Learning while exercising for science education in augmented reality among adolescents

Because of a shortage of physical exercise, concerns about adolescents have recently been raised in Taiwan. In educational environments where student exercise has been limited by scheduling constraints and the lack of physical exercise has become a vital problem, learning while exercising may be part of a possible solution. This study developed the Ecosystems Augmented Reality Learning System (EARLS) and also made a comparison of EARLS, existing keyboard/mouse-based computer assisted instruction (KMCAI) approaches, and traditional face-to-face teaching methods, in terms of learning achievement and learning attitude. In this study, 1211 subjects were surveyed and divided into 5 groups. Students from the first three groups used EARLS but were exposed to different sections of the system. In terms of learning achievement, learning while exercising groups do not learn less well than the KMCAI or traditional groups. However, they earn extra exercise without diminishing the quality of learning achievement. With regard to the attitude subscales Usefulness of learning Ecosystems and Anxiety in learning Ecosystems, the students in the traditional-teaching group had the significantly lowest scores for both while the students involved in EARLS had the highest ratings on Usefulness of learning Ecosystems and the students within KMCAI rated the highest anxiety in learning ecosystems.