Pedagogical Design Considerations for Mobile Augmented Reality Serious Games (MARSGs): A Literature Review

TL;DR

This literature review analyzes the pedagogical design considerations of mobile augmented reality serious games (MARSGs), highlighting variability in design and offering guidelines to enhance their educational effectiveness based on pedagogical theories.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive synthesis of MARSG design practices, pedagogical foundations, and offers practical considerations for developers to improve learning outcomes.

Findings

Wide variability in game element application

Design considerations aligned with pedagogical theories

Future directions for MARSG development

Abstract

As technology advances, conceptualizations of effective strategies for teaching and learning shift. Due in part to their facilitation of unique affordances for learning, mobile devices, augmented reality, and games are all becoming more prominent elements in learning environments. In this work, we examine mobile augmented reality serious games (MARSGs) as the intersection of these technology-based experiences and to what effect their combination can yield even greater learning outcomes. We present a PRISMA review of 23 papers (from 610) spanning the entire literature timeline from 2002 to 2023. Among these works, there is wide variability in the realized application of game elements and pedagogical theories underpinning the game experience. For an educational tool to be effective, it must be designed to facilitate learning while anchored by pedagogical theory. Given that most MARSG developers are not pedagogical experts, this review further provides design considerations regarding which game elements might proffer the best of three major pedagogical theories for modern learning (cognitive constructivism, social constructivism, and behaviorism) based on existing applications. We will also briefly touch on radical constructivism and the instructional elements embedded within MARSGs. Lastly, this work offers a synthesis of current MARSG findings and extended future directions for MARSG development.