The effects of augmented reality on students’ perceptions, awareness, and attitudes toward sustainability of endangered animals

Abstract

Preserving endangered animals is one effort whose importance should be instilled early. To realize that the education sector is regarded as a crucial sector. This effort can be realized by building and developing elementary students’ perceptions, awareness, and attitudes toward endangered animals. This study aimed to enhance the perceptions, awareness, and attitudes of elementary students toward endangered animals in Indonesia by leveraging augmented reality. This study was conducted using a quasi-experimental method with five treatments. This research involved 352 elementary school students in West Java, Indonesia.  Three types of questionnaires were used to collect data. The research findings are that the perceptions, awareness, and attitudes of elementary students toward the preservation of endangered species have improved. The most significant improvement is seen in students’ perceptions. Therefore, this study concludes that augmented reality is effective in enhancing the perceptions, awareness, and attitudes of elementary students toward the preservation of endangered animals in Indonesia. Keywords: Attitude; augmented reality; awareness; endangered animal; perception, sustainability.