A Systematic Review of Studies on Augmented Reality Based Applications in Primary Education

Abstract

This research aims to examine the researches based on augmented reality-based applications conducted for primary school students between 2015-2021 and to determine the positive and negative effects of this applications on students. The document analysis method was used in the research. In this context, articles containing AR-based applications prepared for primary school students using the keywords “augmented reality”, “primary education”, “elementary education”, “teachers ‘and parents’ perceptions” were examined in ScienceDirect, ERIC, Sagepub and SpringerLink databases. As a result of the research, 48 articles were determined in accordance with the criteria. As a result of the content analysis, these studies were divided into seven different categories under the augmented reality theme: teacher and parent perceptions, reading and literacy skills, science education, special education, language education, mathematics education, and history/social sciences education. It has been observed that these practices improve students’ motivation, academic achievement and remembering skills, increase their vocabulary, help them develop a positive attitude towards lessons, and improve their spatial thinking and creativity skills. In addition, there are also studies that have negative results stating that it limits the imagination, requires a lot of time for the application, it prevents reading because it is distracting, there is no available amount of free AR-based applications, and there are inadequate professional support to teachers for the use of these applications.