Life Sciences Teachers’ Perceptions of Augmented Reality Affordances for Fostering Interactive Learning in South African Classrooms

Abstract

The integration of augmented reality (AR) into Life Sciences education has the potential to enhance interactive teaching and strengthen learners’ conceptual understanding. Although AR is increasingly adopted in education systems in many developed countries, its use in developing contexts, including South Africa, remains limited, a finding supported by this study involving thirty Life Sciences teachers before and after a professional development intervention. As an interactive platform that overlays virtual elements onto real-world environments, AR offers significant pedagogical value, particularly for visualizing abstract scientific concepts. However, limited empirical evidence exists on teachers’ capacity to effectively utilize AR affordances to foster interactive learning. This study, therefore, examined Life Sciences teachers’ perceptions of AR affordances for promoting interactive learning. The study was guided by social constructivist theory, which emphasizes knowledge co-construction through social interaction, and distributed cognition theory, which highlights the interaction between individuals and technological artifacts in cognitive processes. Quantitative design was employed, and data were collected from thirty Life Sciences teachers using questionnaires administered before and after a professional development intervention on AR integration. The pre- and post-intervention comparison enabled an assessment of changes in perceptions of AR affordances. Findings revealed a shift from initially negative perceptions to more positive attitudes following training, indicating increased recognition of AR’s potential to support interactive learning. Overall, the results underscore the need for sustained professional development to equip Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) teachers with the skills required for meaningful AR integration.