Educational robotics and student development: a second-order meta-analysis
Weihao Wang, Ge Shen · Journal of Research on Technology in Education · 2026
Despite growing scholarly attention to the impact of educational robotics on student development, there remains a lack of second-order meta-analysis clarifying the overall effect of educational robotics interventions. This study conducted a second-order meta-analysis synthesizing 17 effect sizes from 15 primary meta-analysis, documenting and analyzing their key characteristics. Results revealed that educational robotics demonstrated a moderate positive effect on student development (g = 0.552). Notably, the positive effects were particularly pronounced in kindergarten settings, significantly exceeding those observed at other educational levels. It is interesting to note that the influence of educational robotics was not adjusted by variables such as student development dimensions and learning fields. These findings provide valuable empirical evidence to inform the implementation of educational robotics in pedagogical practices.