Development of STEM-AR Interactive Multimedia to Improve Undergraduate Students’ Conceptual Understanding of Chemical Bonding
Chemical bonding is a highly abstract topic that requires students to connect multiple representations, which may contribute to misconceptions and difficulties in developing conceptual understanding. This study aimed to develop STEM-based interactive multimedia integrated with Augmented Reality (AR) and evaluate its feasibility, practicality, and effectiveness in supporting students’ conceptual understanding of chemical bonding. The multimedia was developed using the ADDIE model and involved 35 fourth-semester Chemistry Education students. Feasibility was assessed by subject matter and media experts, while practicality was evaluated by lecturers and students. Effectiveness was measured using a 20-item, three-tier multiple-choice diagnostic test administered as a pretest and posttest. The multimedia was highly feasible based on subject matter (92.01%) and media expert (86.67%) evaluations and highly practical based on lecturer (94.17%) and student (81.48%) evaluations. Conceptual understanding increased from 24.65% to 55.19%, while misconceptions decreased from 42.12% to 27.56% and lack of conceptual understanding from 33.23% to 17.15%. The paired-samples t-test showed a significant difference (p < 0.001), with a large effect size (Cohen’s d = 1.74) and moderate N-gain (0.41). Overall, the multimedia supported improved conceptual understanding of chemical bonding.
Keywords: interactive multimedia, STEM education, augmented reality (AR), conceptual understanding, chemical bonding.
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