Implementation Characteristics, Students’ Perceptions, and Instructional Impact of Haptic-Enabled Learning Experiences in Higher Education: A Systematic Literature Review
Year: 2026
Type: review
Study design: Systematic Review
Abstract: By enabling active hands-on exploration of structures and phenomena that are invisible or impractical to manipulate in real life, haptic technologies have the potential to enhance learning across multiple fields of higher education. However, a comprehensive understanding of their implementation, instructional impact, and students’ perceptions remains limited. This systematic review synthesizes evidence from 101 studies published between 2000 and April 2026 across 11 educational fields, extending previous reviews beyond their predominant focus on health sciences. The findings reveal that existing research is constrained by limited geographic diversity, small samples, predominantly quantitative designs, scarce longitudinal evidence, and heavy reliance on self-report measures. Only 24 studies explicitly grounded haptic-enabled instruction in theory, most commonly embodied cognition. Haptic activities are rarely integrated into regular curricula, are typically delivered in a single session lasting no more than two hours, and often lack pre-training, repetition, and instructional guidance. Nevertheless, students consistently report positive perceptions of haptic-enabled learning, while evidence indicates improvements in conceptual knowledge and psychomotor skills that are comparable to or greater than those achieved through traditional instruction. Based on the above-mentioned findings, recommendations for future research and practice are provided.
Source: Education Sciences
Authors: Katarina Putica, Jelena Stanišić
Institutions: University of Belgrade, Institute of Physics Belgrade
Language: English
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,172
OpenAlex ID: W7220930735