Incorporating augmented reality into learning practical skills for medical surgery

In this paper, we demonstrate how to incorporate augmented reality (AR) into the learning of practical skills for medical surgery. We embedded AR in authentic inquiry activities so that students could experience when and how to carry out a certain medical surgical procedure. Two learning modules related to medical surgery were developed, "laparoscopic surgery" and "cardiac catheterization". Thirty-two senior high school students participated in this study and their perceptions of AR were examined. A survey of student perceptions included the three constructs of authenticity, engagement and motivation. The results showed that the students had positive perceptions (overall mean = 4.1) of AR after completing the two modules. However, AR authenticity was the concept perceived as having the lowest ranking (mean = 3.7). In contrast, both the motivation triggered by AR and engagement reached 4.3. This article provides a possible solution for the alignment among instructional approaches (authentic inquiry), technology design (AR) and learning experience.