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ABSTRACT As technological advances appear, it is desirable to integrate them into new engineering education teaching methods, aiming to enhance students' comprehension and engagement with complex subjects. Augmented reality (AR) emerges as a promising tool in this effort, offering students opportunities to visualize and conceptualize challenging topics that are otherwise too abstract or difficult to grasp. Within civil engineering curriculums, structural analysis, a junior‐level course forming the foundation of many other courses, poses challenges in visualization and understanding. This paper investigates the development of a mobile AR application intended to improve the conceptual understanding of structural analysis material. This application is designed to overlay schematic representations of structural components (i.e., beams, columns, frames, and trusses) onto images of iconic local campus buildings, allowing students to interactively explore exaggerated deflections and internal and external forces under various loading conditions. By contextualizing structural analysis calculations within familiar settings, the goal is to leverage a sense of relevance and place‐based attachments in students' learning. Furthermore, the paper examines the development process and usability of the AR application, providing insights into its implementation in educational settings. Experimental results, including comparisons with a control group, are analyzed to assess the efficacy of the AR application in improving students' understanding of structural analysis concepts. Furthermore, the paper examines the development process and usability of the AR application, providing insights into its implementation in educational settings. Perspectives from structural analysis faculty members are also discussed, shedding light on the potential benefits and challenges associated with integrating AR technology into engineering education. In addition, the study highlights the value of place‐based learning, wherein students engage with real‐world structures in their immediate environment, fostering deeper connections between theoretical concepts and practical applications. Overall, this research contributes to the growing body of literature on innovative teaching approaches in engineering education and highlights the potential of AR as a valuable tool for enhancing student learning experiences in structural analysis and related disciplines. 

Structural Analysis is an introductory course for structural engineering, which is taught in every undergraduate civil engineering program at about 300 institutions in the U.S., and also in most architectural and construction programs, as a core and required course. Despite its critical role in the curriculum, most novice learners in this course do not appear to have a sound understanding of fundamental concepts, such as load effects and load path; and in general, they lack the ability to visualize the deformed shape of simple structures, a necessary skill to conceptualize structural behavior beyond theoretical formulas and methods. In this paper, we aim to identify the design characteristics of an effective pedagogy involving AR to teach structural analysis. Adopting a design-based research approach, the paper describes the iterative research process that does not just evaluate the pedagogical applications involving AR, but systematically attempts to refine this intervention; and produce design principles that can guide similar research and development efforts. The cycle of research includes (a) analysis of practical problems by researchers and practitioners in collaboration; (b) development of solutions informed by existing design principles and technological innovations; (c) iterative cycles of testing and refinement of solutions in practice; and (d) reflection to produce design principles and enhance solution implementation. Findings from the evaluation and testing of the AR environment are included in the conclusions.