Abstract
Teaching building construction in architectural education still relies on traditional and mostly abstract methods, which often lead to difficulties in visualization and limited understanding for students. These methods restrict their ability to perceive spatial relationships and grasp the logic of structural behavior. To address this gap, the paper presents an experimental study that integrates Augmented Reality (AR) with physical models to overcome such challenges by linking conceptual knowledge with hands-on practice. Students interacted with modular tokens supported by an AR application that revealed hidden structural information, linking the tangible with the digital. This hybrid setup allowed participants to engage in building exercises, visualize hidden dimensions, and test their understanding through multiple evaluation tools. Through quizzes, observation, a user experience questionnaire, and interviews, the study captured both knowledge improvement and engagement across different stages, reflecting cognitive as well as collaborative dimensions of learning. The results show that combining AR and physicalization supported deeper comprehension of structural systems and created a more collaborative and engaging learning process, offering a methodological framework that can be adapted in building construction education and extended to similar areas of architectural pedagogy.