Does Augmented Reality (AR) �Makes Sense�in Your Classroom
Augmented reality in the K–12 classroom · Dominican University
Dane Lancaster
Pedagogy First. Technology Second. Students Always
AR, VR, MR: same family, different methods
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Real world
Fully virtual
AR
Augmented reality
Digital objects layered on the real world, seen through a phone, tablet, glasses or Chromebook or PC
In class: A 3D heart on a MERGE Cube
MR
Mixed reality
Digital objects anchored in the real room that you can reach out and work with in a headset or glasses
In class: A molecule pinned to the lab bench in a Quest 3
VR
Virtual reality
A fully virtual world that replaces your surroundings, seen through a headset
In class: Walking through an ancient city
After Milgram & Kishino’s reality–virtuality continuum (1994).
Integrating AR into Your Curriculum
Curriculum alignment:
Student exploration:
Project-based learning:
The real problem: it’s how we teach it
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The problem isn’t just the content.
Traditional methods, like textbooks, lean almost entirely on the cognitive learning system. That’s a mismatch with how a young brain learns, because this system is the last to fully develop.
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The prefrontal cortex, the seat of cognitive learning, is not fully developed until one is in their early 20s. We are placing a large burden on young learners when educational tools target the cognitive system exclusively.
Learning happens in the body, not just the head
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Embodied learning
We understand some ideas better when our bodies take part in the thinking: through gesture, movement, and physical action.
Gesture
Pointing and tracing a path helps students reason about space and motion
Movement
Walking around a model or acting out a process builds a mental model
Perspective
Seeing an object from many sides replaces hard mental rotation
The science: why moving helps thinking
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Thinking uses the body’s systems
Brain areas for perception and action also help us understand ideas
Barsalou (2008)
Gesture lightens the load
Gesturing while explaining frees working memory for the problem itself
Goldin-Meadow et al. (2001)
Physical experience sticks
Physics students who held a spinning wheel outscored those who only watched
Kontra et al. (2015)
Design principle: the more the movement matches the concept, the stronger the learning. Rotating a Moon model teaches orbits; tapping a button doesn’t.
Barsalou (2008) · Goldin-Meadow et al. (2001) · Kontra et al. (2015) · Johnson-Glenberg (2018). Full citations in speaker notes.
Principles of embodied learning
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Active, not passive Students move and manipulate; they don’t just watch
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Matched movement The action mirrors the idea, like tracing an orbit for an orbit
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Multisensory Seeing, touching, hearing, and moving work together
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Shared space Groups point at one object and build ideas together
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Reflect and connect Talk links the physical experience to the abstract concept
Why it’s effective
Frees working memory for the hard part
Builds richer, longer-lasting memories
Grounds abstract ideas in concrete experience
Sparks attention, talk, and peer correction
Adapted from Lindgren & Johnson-Glenberg (2013), Educational Researcher 42(8), 445–452, and the studies on the previous slide.
Today’s goal: leave with a framework for a plan
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Explain
Tell AR, VR, and MR apart, and understand why embodied learning makes AR useful
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Decide
Use a four-question filter to judge when AR is worth the class time
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Plan
Think about a before / during / after plan for one AR moment in your curriculum
Roadmap
1 Define
2 Why it works
3 Decide
4 Model
5 Your turn
Where AR fits: hold it, turn it, walk around it
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Hold it
The model sits in the student’s hands, not on a slide
Turn it
Students rotate to see the side that matters
Walk around it
Groups circle the table and compare views
In a real classroom
Mansour, Aras, Kleine Staarman & Alotaibi (2025), Education and Information Technologies 30, 8245–8275.
Design for every learner: AR through a UDL lens
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Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework for designing lessons with flexible options from the start, so every learner can access, engage with, and show their learning.
Engagement
The why
AR move: Curiosity and choice: students explore the model and raise their own questions
Representation
The what
AR move: A 3D view students can manipulate, alongside text, diagrams, and talk
Action & Expression
The how
AR move: Students show understanding by demonstrating, narrating, or recording on the model
AR is one more way in, never the only way.
CAST (2024). Universal Design for Learning Guidelines version 3.0. udlguidelines.cast.org
Pedagogy first: start with the standard, not the app
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Standard
What must students learn?
Learning goal
What will they be able to explain or do?
Student task
What will they actively do to get there?
Tool
Only now: what tool best supports that task?
Don’t use AR for the sake of AR.
