See me roar: On the over-positive, cross-cultural response on an AR game for math learning

Abstract

Today’s children spend a lot of time playing digital games, but may be less interested in their schoolwork, especially for subjects they find difficult and are subsequently not willing to spend much time on it, such as mathematics. Serious games can be an effective method to improve the motivation and learning performance of children in math learning. However, current serious games have limitations in classroom applicability. Augmented Reality provides the opportunity for children to immediately visualize the assignment and can be designed to create a fantasy environment that can engage children to delve deeper into the subject. However, it is less well studied how children from different cultures react to the game design of AR learning games. Therefore, in this study, we have designed the base prototype of an AR game, called See Me Roar, aiming to improve children’s learning experience. To investigate the effect of our current base game on children’s learning motivation compared to the effect of a more traditional paper exercise, two user studies were conducted, one in China and one in an international school in the Netherlands. The results have shown that compared to a traditional paper exercise, the AR game significantly improved a number of motivational correlates, i.e. likability, enjoyment, the desire to do the exercise in free time, recommendation to others, and in general making math more fun. Both Chinese and international children prefer the game over the paper exercise. Insights regarding Self-Determination theory for the development of future versions of the game are subsequently discussed.