Pedagogical Efficacy and Barriers: Analysis of Faculty Perceptions on Augmented Reality Integration in Fashion Education

Abstract

Fashion pedagogy is predominantly visual and practice-based; Augmented reality (AR) offers enhanced spatial comprehension and iterative design, however it, encounters adoption obstacles, including infrastructure, training, and assessment alignment. This study aimed to assess the faculty perspectives towards the pedagogical efficacy of augmented reality in fashion education. This study used a mixed-methods design. A quantitative questionnaire (UTAUT/TAM constructs), was sent to 92 faculty members who teach patternmaking in fashion courses and SPSS was used to analyze the answers. Based on a semi-structured questionnaire qualitative interviews were conducted with 30 faculty members, who had answered the quantitative questionnaire. The interviews were analyzed using Nvivo software. The findings revealed that the faculty felt that visualization, confidence, and experiential learning provided by AR were helpful, but that high effort expectancy, a lack of discipline-specific AR tools, and weak institutional support make it hard to scale up. Suggestions include co-design, centralized asset support, and ongoing training specific to each discipline. The limitations of this study are that it is based on cross-sectional design and faculty-only sample; future research can incorporate longitudinal design and student-level outcomes. This study uniquely synthesizes Cognitive Load Theory and Experiential Learning Theory with UTAUT constructs to elucidate the interplay of cognitive and institutional factors in influencing AR adoption within creative curricula.