Abstract
This paper reports the exploratory study’s finding based on the participants’ behaviors while interacting with Augmented
Reality based system in group learning environment. Technology has long been used to enhance group learning, often
known as Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL). Recent research in this area showed that technology
somehow hinders the communication and interaction of group members. Therefore, as suggested by many researchers,
introducing back the physical interaction could reduce these obstacles. Augmented Reality (AR) is the technology whereby
the physical and virtual objects can co-exist in real time. The physical objects can be used to interact with the system.
However, literature showed the number of the papers that explore the interaction and communication process which
occurred while using AR to support group learning relatively low. Therefore, this paper is aimed to fulfill that gap.
Conducting a science experiment on electricity topic was used as a case study. Eight groups of two students participated in
this study. The primary data used in this study was collected from the analysis of video recording of students’ behavior as
well as from the survey questionnaire on the user awareness of communication and interaction. The video were then
annotated and coded to extract information by using Actogram2 software. Results showed that several types of natural
interactions were exhibited. Both verbal and non-verbal communication cues were observed. Physical objects were the main
interacting material that group members referred to and used. These results suggested the importance of incorporating
physical objects in collaborative AR based system. Further, this study showed positive evidence to strengthen the raised
conjuncture that AR could be one of the effective tools to support collaborative learning.