Abstract:

Mixed Reality (MR) is increasingly adopted in primary education, yet evidence for literacy learning outcomes remains limited and methodologically inconsistent. Prior work frequently foregrounds engagement or in-environment task performance, leaving a central question unresolved: Can MR strengthen text-based comprehension processes in ways that transfer to digital informational reading beyond the MR experience? Such transfer is an essential competence for learning from digital sources in the primary curriculum. This study investigates the instructional potential and mechanism of a student-led MR strategy simulation focused on Miltiades’ decisions in the Battle of Marathon.

The study addresses three research questions:
RQ1: Does participation in a Mixed Reality (MR) strategy intervention improve students’ digital informational reading comprehension on MR-free assessments?
RQ2: Do students show greater improvement in integration and evaluation than in retrieval and inference on MR-free assessments?
RQ3: Which observable MR interaction patterns are associated with stronger gains in digital informational reading comprehension?

Twenty-five Grade 4 students (9–10 years old) completed digital informational pre- and post-tests (parallel forms; no MR) covering retrieval, inference, integration, and evaluation. Between tests, students engaged in two 40-minute MR sessions using the Battle of Marathon MR experience (Microsoft HoloLens 2 & 3). Students independently explored battlefield information (enemy positions, terrain, Greek unit placement), organized Greek troop formations, enacted decisions, and iteratively attempted to win, including a counterfactual run in Session 2. The MR application provided all instruction and feedback; the teacher provided technical support only and observed two students at a time using a structured protocol. Students also completed brief “evidence board” reflections after each session.

Results show statistically significant pre–post improvements in digital informational reading comprehension on MR-free assessments. Gains were strongest for integration and evaluation, with smaller change in retrieval, indicating that MR most strongly supports higher-order comprehension demands. Students’ written explanations shifted toward consequence-linked, evidence-based reasoning. Observation data indicate that systematic exploration—consulting in-app information, inspecting constraints before acting, and revising decisions after outcome feedback—is associated with larger gains, consistent with an information-driven decision-cycle mechanism.

Accordingly, the study addresses a central limitation in prior MR literacy research by preserving construct validity through MR-free outcome measurement, while providing evidence that consequence-driven simulation can support transferable integration and evaluation in digital informational reading.

Keywords:

Mixed Reality (MR), Digital informational reading comprehension, Transfer of learning, Simulation-based learning, Primary education, Evidence-based reasoning.