Systematic Review of AR and VR Learning: Misalignment between Objectives, Outcomes, and Assessment

The resources required to implement augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) experiences, including hardware and software, have become increasingly affordable and powerful in the Architecture, Engineering, Construction, and Operation (AECO) domain. This increasing affordability and accessibility has encouraged their adoption in AECO education in different learning contexts. While numerous studies have investigated and reported on the benefits of AR and VR in AECO education, it is not clear from a cursory review of existing literature whether there are consistently documented learning benefits or drawbacks. To address this gap, this study conducts a systematic review of AECO-related AR/VR educational research over the last 28 years. This work identifies (1) the learning objectives educators aimed to achieve, (2) the reported learning outcomes, and (3) the assessment methods implemented. The results show that learning objectives are largely in alignment with the AECO accreditation programs and learning outcomes suggested to align with the learning objectives proposed. However, inconsistencies in assessment methods represented the most critical point during the analysis. The findings indicate that, while learning objectives often align with accreditation requirements, most studies rely on subjective assessment, such as student perception and observation protocols, even for objectives that would demand more evidence-based approaches. Despite nearly universal claims of educational value, the lack of consistent assessment of student performance leads to questions of whether these tools are universally beneficial or whether researchers are at least partly guided by technological optimism. The contribution of this work is in identifying the ways in which these tools have consistently established patterns of value for education, as well as the areas in which future work should more specifically focus on the assessment of these emerging tools to validate or question educational claims.