Augmented reality (AR) has shown potential for aiding users in their assembly tasks. It provides a magic-lens view of the physical object. Thus, assembly tasks become less demanding. An assembly task using AR provides a pre-defined sequence of actions with a minimum amount of information to do the task. Thus, there is a need to exploit the advances in AR technology to provide assemblers with a more sophisticated learning experience. Using AR to turn the physical object into a smart object that communicates and interacts with a user can result in an assembler achieving a more knowledge and a greater awareness of the technology and provide insights and a deeper understanding of the software components inside the embedded computing instead of only learning the assembly hardware components. This study used a Pedagogical Virtual Machine (PVM) to evaluate the learning effectiveness with AR. We presented an experimental work based on assembling and exploring a modularized mobile robot task called Buzz-Boards. A total of 36 students participated in the study; 18 students participated in both experimental and control groups. Findings demonstrated that the PVM with AR approach was more effective in learning achievement, learning activity enjoyment, and usefulness than the paper-based approach.