Citation: Volioti, C.; Orovas, C.; Sapounidis, T.; Trachanas, G.; Keramopoulos, E. Augmented Reality in Primary Education: An Active Learning Approach in Mathematics. Computers 2023, 12, 207. https://doi.org/10.3390/ computers12100207 Academic Editors: Veronica Rossano and Michele Fiorentino Received: 8 September 2023 Revised: 3 October 2023 Accepted: 11 October 2023 Published: 16 October 2023 Copyright: © 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). computers Article Augmented Reality in Primary Education: An Active Learning Approach in Mathematics Christina Volioti 1 , Christos Orovas 2 , Theodosios Sapounidis 3, * , George Trachanas 1 and Euclid Keramopoulos 1 1 Department of Information and Electronic Engineering, International Hellenic University, Alexander Campus, 57400 Sindos, Greece; chvolioti@gmail.com (C.V.); tracha27@windowslive.com (G.T.); euclid@ihu.gr (E.K.) 2 Department of Products and Systems Design Engineering, University of Western Macedonia, 50100 Kozani, Greece; chorovas@uowm.gr 3 School of Philosophy and Education, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece * Correspondence: teo@edlit.auth.gr Abstract: Active learning, a student-centered approach, engages students in the learning process and requires them to solve problems using educational activities that enhance their learning out- comes. Augmented Reality (AR) has revolutionized the field of education by creating an intuitive environment where real and virtual objects interact, thereby facilitating the understanding of complex concepts. Consequently, this research proposes an application, called “Cooking Math”, that utilizes AR to promote active learning in sixth-grade elementary school mathematics. The application com- prises various educational games, each presenting a real-life problem, particularly focused on cooking recipes. To evaluate the usability of the proposed AR application, a pilot study was conducted involv- ing three groups: (a) 65 undergraduate philosophy and education students, (b) 74 undergraduate engineering students, and (c) 35 sixth-grade elementary school students. To achieve this, (a) the System Usability Scale (SUS) questionnaire was provided to all participants and (b) semi-structured interviews were organized to gather the participants’ perspectives. The SUS results were quite satisfactory. In addition, the interviews’ outcomes indicated that the elementary students displayed enthusiasm, the philosophy and education students emphasized the pedagogy value of such technol- ogy, while the engineering students suggested that further improvements were necessary to enhance the effectiveness of the learning experience. Keywords: Augmented Reality; active learning; usability; primary school; mathematics 1. Introduction Technology has advanced so rapidly in recent years that it has transformed several domains, including education. One such technology that has gained significant attention is Augmented Reality (AR). AR provides users with an interactive and immersive learning experience by superimposing virtual elements onto the real world [1]. AR also has a lot of potential to improve teaching and learning, especially in primary grades. The basis for a child’s future learning and development is laid throughout the crucial primary education stage of their academic career. Primary education has traditionally placed a strong emphasis on conventional methods like textbooks and still images to present educational content to young learners. However, these conventional methods often fail to actively engage students [2], whereas AR consistently promotes active participation [3]. Hence, incorporating AR into primary education can offer an opportunity to overcome these constraints and transform the learning process for students. Various studies have highlighted the beneficial impacts of AR across educational disciplines like mathematics [4,5], physics [6,7], geography [8,9], and history [10,11]. For example, Cai et al. [7] found that AR tools enhanced student motivation, attention, and knowledge retention over conventional teaching methods. Similarly, Dunleavy et al. [12] Computers 2023, 12, 207. https://doi.org/10.3390/computers12100207 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/computers