Mobile augmented reality adapted to the ARCS model of motivation: a case study during the COVID-19 pandemic

The rushed introduction of online education for universities because of the current covid-19 health crisis, has started to affect the quality of education for millions of students around the world. This pandemic has emphasized the need to improve the teaching process through the use of innovating educational tools, such as mobile augmented reality (mAR). This pilot study intends to evaluate the relationship between motivation and meaningful learning for university students through mAR, as well as the effects and implications of its use how supporting teaching activities in an Industrial Design and Technical Drawing course. A quantitative method research approach was applied to collect, process, and analyze the research data of the students’ perception under the health restrictions caused by the current pandemic, using the Instructional Materials Motivation Survey (IMMS). The total number of questionnaires collected was 96, applied to students of the Industrial Engineering major at Universidad Católica del Maule in Chile. The instrument’s reliability was measured using Cronbach’s alpha, giving an overall value of 0.89. The implementation of an instructional model called ARCS (Attention-Relevance-Confidence-Satisfaction) was achieved. The implementation of mRA was positively valued by most of the students surveyed. An increase the percentage of students who achieved the expected learning objectives was found, in compared to previous versions of the course (without mAR). Finally, the results demonstrate a positive relation between mAR and the learning level achieved by students. There was no evidence of negative effects under the particular imposed conditions, because of sanitary restrictions when implementing the mAR.