International Journal of
Information and Education Technology

Abstract—One of the issues currently faced by the Indonesian education system is the suboptimal quality of learning and student achievement in essential competencies, such as critical thinking skills. Therefore, there is a need for an innovative approach that integrates modern pedagogy and digital technology, including Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics (STEAM) and gamification. Before implementing it, designing a correlation model for critical thinking skills is essential. Therefore, this validation and reliability study investigates the correlation between gamification learning, STEAM, and the integration of both in developing critical thinking skills. The type of research conducted was a quantitative correlational study, with data collection involving the provision of response questionnaires and project observation sheets to 187 students, who served as the research sample. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analysis indicates that the gamification, STEAM, and integration models are feasible, as evidenced by the Goodness of Fit model value exceeding the criteria. In addition, the model is also stated to be valid. The reliability is indicated by the CR value > 0.7 and AVE > 0.5, namely gamification (CR = 0.88, AVE = 0.64), STEAM (CR = 0.85, AVE = 0.55), and Critical Thinking Skills (CR = 0.90, AVE = 0.66). The research findings also indicate that gamification (β = 0.83 > 0.5) and STEAM (β = 0.16 < 0.3) exhibit a positive correlation with critical thinking skills. Still, integrating both (β = 1.01 > 0.5) can have a greater impact on critical thinking skills. The practical implications of this study are crucial for teachers to enhance their ability in designing effective gamification and STEAM learning innovations. This study has limitations, namely, the technology and samples used are still within a limited scope.

Keywords—critical thinking skills, gamification, reliability, validity, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics (STEAM)

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Cite: Jayanti Syahfitri, Meti Herlina, Muntahanah, Kasmiruddin, and Mivtha Citraningrum, "Validating a Technology-Enhanced Learning Model: Correlation between STEAM, Gamification, and Critical Thinking Skills Using SEM," International Journal of Information and Education Technology, vol. 16, no. 3, pp. 789-797, 2026.

Copyright © 2026 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).