The Skills of Critical Thinking, Creativity, and Communication as Tools for Overcoming Social Simulation in the Context of Sustainability: A Case Study of Students’ Self-Assessment of the Affective Domain of Learning

In the context of sustainability, this paper analyses the phenomenon of social simulation in the case of the affective domain of learning. Social simulation is defined in a variety of ways in dictionaries and handbooks published by universities. Still, for the purposes of this article, we will use the definitions of social simulation that are appropriate to the context of the study, and that are associated with fake or misleading actions. They are seen in the article as inherent in social manipulation, which comes in various forms, such as propaganda or fake news spread in the media, and hence disinformation. Social simulation is contrasted with sustainability, not only as an environmental but also as a socio-economic phenomenon, embedded in three types of skills: critical thinking, creativity and communication. The authors of the paper take the position that these three types of capabilities can ensure sustainability by overcoming social simulation. This paper develops a study aimed at assessing the three types of skills mentioned above by students of the Faculty of Creative Industries of Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (Lithuania) to avoid the threats posed by social simulation. In the course of the research, data on the communicative, creative and critical-thinking abilities of first-year students were obtained. Based on these data, objective evaluation scales were created.