Despite the rapid development of mobile-based Augmented Reality (AR) apps, little is yet known about how we can facilitate immersion and learning in AR contexts. This study investigated the hypothesis that greater coupling between physical space and the narrative of the AR learning activity can result in increased levels of immersion and students’ conceptual learning gains. Prior studies investigating the coupling effect are limited, inconclusive and primarily focused on adult populations. The present study investigated the effects of two types of coupling (strong/loose) on middle school students’ experienced immersion and conceptual learning gains, in the context of a narrative-based AR science education intervention. Forty-five middle school students participated in this study: Students in Condition 1 (n = 22) participated in an AR activity with strong coupling between narrative and the physical space, while students in Condition 2 (n = 23) participated in a loose coupling version of the activity. The data corpus consisted of baseline data, questionnaires investigating students’ immersion and conceptual learning gains, and post-activity interviews. Findings showed higher conceptual learning gains and increased immersion for the students participating in the strong coupling condition than for the students in the loose coupling condition. We discuss these findings and their implications, and we highlight questions for future research.

尽管基于移动的增强现实（AR）应用程序的快速发展，但关于如何在AR上下文中促进沉浸和学习的知之甚少。这项研究调查了以下假设：物理空间与AR学习活动的叙述之间的更大耦合会导致沉浸感的提高和学生的概念性学习收益。先前研究耦合效应的研究是有限的，没有定论的，并且主要针对成年人群。在基于叙事的AR科学教育干预的背景下，本研究调查了两种类型的耦合（强/松）对中学生的体验沉浸感和概念性学习增益的影响。四十五名中学生参加了这项研究：处于条件1（n = 22）参加了在叙述和物理空间之间具有强烈耦合的AR活动，而处于条件2（n  = 23）的学生参加了该活动的松散耦合版本。数据语料库由基线数据，调查学生的沉浸感和概念性学习成果的问卷以及活动后访谈组成。研究结果显示，与处于松散耦合状态的学生相比，参加强耦合状态的学生具有更高的概念学习收益，并且沉浸度更高。我们讨论了这些发现及其含义，并着重指出了需要进一步研究的问题。