Measuring effectiveness of augmented reality-based geometry learning assistant on memory retention abilities of the students in 3D geometry

Mathematics is one of the fundamental subjects for engineering students. While learning mathematics, students often find it difficult or lose interest due to the complexity of the subject. Augmented reality (AR) could aid students to learn certain concepts or theories that were difficult to understand in the classroom and also has the capability to enhance the instructional/learning material. In this study, an AR-based learning setting named geometry learning assistant (GLA) was developed to teach geometry to students in a mathematics course. GLA provides an interactive and immersive experience to the students that helped them to learn about 3D vectors and direction ratios. The application includes vector addition, cross product, position vector, direction ratios, and dot product with real-time examples for better learning. Experimental research was organized to investigate the impact of AR intervention on learner's memory retention abilities and learning. Eighty 1st-year polytechnic students participated in the study and they were divided randomly into two groups: experimental group (N = 40) and control group (N = 40). Students of the experimental group were made to learn using AR-based GLA, whereas the students from the control group were treated using interactive simulation (IS). The experimental results showed that the learners from the experimental group have better memory retention abilities after 2 and 4 weeks of the learning activity. AR-based GLA provided a 3D immersive learning experience to the students that enhanced their visualization of the core concepts, which additionally improved their memory retention abilities.