Integrating augmented reality technology to enhance children's learning in marine education

Marine education comprises rich and multifaceted issues. Raising general awareness of marine environments and issues demands the development of new learning materials. This study adapts concepts from digital game-based learning to design an innovative marine learning program integrating augmented reality (AR) technology for lower grade primary school students. The proposed activity integrates physical and virtual learning materials, encouraging students to engage in an interactive learning environment that makes learning fun and interesting. The program introduces Taiwan's marine ecology and water resources. To assess learners' engagement, a quasi-experimental research design was used, where the participant pool consisted of 51 primary school students in Taiwan. Results indicate that (1) students were highly confident by the learning activities and viewed them satisfactorily, (2) students acquired the target knowledge, and (3) the innovative learning program specifically helps low academic achievers improve learning performance.