مهیار سلیمانخانی

  Abstract The ۲۱st-century world is one filled with complexities and unavoidable challenges. It is a world where we witness an overwhelming bombardment of information from various sources, information that needs to be thoroughly analyzed and examined. It is even better if this analysis and the spirit of critical examination of content are taught in the early years of school. Therefore, the aim of the present research was to teach critical thinking through gamification and its effect on the critical thinking skills, responsibility, and attributive motivation beliefs of fifth-grade elementary students. This research was applied in nature, and the research design was experimental with pre-test and post-test along with a control group. The statistical population of this study included all male fifth-grade students studying in the ۲۰۲۳-۲۰۲۴ academic year in Qazvin city. From this population, a multi-stage cluster random sampling method was used; initially, one educational district of Qazvin city, District One, was randomly selected, and then among the boys' elementary schools in this district, Izadpanahi School was randomly chosen. From the fifth-grade classes, Class ۵۰۱ with ۳۸ students was randomly selected as the research sample, with ۱۹ students assigned to the experimental group and ۱۹ students to the control group randomly. The experimental group received ۱۰ sessions of ۴۵-minute interventions on teaching critical thinking through gamification in the form of board games, while the control group did not receive any intervention. The questionnaires used for data collection included Afshin Adibmanesh's Critical Thinking Skills Questionnaire for elementary students (۲۰۱۷), the ۴۲-item California Responsibility Questionnaire (۱۹۸۷), and the Attributional Styles Questionnaire (ASQ) by Peterson et al. (۱۹۸۳). The data were analyzed using Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) through the   -۲۶ program, and the findings indicated that there was a significant difference between the experimental and control groups (P<۰.۰۵). Therefore, it can be concluded that teaching critical thinking through gamification has a positive and significant effect on the critical thinking skills, responsibility, and motivational attribution beliefs of fifth-grade students in Qazvin city. Key terms: critical thinking teaching, gamification, attributive motivation beliefs, elementary students, responsibility, critical thinking skills