Reimagining the Master–Apprentice: A Hybrid Physical-Digital Pedagogy Framework for Traditional Shaanxi Heritage-Art Education in Chinese Primary Schools

Traditional Shaanxi artisan practices such as Ansai paper-cutting, Fuping folk embroidery, Qinqiang facial painting, and loess landscape painting are disappearing as youth interest declines and the population of mas-ter artisans ages, while uneven resourcing places rural learners at a further disadvantage. This study designed, implemented, and evaluated a hybrid physical-digital pedagogy integrating segmented multimedia heritage modules, immersive virtual reality, an adaptive artificial-intelligence tutor, and a cross-regional collaborative platform. A sequential explanatory mixed-methods quasi-experiment was conducted over sixteen weeks with 60 upper-primary pupils recruited in equal numbers from three Shaanxi schools of differing resource level, with intact art classes assigned to condition (n = 30 per condition). The design was grounded in cognitive load theory, the cognitive theory of multimedia learning, and dual coding theory. The experimental group outperformed the control group on all six learning-outcome dimensions, with large between-group effects for technical skill (d = 2.20, 95% CI [1.56, 2.84]) and cultural appreciation (d = 2.14, 95% CI [1.50, 2.77]); anal-yses of covariance confirmed these advantages after adjustment for pre-test scores. Because pupils were nested within intact classes and schools, a design-effect sensitivity analysis was conducted; all differences remained significant at intraclass correlations up to .20. Daily learning duration rose by 42.3%, while test anxiety (d = -1.30) and cognitive distraction (d = -1.39) declined. Reflexive thematic analysis produced three positive and two challenge themes, from which two constructs are proposed as hypotheses for confirmatory testing rather than as established findings: algorithmic folk-art correction bias and the equity paradox in her-itage educational technology. A third contribution, the Hybrid Physical-Digital Pedagogy Framework, speci-fies a theoretically derived five-phase progression from digitally mediated understanding to authentic embod-ied practice.

heritage-art education, multimedia learning, artificial intelligence in education, virtual reality

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