Enhancing student motivation with use of augmented reality for interactive learning in engineering education

In Engineering Education, learning by doing is of paramount importance for supplementing the theoretical concepts with technical introduction to maximize the learning outcome. However, in many fields, the students are not able to apply their knowledge in practical ways in spite of having theoretical understanding of the fundamentals. This can be mainly attributed to the lack of motivation due to absence of interactive course content required for proper visualization of the concepts through student engagement in the classroom. As a result, deep understanding of the concepts is not possible for those who are unable to grasp the delivered content using traditional ways of learning. If the students are provided with such tools that they are able to visualize and interact with what is taught in the classroom, their motivation towards learning can be enhanced. Augmented Reality, being a visualization technology, can be adopted in classroom settings to fulfill this goal. This paper is focused on the use of Augmented Reality as a tool for interactive learning in various fields of engineering education, and its contribution towards student motivation in classroom scenarios.