Systematic Review of the Development of Spatial Intelligence through Augmented Reality in STEM Knowledge Areas

Abstract

This study presents a systematic review (SR) of the literature on the use of Augmented Reality (AR) for the development of spatial skills of secondary and higher education students in the teaching of subjects related to the area of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Numerous researchers have confirmed that students tend to have difficulties in acquiring learning content with a high visual load, which is why AR is being used to improve teaching–learning processes. This paper aims to present information of interest to researchers, teachers and software developers about the advantages and limitations of AR in the development of spatial intelligence, the integration and development of AR applications, as well as the predominant spatial skills and assessment methods. In this regard, an initial search was carried out which returned 242 articles. After reviewing and assessing their eligibility, a total of 17 papers published since 2002 were selected. The findings reveal an increase in the number of investigations over the last few years. Some of the most notable findings are the improvement of spatial skills of students through the inclusion of AR in educational environments, the need for teacher training, the lack of personalization in the applications developed and the scarcity of augmented materials in the form of Open Educational Resources (OER).