Augmented reality about Tropical Cyclones in the Dominican Republic: evaluation of learning and cognitive load

The Dominican Republic, due to its nature as a Small Island Developing State (SIDS), faces several challenges in the face of extreme weather phenomena such as hurricanes. Therefore, integrating technologies such as Augmented Reality (AR) in teaching these topics in class can influence student motivation and improve learning.

This article has three objectives: 1) to evaluate the learning results of the participating students using the pre-test and post-test methodology; 2) to find out the cognitive load it produces in the participating students and 3) to analyze the relationships between the different types of cognitive load.

It has a quantitative approach, with a quasi-experimental design using the pre-test-post-test technique. It was carried out between May and July 2024 and consists of a non-probabilistic sample (N = 45). In addition, the student’s cognitive load was measured when interacting with the AR object, in its three types: internal, external, and relevant.

When comparing the results of the pre-test and post-test, we obtained average values of 3.84 with a high level of variability and 4.75, with less dispersion in the answers. On the other hand, the cognitive load instrument shows high levels of internal consistency with 0.93 for the total instrument. The strongest correlation, 0.93, was obtained between external cognitive load and mental effort invested.

The hypothesis has been tested: participating students have better learning outcomes about hurricanes (tropical cyclones) after interacting with the learning object in AR format.