Employability of college students in the new digital era: which thinking skills are optimal?

Research objectives: identify which thinking skills are optimal for employment in the new digital era; determine the impact of digital learning technologies on the development of critical thinking skills of college students, and provide effective recommendations for developing critical thinking skills. The study was conducted among third-year students from Chang'an University in China. Other necessary professional skills have been identified. Analysis of ANCOVA data showed that members of the experimental group successfully completed more tasks on the test (74.71%) than students in the control group (65.90%). In summary, cutting-edge interactive learning technologies can significantly improve students’ critical thinking as compared to the traditional approach to learning. Recommendations for developing critical thinking skills among students have been provided. The findings may be relied upon when developing an action plan to streamline the learning process, so that students’ professional skills may be developed in an effective way. The research findings: provide some knowledge about improving students’ critical thinking skills in a digital interactive environment; can help instructors address this issue, as well as validate the findings of other studies of the positive impact of digital learning technology tools on students’ critical thinking.