If the lesson works just as well without it, skip it.
Is AR worth it here? Four questions
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Is it spatial or 3D?
Shape, structure, or position matters to understanding
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Is it hard to see?
Too big, too small, too far away, invisible, or rare
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Do text, lecture, and video fall short?
Students keep the misconception after the usual approaches
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Will students do something with it?
They predict, explain, compare, or argue using the model
Mostly yes? AR may earn its place. Mostly no? Use a diagram, demo, or physical model instead.
Find the moment in your curriculum
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Misconceptions
Where do students hold onto a wrong idea year after year?
Example: “Earth’s shadow causes Moon phases”
Hard to picture
Where do students struggle to see what you describe?
Example: A 5,000-year-old clay tablet they’ll never hold
Standards verbs
Which standards ask students to model, visualize, or trace?
Example: NGSS MS-ESS1-1: “Develop and use a model”
Start with one lesson, not a whole unit.
Examples of AR in Education
Science:
History & Reading:
Geography:
Math:
The AR lesson template: before, during, after
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Before 5–10 min
During 15–20 min
After 10 min
This template drives both examples that follow, and the handout you’ll fill in.
Science: what really causes Moon phases?
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Grades 6–8
NGSS MS-ESS1-1
Merge Object Viewer: Moon Phases and Eclipses
The misconception
“The Moon’s phases happen because Earth’s shadow covers part of it.”
Many students and adults hold this. Flat diagrams rarely shift it, because the geometry is 3D.
Why AR passes the filter
Spatial: positions of the Sun, Earth, and Moon
Hard to see: we never view the system from outside
Text falls short: the misconception survives diagrams
Students act: position the model for each phase
viewer.merge3d.ai: “Moon Phases and Eclipses” collection (Earth–Moon–Sun models, phases, and eclipses).
Moon phases lesson, built on the template
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Before 10 min
During 20 min
After 10 min
History: why did people start writing?
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Grade 6
CA HSS 6.2.9
Museum scan, imported into Merge
The question
What were the origin and purpose of cuneiform writing?
Standard 6.2.9 asks students to “trace the evolution of language and its written forms.” A real tablet makes that concrete.
No ready-made content? Source it
Find a museum scan
e.g., a British Museum clay tablet on Sketchfab
Check for compatibility
Classroom use allowed? Small enough for student devices?
Import it into Merge
Then it works on the cube like any Merge model
Model: “Clay cuneiform tablet,” 3studio59 after a British Museum scan, Sketchfab, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.
Cuneiform lesson, built on the template
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Before 10 min
During 15 min
After 15 min
Embodied extension, no screen needed: students press wedge marks into air-dry clay with a craft-stick stylus.
Two lessons, one pattern
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Moon phases
Cuneiform
Why AR?
The geometry is 3D and impossible to see from Earth
The artifact is rare, ancient, and far away
Content
Ready-made Merge collection
Museum scan, imported into Merge
Embodied move
Position the model for each phase
Handle the tablet; press marks into clay
The shared pattern
Goal first
Task with the model
Talk
Check
Living Popups
Making it work in a real classroom
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Share devices
Groups of 2–3 per device produce more talk than one each
Paper cubes
Print free paper MERGE Cubes at mergecube.com/paper
Test first
Load the content on every device the day before
Set norms
Agree on group roles and when screens go down
Plan for limits
Keep a gesture, sketch, or physical model ready when the app falls short
Source models
Museum scans from Sketchfab or Smithsonian 3D; check license and file size
Your turn: draft your AR insertion point
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1
Pick one standard you’ll teach this year
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Find the moment: a misconception, or something hard to see
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Run the four-question filter
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Discuss your “before / during / after” plan
5 min
Does your moment pass the filter? What will students do with the model?
Is AR worth it here? Four questions
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1
Is it spatial or 3D?
Shape, structure, or position matters to understanding
2
Is it hard to see?
Too big, too small, too far away, invisible, or rare
3
Do text, lecture, and video fall short?
Students keep the misconception after the usual approaches
4
Will students do something with it?
They predict, explain, compare, or argue using the model
Mostly yes? AR may earn its place. Mostly no? Use a diagram, demo, or physical model instead.
Key takeaways
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Start with the standard, not the app
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Use AR when holding it beats reading about it
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Embodied learning is why it works
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Through UDL, AR is one more way in
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Think about before, during, and after activity
Resources
Pedagogy First. Technology Second. Students Always.