Nursing students’ perceptions of biomedical education with augmented reality

Abstract

Innovative techniques provide a teaching strategy to improve education in biomedical sciences for nursing students [1]. With augmented reality (AR) technology, elements in the physical environment can be enriched or supplemented by computer-generated sensory inputs such as text, images, 3-dimensional (3D) graphics, and audio. AR has been paradigmatically applied worldwide to education of different disciplines, making some contributions to teaching and learning [2]. However, AR products on the market mainly focus on primary or secondary education where the pleasurable aspects of AR are promoted [3]. Although acceptance of using AR in healthcare education was reported [4], the actual impacts of AR applications in the training of healthcare professionals have not been well-studied [5]. In view of the potential advantages of integrating AR into nursing education, such as a better visualization of body structures [6], a survey was conducted to specifically assess the effectiveness of AR in improving the quality of biomedical education as perceived by nursing students.