Students' scientific literacy skill: The starting point of chemistry learning in the junior high school

The design of this research was a quantitative descriptive research with survey method. In this study the results obtained were described descriptively in the form of the median frequency and the average frequency percentage (Arikunto, 2009). Research conducted does not provide treatment, manipulation or alteration of the variable. The form of research was a survey research with no real determination of hypotheses and variables (Denzin, 2009). In addition to being described descriptively, the study also compared the scores of each indicator of chemistry literacy ability based on differences in school locations.

The population of this study were all students of grade VIII junior high school in four locations in South Sulawesi Province, Indonesia, namely Makassar City as a big city, Maros Regency as a middle city, and Sinjai Regency as a small city. The sample of the study was taken by simple random sampling (Arikunto, 2009) and selected 1 school in each location, namely 62 students in SMPN 6 in Makassar City, 60 students in SMPN 2 in Maros Regency, and 59 students in SMPN 4 in Sinjai Regency, so the total sample as many as 181 students. Each school was represented by two parallel classes in class VIII registered in the academic year of 2019-2020.

This study used instruments in the form of scientific literacy tests for aspects of knowledge and competence of scientific literacy of students. For the aspect of knowledge testing about science content by using multiple choice tests as many as 15 questions consisting of four indicators that have been tested for reliability and validity by lecturers who are experts on chemistry especially atoms, ions and molecules. The instruments were declared valid with a value of validity as much as 3.5. For the competency aspect, 15 multiple-choice tests consist of four indicators, which have been tested for validity with a validity level as much as 3.6. The instrument in the form of questionnaire with high validity as much as 3.7 was given to students to gather supporting data about the profiles of teachers and parents relating to learning at school and at home. The indicators and distribution of questions in both aspects can be seen in Table 1 and Table 2.

Indicator	Item Number	Cognitive Level (C)	Total Test Item
Atom, ion, and molecule	1, 2, 4	C1, C2, C4	3
Identify atom number, mass number, proton, neutron, and electron	8,9,19,11,13	C3, C6, C6, C4, C3	5
Connect atom concept, ion, and mollecule with chemical daily product	3, 5, 15	C2, C3, C3	3
Compare the uncure and compound molecule	6, 7, 12, 14	C4, C6, C5, C3	4

In Table 1 above the item items tested are equipped with a grid of questions and cognitive levels that are spread from level C1 to level C6, but in general the questions are focused on level C3 to Level C6. Because it is appropriate for students to work on questions oriented to high-level questions (HOTS) because the learning models applied in these schools are cooperative and discovery models, problem base learning that activates students with the aim of their chemical science knowledge can be better the result (Priatmoko, 2013).

Table 2. Indicators of Scientific Literacy and Distribution of Chemistry Test Item

Indicator	Sub indicator	Total Test Item
Understand the methods/meaning of questions that lead to scientific knowledge (LS1)	Understanding the scientific questions or statements Identifying the valid scientific opinions Understand the elements in research design	4
Carry out an effective literature search (LS2)	Evaluating the use and misuse of scientific information Reading and interpreting the charts precisely from data	4
Organize, analyze, and interpret the scientific data and information (LS3)	Making a precise graph of the data Solving the problems using quantitative skills, including basic statistics	5
Draw the conclusions based on learning experiences (LS4)	Understanding and interpreting the basic statistics Making inference, prediction and conclusion based on data.	2

In addition to measuring students' literacy abilities in Chemistry course, researcher also distributed questionnaires to students and teachers to be filled in a form to record data about the involvement of the teacher in school and the role of parents at home to guide students.

The research data were analyzed using descriptive analysis of percentages to determine the understanding and achievement of students' scientific literacy competencies. Furthermore, the results of the analysis are interpreted through the presentation of tables and explanations in accordance with the criteria shown (Arikunto, 2009), namely Very Good (80-100), Good (66-79), Fair (56-65), Low (40-55), and Failed (<40). The category is as a reference to describe the understanding of knowledge of atoms, ions and molecules, and the achievement of scientific literacy competencies of students based on their respective indicators. Data on the difference in scores of scientific literacy abilities based on differences in the indicators of scientific literacy and school location were analyzed using inferential statistics with the two-way ANOVA test with a significance level of 5%, if the ANOVA results showed significant then continued with the Least Significance Different (LSD) test. Before ANOVA test was carried out, the prerequisite test was normality test and homogeneity test. Normality test used Kolmogorov Smirnov one-sample test and homogeneity test used Leven's test of equality of error variances.