Evaluating Student Experiences in Two Different Hybrid Augmented Reality Guided Tour Configurations at the Athens City Museum

This study examines which hybrid augmented reality (AR)-guided museum tour is more suitable for young visitors at the Athens City Museum, a major cultural landmark located in the former royal residence of King Otto and Queen Amalia. To evaluate their pedagogical and experiential effects, two augmented reality experiences—AR Life in Palace and AR Carnival in Athens—were embedded within the tour narrative led by a museum educator (Group A). On the other hand, the aforementioned applications were used as an autonomous AR exploration phase after a traditional museum guided tour (Group B). Forty-three students, aged 11–12, were split into two groups as part of a mixed experimental design. Assessments measuring knowledge acquisition, engagement, emotional connection, user satisfaction, and application usability were completed by all participants both before and after the visit. Results indicated that even though both configurations produced substantial overall learning gains, Group B achieved slightly higher knowledge scores. This suggests that allowing students to freely explore AR content after the traditional tour may be particularly effective as a learning enhancement approach. Results also indicated that the participants’ museum experiences were essentially the same for both groups, as measured by the Museum Experience Scale (MES). It thus advocates AR-enhanced hybrids sustaining narrative coherence while fostering interactivity and emphasizes merging digital novelty with professional expert-led storytelling in museum education.