AUN-TEPL Symposium

Developing Critical Thinking Skills through Gamification in Learning

SYNOPSIS

Increased workload, teaching lethargy, and monotonic lesson are among problems faced by educator who teaches large class in the university. Students get very tired if the class is scheduled late in the evening. To avoid learning boredom, this study implemented gamified learning approach for 13 weeks. A sample of 319 students in a critical thinking course has been selected for this study. Participants were 19 to 23 years old from various departments in the Faculty of Science, University of Malaya. Aims of this study are 1) to improve students’ critical thinking skills using MaCTIV6, 2) improve students’ learning engagement. Findings demonstrated that students improved their cognitive and metacognitive skills in the MaCTIV6. The most significant element of gamification that motivated students’ engagement are achievement and reward. Varieties in the learning content and contexts have attracted learners' attention to the topics discussed, eliminating boredom and sleepiness in the class.

Dr. Aishah is a senior lecturer at the Department of Science and Technology Studies, University of Malaya. Her research interest is mainly on exploring multifaceted approaches in harnessing and developing cognitive skills. She had won a Gold Medal Award in the International Learning Improvement & Teaching Enhancement Conference (LITEC 2020), in exploring the potential of gamification in enhancing students’ academic performance.

Contact Information:

Department of Science and Technology Studies,

Faculty of Science,

Universiti Malaya

50603 Kuala Lumpur,

Malaysia

Email: aishah.abdullah@um.edu.my

LinkedIn page

AISHAH ABDULLAH

Developing Critical Thinking Skills through Gamification in Learning