A Case Study of AR Technology and Engineering Students: Is There a Gender Gap?

Abstract

Determining the factors influencing students’ intention to use Augmented Reality (AR) allows a deeper understanding on how students react to the use of such technologies in their training as engineers. This study aims to identify the emotional and cognitive factors that influence the students’ intention of using AR in their future professional life and to access possible gender differences. A group of about 150 undergraduate students from an Engineering and Industrial Management program had the opportunity to explore AR applications related to contents addressed in Sensors and Actuators course. A survey was designed and used with those students. Principal component analysis resulted in three components named interest, ease of use and attitude. Logistic regression analysis was conducted with these three components together with gender, as predictors of intention of using AR in later professional life. Attitude turned out to be the strongest predictor. This analysis has also shown that gender has no significant effect.