Determinants of the Effectiveness of Using Renewable Resource Management-Based Simulations in the Development of Critical Thinking: An Application of the Experiential Learning Theory

Abstract

The twenty-first century’s society experiences new challenges in being immersed in anew paradigm of the educational system. Higher education institutions should train professionalsso that they are able to experience real situations in order to encourage reflection on affective,aesthetic, and ethical dimensions of these people in their relations with the natural and socioculturalenvironment. Learning strategies must allow the acquisition of creative, active, and appliedknowledge as well as the development of critical thinking. According to the experiential learningtheory, to achieve this, higher education should use student-centered interactive and collaborativeteaching methodologies and focus studies on the skills that graduates must have, promoting studentknow-how, initiative, and autonomous learning. Business simulations are instruments that fulfil theabove characteristics, facilitating learning. The objective of this research was to provide a modelthat identifies the determining factors (simulation’s realism and structure, perceived usefulness,and students’ learning motivation) in the effectiveness of using these tools to develop critical thinkingfocused on sustainability. Three hundred and twenty-six surveys completed by undergraduatestudents were obtained, which used a structural equation model (SEM) to analyze the influence ofrealism, simulation structure, perceived usefulness, and students’ motivations to develop criticalthinking. The outcomes according to the experiential learning theory showed that the game’s realismlets students perceive its usefulness and, together with an adequate simulation structure, determinesthe students’ learning motivations by developing critical thinking.