Abstract:

Critical thinking has been a key ability in an information-rich and knowledge-oriented world. The present research attempts to explore high school students’ learning experiences in critical thinking through a digital role play game. The digital game designed by researchers in this study featured some of the social issues commonly seen on the news. The game was produced on RPG Maker and involved story lines and hurdle questions, both which provided students with a context where they could practice critical thinking skills repeatedly. A total of 36 high school students were recruited from across Taiwan as participants in a 4-day camp hosted by the present study. Student participants went through a 36-hour program (9 hours per day) where they learned different skills in critical thinking and played the digital role-play game. Student participants also gathered in groups to discuss how they accomplished the missions in the game. At the end of a session, each group took turn to share thoughts on the social issues featured in the game and discuss the links between the social issues and critical thinking. Finally, they received feedback and relevant information from the instructor, who also helped extend and enhance their thinking and learning process beyond the scope of the program in camp. At the end of the 4-day camp, students participated in interviews to share their thoughts and feelings about the program in general. To find out how students perceived the pedagogical approach in the program, where they learned critical thinking through the digital role-play game, the present research applied a content analysis to the transcripts of their interview responses. The results illustrated that high school students were very much aware of camp activities and the game design. It can be inferred from the research findings that students who felt challenged by advanced materials may not only experience an increase in learning motivation, but also have much more incentives to comprehend and make use of the abilities they acquired in critical thinking. In conclusion, digital role-play game-based learning can effectively enhance students' critical thinking and learning motivation. Critical thinking as a high-level cognitive skill is thus recommended by the present research as a potential topic for future studies among different disciplines and models of experiments.

Keywords:

Game-Based Learning, Digital Role Play Game, Critical Thinking, Learning Motivation.