Effects of Olfactory Cues and Marker Type on Students’ Learning and Cognitive Performance in an AR-Based Science Lesson

While augmented reality (AR) is increasingly applied in science education, how multisensory cues embedded in AR environments shape learners’ cognitive and motivational outcomes remains insufficient understood. This study examines the effects of olfactory cues (scent vs. no scent) and marker type (specimen vs. image) on primary school students’ learning performance, cognitive load and task involvement. A 2 × 2 experiment was conducted with 139 primary participants during a science lesson on flower anatomy, supported by a custom-designed AR application. Results revealed that olfactory cues significantly improved learning performance, whereas marker type alone showed no main effect. Across all groups, cognitive load remained at a medium-to-low level with no significant differences, indicating that the added sensory cues did not impose additional burden. Significant interaction effect emerged for task involvement: when using image-based markers, students reported higher involvement with the presence of scent, while in the absence of scent, specimen-based markers were more effective. The study underscores the value of sensory alignment in AR-based instruction, offering implications for designing more effective multisensory learning environments in science education.