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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. 

The paper reports on the design of an augmented reality (AR) application for structural analysis education. Structural analysis is a significant course in every civil engineering program. The course focuses on load and stress distributions in buildings, bridges, and other structures. Students learn about graphical and mathematical models that embody structures as well as to utilize those models to determine the safety of a structure. An often reported obstacle is the missing link between these graphical models and a real building. Students often do not see the connection, which hinders them to utilize the models correctly. We designed an AR application that superimposes real buildings with graphical widgets of structural elements to help students establishing this link. The focus of this study is on application design, especially on the question whether students prefer an application that guides them when solving an engineering problem or whether the students prefer to explore. Students were asked to solve a problem with the application, which either instructed them step-by-step or allowed the students to use all feature on their own (exploring). The results are inconclusive, however, tend to favor the explore mode.