A study of comparing the use of augmented reality and physical models in chemistry education

Augmented reality (AR) is an emerging technology, which renders three-dimensional (3-D) virtual objects and allows people to interact with virtual and real objects at the same time. The purpose of this study is to investigate how students interact with AR and physical models and evaluate their perceptions regarding these two representations in learning about amino acids. The results show that some students liked to manipulate AR by rotating the markers to see different orientations of the virtual objects. However, some students preferred to interact with physical models in order to get a feeling of physical contact. Their interactions with AR demonstrated that they tended to treat AR as real objects. Based on the findings, some AR design issues are elicited and the possibility to use AR in the chemistry classroom is discussed.