Mobile augmented reality techniques with gamification to enhance learnability for higher institute students of chemistry course

Purpose The current study intends to use green-driven augmented reality (AR) with gamification application to help students at the Higher Institute of Science and Technology (HIST) in Libya to effectively learn general chemistry concepts successfully and with minimum side effects on individuals and the environment. It also aims to shed light on the students’ learnability, neural and psychological mechanisms under the green-driven, AR-oriented learning environment that might affect students’ personality, feelings and moods. For this study, smartphones and smart glasses are employed to design AR-G technology. Design/methodology/approach The sample of this study was divided into two groups: the experimental and the control groups. The experimental group used the AR app, and the control group used 2D pictures. The experiment was in two stages: for the first one, a 3D interactive story game reflecting the classroom and the laboratory was designed in which students feel secure and entertained in learning chemistry concepts. In the second stage, the designed gamification solution developed in Unity AR was assessed to measure its acceptability and environmental effects. Findings This study aimed to investigate mobile AR learning experiences. The researchers designed an AR-based game for general chemistry learning, to investigate its effects on students’ behavior, satisfaction and attention. In addition, it intended to uncover the challenges they faced, their experience, concerns about using and the time spent interacting with AR. This study showed that a postlecture activity of testing with AR games affected the retention of lecture contents over 12 weeks significantly better than the retention of the material taught by traditional teaching methodology. Thus, AR-G technology helped to lower students’ test anxiety and increased the regularity of studying. In this study, a student learned in the environment and was liberated from corporeal and sensory connections with their physical surroundings, which greatly aided in improving their experience and collecting players’ learnability analytics, experience, motivation and well-being via game analytics. However, AR-G technology established a competitive learning environment to increase learning by allowing students to be more involved in the learning process and therefore more motivated, resulting in greater real-world performance. On the other hand, that agrees with the latest studies in neuroeducation indicating that it is difficult to learn without conscious and sustained attention. Noreikis et al . (2019) confirmed in their research that action video games could greatly enhance perceptual ability and improve concentration, resulting in a positive impact on learning effectiveness. Research limitations/implications The study has difficulties such as certain hardware being incompatible with the systems of the user device, such as HMD with mobile, and incompatible games. Although AR is not a new technology, one of its challenges is that instructors and students may not be comfortable using it and may not be convinced of the usefulness of technology. One drawback of the current study was that it was limited to a single first-year chemistry class. If the study had been done across several lengthy semesters, it could have had a more beneficial outcome. Another challenge was the small number of participants of students, and their withdrawal for unexpected medical conditions or psychological distress. The choice of one gaming session in a week could generate biased results. Practical implications This study explores how AR with gamification technology can support learning general chemistry topics and shows that AR improved academic achievement and provided instant feedback. The results indicate that AR technology could be helpful in an academic setting by increasing academic achievement and raising motivation for the students who used AR-G technology. Social implications 50% of the interviewees had positive learning experience of AR referring to AR as an enjoyable learning value they gained. One participant commented that “I believe that the augmented reality would be better compared to long texts, and may be suitable for young learners and I feel it is quite efficient and effective”. More than half of the interviewees too considered augmented reality motivating them, triggering their ambition to search for answers to the questions and enhancing further motivated classroom learning. Two interviewees argued that AR potentially develops fun experiences but not necessarily improve learning. Originality/value To meet the objective, 3D interactive story game that imitates the classroom and the laboratory environment in an ecofriendly, entertaining and exciting manner was designed for students of a chemistry course. The first classroom chemistry syllabus was overall divided into three learning units based on their increasing level of difficulty. For each learning unit, the proposed game will offer three modes of green-driven AR-G smart learning. To keep the target students motivated in order to undertake the gaming activity on a regular basis, various motivational affordances will be systematically embedded within the proposed game strategy that includes points, leaderboards, achievements, badges, levels, story, theme, feedback, clear goals, day-to-day challenges and rewards (Deterding et al . (2011), Stott and Neustaedter (2013). Finally, the designed gamification solution was developed in Unity AR, which was later preliminarily tested to evaluate its acceptability and impact on environmental sustainability.