Exploring the impact of augmented reality on cognitive load, emotion, and creative performance

In recent years, Augmented Reality (AR) has been increasingly applied across various educational domains with promising outcomes. Although previous studies have reported positive effects of AR on learning outcomes, limited research has simultaneously examined its influence on cognitive load, real-time learning emotions, and phase-based creative performance. This study aimed to examine the effects of AR on cognitive load, learning emotions, and creative performance, and to further analyze its predictive power on these variables. A quasi-experimental pretest–posttest nonequivalent group design was employed with 59 high school students. The experimental group received AR-based instruction, while the comparison group received multimedia lecture-based instruction. The results indicated that AR significantly enhanced creative performance in the incubation and illumination phases, but had no significant effect on cognitive load. AR significantly reduced positive emotions across most phases, and creative performance was influenced both directly by AR and indirectly through emotional changes. Practical implications are proposed for AR content design, the timing of emotion measurement, the frequency and duration of AR use, and the characteristics of AR-based learning materials.