From AR to Expertise: A User Study of an Augmented Reality Training to Support Expertise Development

Bibeg Hang Limbu (Open University of the Netherlands, Netherlands)

Halszka Jarodzka (Open University of the Netherlands, Netherlands)

Roland Klemke (Open University of the Netherlands, Netherlands)

Fridolin Wild (Oxford Brookes University, United Kingdom)

Marcus Specht (Open University of the Netherlands, Netherlands)

Abstract: Augmented reality and sensor technologies have been analysed extensively in several domains including education and training. Although, varieties of use cases and applications exist, these studies were conducted in controlled laboratory environments. This paper reports on the first user study of augmented reality prototype developed to support students to learn from trainers in professional domains using augmented reality and sensors. The prototype records the performance of trainers in the first phase to support students by making it available during practice in the second phase. The performance data is made available to both the students and trainers in the third phase for reflection. A total of 142 participants which included trainers and students from three professional domains, namely 1) aircraft maintenance 2) medical imaging and 3) astronaut training, evaluated the prototype. The trainers used the prototype to record their performance while the students used the prototype to learn from the recorded performance. Participants from the three professional domains evaluated the usability of the prototype by means of a questionnaire. Randomly selected participants were also interviewed to collect their opinions and suggestion for further usability improvement. Furthermore, they also evaluated the implementation of the instructional design methods, which were identified prior in a literature review, with a brief questionnaire. The questionnaire was designed to measure the acceptance of the implementation of instructional design methods and to evaluate its adherence to the authors definition. The results of this study show that the usability of the prototype is below expected standard acceptable level. The results of the questionnaire on the implementation of the instructional design methods varied show above average acceptance levels by both the trainers and the students in the three professional domains. To conclude, the prototype shows potential to be used in different domains to support expertise development.

Keywords: augmented reality, expertise; training, instructional design

Categories: L.2.1, L.3.6, L.7.0