doi: 10.18178/ijiet.2025.15.6.2315
Fostering Critical Thinking Skills through Augmented Reality: Insights from Higher Education Engineering Students
Thamrin1
,
Giatman2 ,
Muhammad Anwar1 ,
Khairi Budayawan1 ,
Delsina Faiza1 ,
Nur Diyana Kamarudin3 ,
Alwen Bentri4,* ,
Ernawati5
- 1Department of Electronic Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Negeri Padang, Padang, Indonesia
- 2Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Negeri Padang, Padang, Indonesia
- 3Faculty of Defense Science and Technology & Cyber Security Centre, National Defence University of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- 4Department of Educational Technology, Faculty of Education, Universitas Negeri Padang, Padang, Indonesia
- 5Department of Family Welfare Science, Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality, Universitas Negeri Padang, Padang, Indonesia
- Manuscript receivedNovember 6, 2024
- revisedNovember 28, 2024
- acceptedDecember 20, 2024
- publishedJune 10, 2025
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.
Keywords
- augmented reality
- critical thinking skills
- digital literacy
- learning strategies
- perceived ease of use
How to Cite
Thamrin, Giatman, Muhammad Anwar, Khairi Budayawan, Delsina Faiza, Nur Diyana Kamarudin, Alwen Bentri, and Ernawati, "Fostering Critical Thinking Skills through Augmented Reality: Insights from Higher Education Engineering Students," International Journal of Information and Education Technology, vol. 15, no. 6, pp. 1122-1133, 2025. https://doi.org/10.18178/ijiet.2025.15.6.2315
Copyright & License
Copyright © 2025 by the authors. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited (CC BY 4.0).