Presence has been indicated as a critical factor in educational immersive environments, contributing to students’ engagement and meaningful learning. This study examined the sense of presence and simulator sickness within an educational environment simulating electromagnetic waves in both immersive Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR). Temple Presence Inventory and Simulator Sickness Questionnaire were administered to 47 undergraduate students who experienced the two immersive environments. Results showed that students reported in both AR and VR high levels of sense of presence, with significantly higher presence in VR. Simulator sickness showed low levels in both AR and VR, whereas VR noted significantly higher levels of sickness compared to AR. The results of this study are useful for the design of educational environments that utilize AR and VR technologies and highlight the importance of balancing presence and sickness when designing effective immersive learning environments. Further research is needed to examine how presence is affected in AR environments designed in a contextually meaningful way.