scholarly journals Development and Evaluation of an Augmented Reality Microscope for Science Learning: A Design-Based Research

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 708-728
Author(s):  
Mustafa Serkan Abdusselam ◽  
Selcan Kilis
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Middle School Students ◽  
Augmented Reality ◽  
Science Teachers ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
School Science ◽  
School Students ◽  
Design Based Research ◽  
Design Changes ◽  
Augmented Reality Technology

This study aims to develop and evaluate an augmented reality microscope, “MicrosAR”, for a middle school Science course, which was aimed for use both in and out of school, and to understand the users’ perceptions about it. The study adopted design-based research to iteratively develop and evaluate the MicrosAR. Learning activities and working handouts in the application were grounded upon inquiry-based learning. The initial prototype was evaluated with 99 middle school students, as well as 18 preservice and six experienced in-service science teachers. The second prototype was then evaluated with 96 different middle school students. Accordingly, design changes were applied to the second prototype to present the final product development. Participants’ experiences and perceptions were gathered through a self-developed, paper-based instrument after they practiced with the MicrosAR. The findings indicated that the MicrosAR was favored by and recognized as an effective and useful tool by the participants. The study highlighted the benefits that augmented reality technology and such an application can offer for learning purposes, and that it can be practiced at any place to deliver a “real” learning experience over virtual platforms, thereby saving costs, enhancing its availability, and improved learner interest.

scholarly journals The Nutrition Education Initiative Resource Guide

2014 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 01-15
Author(s):  
Penny A. Ralston ◽  
Bonnie Greenwood ◽  
Thomas Cornille ◽  
Linda L. Brown ◽  
Dykibra Gaskin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Middle School Students ◽  
Nutrition Education ◽  
Science Teachers ◽  
Eating Behaviors ◽  
School Science ◽  
School Students ◽  
Resource Guide ◽  
Middle School Science Teachers ◽  
Education Initiative

Background and Purpose: With obesity in children and youth continuing to be a major health problem in the U.S., schools are considered an important setting to implement programs to address the issue but few have focused on middle school students. The purposes of this study were to: 1) determine the effectiveness of a school-based nutrition education program, the Nutrition Education Initiative (NEI) Resource Guide, in improving school lunch eating behaviors of middle school students, and 2) identify science teachers’ perceptions of the materials. Implementation: The project was implemented by 16 middle school science teachers and 309 seventh grade students in a medium-sized north Florida community. The NEI Guide included three conceptual areas (Build a Healthy Base, Choose Sensibly and Aim for Fitness), major concepts, objectives, narrative information, and teaching strategies. Evaluation: Using a pre-/post without control group design, the study involved collecting data via food recall surveys with students, and surveys and interviews with teachers. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and paired t-tests. Results: During lunch time, a higher proportion of students met the recommended dietary servings for dairy, meat, vegetables, fruit, juice and grains from pre-test to post-test. Students also significantly increased dietary intake of meat (p< .01), fruit (p< .01) and fruit/juice combined (p< .05); and significantly decreased intake of fried vegetables (p< .001), with decreased fat intake approaching significance (p< .06). Differences in dietary patterns were noted between the two schools studied. Science teachers perceived the NEI Guide as effective; yet they also identified challenges including lack of adequate training, lack of time to implement the materials, and lack of collaboration with the project team. Conclusion: The project outcomes suggest that middle school science teachers can positively impact school lunch eating behaviors of middle school students in selected schools by incorporating nutrition education in their curricula.

Employing 3D Printing to Fabricate Augmented Reality Headsets for Middle School STEM Education

2019 ◽  
pp. 241-261
Author(s):  
Daniel A. Tillman ◽  
Ross C. Teller ◽  
Paul E. Perez ◽  
Song A. An
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Middle School Students ◽  
Augmented Reality ◽  
3D Printing ◽  
Learning Science ◽  
3D Printer ◽  
School Students ◽  
Mathematics Content Knowledge ◽  
3D Printers ◽  
And Mathematics

This chapter examines the theories, strategies, and techniques for employing 3D printing technologies to fabricate education-appropriate augmented reality (AR) headsets and provides a concrete example of an AR headset that the authors developed. The chapter begins by discussing theories and historically relevant events that provide a context for the chapter's narrative about use of 3D printers to support AR in education. Next, the chapter presents the strategies that were employed while developing and 3D fabricating a custom-designed AR headset that was intended for supporting middle school students learning science and mathematics content knowledge. Afterward, the chapter provides directions and resources for the reader describing how to build the presented AR headset design themselves by using a 3D printer and affordable electronic components, as well as information about how to join the Maker community and participate in the designing and producing of similar projects. Lastly, the chapter delivers a summarization of all findings discussed.

