Fostering Critical Thinking Skills through Augmented Reality: Insights from Higher Education Engineering Students Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • This study aims to explore the use of Augmented Reality (AR) technology in relation to digital literacy, learning strategies, and perceived ease of use of Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), on students’ critical thinking skills. This research employs a quantitative correlational method to examine the relationships among these variables. The sample of this study consisted of 221 students majoring in Electronic Engineering at the Engineering Faculty, Universitas Negeri Padang, obtained through purposive sampling technique. The collected data were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) using SmartPLS 3 to examine the relationships between variables, and network analysis using Jeffreys’s Amazing Statistics Program (JASP) to map and visualize the interactions among them. The results showed that digital literacy has a significant positive influence on students’ critical thinking skills. In addition, learning strategies also have a positive and significant impact on students’ critical thinking skills. This finding shows that perceived ease of use contributes significantly and can moderate the relationship between digital literacy and learning strategies in improving students’ critical thinking skills. Therefore, improving digital literacy and strengthening learning strategies need to be considered in curriculum design. In addition, the development of user-friendly AR applications can increase technology acceptance and support the improvement of critical thinking skills. Further research is recommended, to consider how children’s emotional intelligence, technological support, and environmental influences are factors related to AR use and students’ critical thinking, both quantitatively and qualitatively.

publication date

  • 2025

number of pages

  • 11

start page

  • 1122

end page

  • 1133

volume

  • 15

issue

  • 6