Using Game-Based Collaborative Learning to Enhance Critical Thinking Skills

Abstract

Critical thinking is an essential quality in complex problem solving. Many researchers have proposed that collaborative peer learning could enhance critical thinking, because learners could understand more diverse views by sharing different perspectives on a given situation. The work presented in this paper aims to explore a possible relationship between game-based collaborative learning and critical thinking. A serious mixed reality business game was developed and employed in the present study. Twenty-five undergraduate students were recruited and divided into three groups: an individual learning group, and two collaborative learning groups with distinct learning conditions. After completing the experimental learning tasks, the participants were asked to create presentations, either alone (for the single players) or with their partners, to outline their approaches to solving the problems presented in the game. The results indicate that the three groups showed only slight differences in learning performance (e.g., memorization); however, the difference in their levels of critical thinking was more significant. There appeared to be a strong relationship between learning in pairs and an array of positive intellectual outcomes. Further, the different learning conditions between the two collaborative learning groups also led to significant differences in the level of critical thinking.