The Impact of Augmented Reality (AR) Books on the Reading Engagement and Comprehension of Child Readers.

Augmented Reality (AR) books offer new opportunities for interaction and engagement, and additional features provide potential to support children’s reading comprehension, yet there is currently very little research in this area.  This project aims to capture and understand children’s (aged 7-10) experiences with AR books, specifically focusing on whether there are benefits to reading engagement and comprehension.  A particular focus will be on understanding whether, to what extent, and how, AR books have potential to support and engage struggling readers. This poster describes the protocol for study 1 of the project (pre-registration here https://osf.io/9q678) Opportunity sampling will be used to recruit up to four primary school teachers and 30 children (aged 7-10) from 3-4 classrooms from 1-2 Scottish primary schools. Twelve groups of students from different year groups (with 1-3 children in each group) will be observed participating in an AR reading session. Students will be observed interacting naturally with the AR book (printed book, with tablet affording AR features), with the support of an adult (if required) and will be audio recorded and observed during this time. During the observation written (anonymized) notes will also be made in relation to key points (e.g., usability, enjoyment, engagement, discussion etc). Following this, children will be interviewed by the researcher and asked about their engagement and comprehension of the AR book and their perceptions of the similarities and differences (positive and negative) between AR books and traditional print books. In addition, all class teachers (n = ~4) will be interviewed to explore their perceptions of AR books in terms of supporting reading engagement and comprehension and their perceptions regarding usability of AR books in the classroom. Thematic analysis will be used to identify and report themes related to child readers interaction, experiences and perceptions (engagement and comprehension) of AR books, and teachers’ perceptions of AR books. The six phases outlined in Braun & Clarke (2006) will be applied. Pre-registration has been used for this project as it facilitates a shared understanding of my project, as a PhD researcher, with my supervisors and the wider research community. It ensures I clearly articulate my research questions and related methods prior to conducting the research.  Furthermore, it prompts me to consider credibility strategies prior to starting data collection or analysis.  Finally, it provides readers with an opportunity to learn about my research at any early stage and understand how research evolves across the different phases.