The effect of metaverse technology on multicultural learning: Strengthening the social attitudes, cultural awareness and critical thinking skills of secondary school students

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of metaverse technology on multicultural learning to strengthen the social attitudes, cultural awareness and critical thinking skills of secondary school students. Methodology: A quasi-experimental research method was used in this study to equally divide 80 secondary school students in the Dusit district, under the Office of the Basic Education Commission, Bangkok, Thailand into an experimental group and a control group. The experiment of the metaverse on multicultural learning in an eight week teaching period comprised four components: virtual cultural exploration, role-playing, discussions and reflections, and collaborative projects. The results showed a significant difference in the average outcomes between the groups. In conclusion, the major findings include three dimensions: 1) Students who learn through metaverse technology have a higher learning progress than students in traditional classrooms. 2) Social attitudes and critical thinking skills from utilizing metaverse technology in learning are both statistically significant. 3) The overall assessment proves that metaverse technology improves students' learning outcomes. Therefore, this study supports the integration of metaverse technology into education, especially in developing thinking skills and social competence in multicultural learning. The metaverse supported teachers’ instruction to enhance students’ social, cultural, and critical thinking skills.