A Review of Long-Term Human-Robot Interaction in Secondary and Higher Education

Abstract

In recent years, researchers have increasingly deployed social robots designed to enhance motivation, participation, and learning in high school and university settings. Although most robotic studies focus on short-term interventions, typically within one or two sessions, there is a growing interest in developing and evaluating such robotic systems over the long term, as learning requires sustained engagement over time. To understand the educational impact of social robots in long-term settings, this review examines how these systems are implemented and used, how their impact is evaluated, and what strategies are employed to keep students engaged after the novelty effect wears off. We compile findings from eighteen empirical studies that employed multi-session or longitudinal interventions involving social robots in secondary and higher education. The results show that motivational and engagement benefits have been reported more frequently than academic gains. The review highlights several recurring limitations, such as dependence on predefined interaction scripts, restricted behavioural variation, and insufficiently robust adaptive mechanisms. Synthesising these findings, the review identifies key challenges and research opportunities to advance more adaptive and sustainable long-term human-robot interaction in higher education settings.