Lessons Learned about Designing Augmented Realities

2011 ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick O’Shea ◽  
Rebecca Mitchell ◽  
Catherine Johnston ◽  
Chris Dede
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Middle School Students ◽  
Augmented Reality ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
School Students ◽  
Initial Development ◽  
Design Heuristics ◽  
Handheld Computing ◽  
The Impact

Utilizing GPS-enabled handheld computing units, we have developed and studied Augmented Reality (AR) curricula to help middle-school students learn literacy and math. In AR, students move around an outdoor physical environment, interacting with virtual characters and artifacts on their handheld computer. These “invisible” objects and characters provide clues to help solve a mystery, guiding the students through a process of inquiry and evidence-building. The first AR curriculum we developed, Alien Contact!, is based on a scenario where aliens have crash landed near the students’ middle school. Students, working in teams, learn math and literacy skills in the course of determining why the aliens have come to earth. This study describes the design heuristics used during the initial development and deployment of Alien Contact!, the results of two formative evaluations of this curriculum, and the impact these findings have had on revising our design heuristics for a subsequent AR curriculum about beached whales, called Gray Anatomy.

scholarly journals Interest in Dialogic and Non-Dialogic Teacher Talk Situations in Middle School Science Classroom

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (8) ◽  
pp. 1531-1546
Author(s):  
Kalle Juuti ◽  
Anni Loukomies ◽  
Jari Lavonen
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Science Teachers ◽  
Science Classroom ◽  
Video Recording ◽  
Experience Sampling ◽  
School Science ◽  
Teacher Talk ◽  
Rank Test ◽  
Student Interest ◽  
School Students

AbstractPrevious research has shown that dialogic teacher talk not only supports students’ understanding but also raises their interest. However, there is little, if any, research on the connection between dialogic talk and student interest in classroom situations. To investigate this connection, we collected video observations and experience sampling data. In total, 87 middle school students aged 14 to 16 participated in the study. Data were collected from the classes of six science teachers, and three lessons were video recorded in each teacher’s classroom. During the lessons, students were asked several times to express their interest in the situation through the experience sampling method (ESM). The measurements took place in situations where the teacher either talked with the students or talked to the whole group of students. The talk situations were categorised as dialogic or non-dialogic, based on the video recording. On a five-point scale of interest, the median value was 3.3 in non-dialogic talk situations and 3.5 in dialogic talk situations. We hypothesised that students’ interest would be higher in dialogic talk situations than in non-dialogic talk situations. The hypothesis was tested with a related samples Wilcoxon signed rank test, and the results supported the hypothesis (Z  =  −  2.62; p  <  0.05). The results suggest that dialogic talk may trigger students’ interest in science learning.

scholarly journals Middle School Students’ Perceptions of Scientists and Views About to Become a Scientist

2021 ◽  
pp. 410-428
Author(s):  
Aslı Bahar Ivgin ◽  
Hakan Akcay ◽  
Hasan Ozgur Kapici
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Middle School Students ◽  
Albert Einstein ◽  
School Science ◽  
School Students ◽  
Science Textbooks ◽  
Isaac Newton ◽  
Interest In Science ◽  
Images Of Scientists ◽  
8Th Grade

It is important to explore children’s perceptions related to scientists for preventing their lack of interest in science and avoidance of science careers. This study aims to reveal middle school students' images of scientists, with an analysis of how those images may be influenced by middle school science textbooks currently use in Turkey. It was also examined students’ opinions related to becoming a scientist. The study is based on a qualitative research methodology. The sample consists of 98 students from a middle school (5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th grade). The data was gathered by four science textbooks, the Draw a Scientist Test (DAST) and an open-ended questionnaire. The findings showed that most of the middle school students think that scientists as men, happy, wearing a lab coat and glasses, working individually in indoor places. Albert Einstein and Isaac Newton were drawn as the most famous scientists. The images of scientists in the science textbooks were mostly men. On the other side, more than half of the students were not sure or not eager to be scientists for their future careers because of negative thoughts on scientific studies and not matching their own characters and the characters that scientists should have.

Using Video-Based Instruction via Augmented Reality to Teach Mathematics to Middle School Students With Learning Disabilities

2020 ◽  
Vol 53 (4) ◽  
pp. 277-291 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan O. Kellems ◽  
Carrie Eichelberger ◽  
Giulia Cacciatore ◽  
Mikaela Jensen ◽  
Brynn Frazier ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Middle School Students ◽  
Augmented Reality ◽  
Functional Relation ◽  
Rate Of Change ◽  
School Students ◽  
Mathematics Intervention ◽  
Problem Solving Skills ◽  
Based Instruction ◽  
The Individual

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of video-based mathematics instruction for seven middle school students with specific learning disability (SLD), using an augmented reality-based training package. The dependent variable was the percentage of steps students performed correctly to solve each type of mathematics problem. The independent variable was the augmented reality video-based intervention, which used video to model the individual steps for solving four types of multistep mathematics problems: (a) addition and subtraction of integers, (b) multiplication and division of integers, (c) using ratio reasoning to convert measurement units, and (d) using multiplication and division to calculate rate of change. Results indicated a functional relation between the video-based mathematics intervention and the percentage of steps completed correctly for each type of problem. All seven participants showed significant gains immediately after receiving the intervention and maintained improved problem-solving skills in at least three out of the four problem categories.

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