive statistics were employed to process quantitative data, whereas grounded theory was utilized to process qualitative data. According to the findings, biology teachers likely utilize mAR apps to teach about human anatomy or to identify living things (e.g., plant determination). According to the teachers, mAR can improve students’ learning outcomes, motivation, and collaboration, and further their enthusiasm for learning biology. The main obstacles that teachers encounter whilst integrating mAR into their lessons are lack of technical devices, Internet issues, inconsistency with the curriculum, and questionable scientific accuracy of information. Despite the promising results, additional future studies with larger sample sizes are needed.