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Systematic Review

Augmented Reality in Higher Education: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Literature from 2000 to 2023

Faculty of Artificial Intelligence in Education, Central China Normal University, Wuhan 430079, China
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Educ. Sci. 2025, 15(6), 678; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15060678
Submission received: 17 February 2025 / Revised: 16 May 2025 / Accepted: 28 May 2025 / Published: 29 May 2025

Abstract

Augmented reality (AR) has been widely used in higher education because of its unique characteristics that combine virtuality and reality. This study systematically reviewed the literature on the application of AR in higher education between 2000 and 2023. A total of 237 articles were selected, and the key research findings were analyzed and synthesized based on the coding manual from five aspects: basic information, disciplines, technology features, instructional design, and research results. The results revealed interesting findings regarding AR literature in terms of publication trends and applied disciplines, technical features and affordances, instructional design, and learning outcomes and measurement methods. Furthermore, a meta-analysis was conducted on 60 experimental studies selected from the literature to examine the overall effectiveness of AR-based instructions. The results indicate that AR applications in higher education tend to have a large overall effect size (g = 0.896, 95% confidence interval = [0.685–1.107], p = 0.000), with two significant moderators: instructional function and learning outcomes. Additional sensitivity and publication bias analyses confirmed the robustness of the meta-analytic findings. Based on these results, four implications for educational practice and research investigating AR-supported higher education were proposed and discussed.
Keywords: augmented reality; higher education; instructional functions and pedagogy; meta-analysis; systematic review; technical characteristics augmented reality; higher education; instructional functions and pedagogy; meta-analysis; systematic review; technical characteristics

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Li, G.; Luo, H.; Chen, D.; Wang, P.; Yin, X.; Zhang, J. Augmented Reality in Higher Education: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Literature from 2000 to 2023. Educ. Sci. 2025, 15, 678. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15060678

AMA Style

Li G, Luo H, Chen D, Wang P, Yin X, Zhang J. Augmented Reality in Higher Education: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Literature from 2000 to 2023. Education Sciences. 2025; 15(6):678. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15060678

Chicago/Turabian Style

Li, Gege, Heng Luo, Di Chen, Peiyu Wang, Xin Yin, and Jiakai Zhang. 2025. "Augmented Reality in Higher Education: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Literature from 2000 to 2023" Education Sciences 15, no. 6: 678. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15060678

APA Style

Li, G., Luo, H., Chen, D., Wang, P., Yin, X., & Zhang, J. (2025). Augmented Reality in Higher Education: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Literature from 2000 to 2023. Education Sciences, 15(6), 678. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15060678

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