The current research aims to measure the effect of an adaptive learning environment based on interactive simulation to develop higher-order thinking skills among university students in databases and to identify its effectiveness. The study sample consisted of (34) male and female first-level students in the Computer Teacher Preparation Department, College of Specific Education, Damietta university who were registered in the databases course. The study came up with a list of higher-order thinking skills in databases, and the study relied on testing higher-order thinking skills after standardizing them. The Stability of the test was reached using Cronbach's alpha (0.812). The paired samples t-test was used to analyze the pre- and post-test scores. The results indicated that there were statistically significant differences at the level of significance (0.01) between the average scores of the research sample in the pre- and post-measurement of the higher-order thinking skills test in favor of the post-application had a large effect amounting to (97.6%). These results indicate that the adaptive learning environment based on interactive simulation has a positive impact on developing students' higher-order thinking skills in databases.