Inefficiencies of augmented reality for different sexes and grades in Chinese vocational education

Nowadays, augmented reality (AR) is becoming more and more prevalent and used in many fields, including education. Previous studies have reported the positive effect of AR to advocate the use of AR in the classroom. However, it is unclear whether such a positive effect can be reported for any student. In this study, we recruited students from a Chinese vocational college. Due to the peculiar conditions in China, students in vocational colleges may have weaker learning abilities and worse academic performance than students in research universities. Furthermore, the sex and grade of students were considered. We conducted a three-stage experiment for the PPT-based group and the AR-based group separately. We taught the students the orthographic projection, a lesson from the Engineering Drawing course, which is widely learned by students who majored in architecture. The students’ academic performances were rated prior to class, right after class, and 1-week after class, through a direct examination at three stages. We found the inefficiency of AR for students in vocational colleges. The interaction effect between sex and grade of students was also reported. Students undergoing AR-based teaching could not perform better or even worse than students undergoing PPT-based teaching. We recommended that the teachers should consider whether to use AR in the classroom based on the characteristics of students.