The effectiveness of augmented reality (AR) media on students’ concept mastery of the human digestive system in grade VIII at a public junior high school

Abstract

This study was motivated by students’ limited understanding of the human digestive system. Based on interviews with science teachers, it was found that students’ conceptual mastery of the human digestive system still needs improvement, as some students continue to struggle to understand this material. Interviews with students also revealed that they struggle to understand the functioning of digestive organs and the interrelationships between organ functions in a comprehensive and contextual way. Furthermore, material on the human digestive system is typically presented through two-dimensional media in textbooks. In contrast, the subject matter involves organ structures and processes that cannot be directly observed. Based on these findings, this study utilized a learning medium capable of visualizing concepts more concretely: Augmented Reality (AR). The study aimed to analyze the effectiveness of Augmented Reality (AR) in improving students’ conceptual mastery of the human digestive system. The research design employed was a pre-experimental study involving only one group (without a control group). The results of the study show that the significance value of the paired-sample t-test was 0.000, indicating an increase in students’ conceptual mastery, with an N-gain of 63.07%, which falls into the “moderately effective” category. Based on the above explanation, it can be concluded that the use of Augmented Reality (AR) media has a positive impact on students’ conceptual mastery and can serve as an alternative learning medium.