AUGMENT REALITY IN LABORATORY: A STEP TOWARDS TECHNOLOGY ENHANCED LEARNING

Augmented reality (AR) has been gaining much attention in the research world in recent years. AR has the potential to change the location and timing of learning, to introduce new and additional ways and methods. The capabilities of AR technology may make classes more engaging and informative. This study investigated the feedback of Bachelor of Pharmacy (Hons.) and Bachelor of Science (Hons) Pharmaceutical Chemistry (N=92) of semester 2 on the use of AR tools in the common session of pharmaceutics laboratory during surface tension practical. The study questionnaire was developed from literature on AR and obtained data was analyzed by using SPSS 18. According to the collected feedback, 95.6% of the students agreed/strongly agreed that using AR tool during practical session was beneficial, while, 94.5% agreed that AR was also beneficial after practical session to recall their learning. 84.8% of the students were found to have a strong agreement with the fact that AR was helpful to enhance students’ knowledge and practical skills. A large percentage of students (80.4 %) were in strong agreement with the fact that the use of AR tools is better than videos for the skill-based sessions. The majority of students (88.1 %) agreed that the quizzes and information given in the AR tool were beneficial to understand the practical in an easy manner. The highest percentage of students (90.6%) had accepted that the quality of teaching and learning used in the AR tool was good. The potential of AR use in practical could produce promising outcomes. Effective implementation of AR could improve student’s engagement, understanding, and learning process on practical skills and could effectively impact the delivering quality of teaching and learning.