Augmented Reality Supported Learning for Cultural Heritage of Taiwan in On-Site and Off-Site Environments: The Case of a Daxi Old Street

This study aims to explore whether the integration of Augmented Reality (AR) technology used in community-based art education can improve the participants’ learning effectiveness and to compare its effects in two different learning environments (on-site and off-site). A quasi-experimental research design has been conducted to check the effectiveness of integrating AR activities in terms of learners’ effectiveness. The sample for this study includes 40 and 64 participants in on-site and off-site groups, respectively. The on-site group visited the real environment and viewed AR-integrated materials such as posters and rhymes; the off-site group visited the school exhibition and viewed the same materials as the on-site group. The data was obtained through motivation, learning satisfaction, technology acceptance, and learning effectiveness scales designed by the researchers. Descriptive statistics and an independent t -test were utilized for the data analysis. There was a significant difference in learning motivation, learning effectiveness, and learning satisfaction between on-site and off-site groups; however, there was no significant difference in the mean of technology acceptance. This study finds that the use of AR digital materials facilitated the visitors’ experience of cultural heritage and improved participants learning effectiveness, and particularly learning satisfaction and learning motivation, more so in the on-site experience than in the off-site experience. Results also revealed that there was a significant difference in gender and age toward learning motivation and learning effectiveness. With respect to participants with different artistic and educational backgrounds, the results showed no significant differences in learning motivation, learning effectiveness, learning satisfaction, and technology acceptance. Finally, recommendations for future practices and research are discussed.