Developing testing instruments to measure science literacy of elementary school students

Abstract

Literacy is one aspect of knowledge that has become a benchmark for the success of education. The measurement of the level of quality of education carried out by UNESCO is recorded at the lowest rank. The purpose of this study was to develop test instruments to measure the scientific literacy abilities of elementary school students. The number of respondents in this study was 20 students and 12 items. This research method used the design of (1) a preliminary study stage, (2) a development study stage and (3) an evaluation stage. In the first stage, the preliminary study was reviewed through literature studies, field studies and identification according to the needs of the instrument. Furthermore, the second stage of the development study was carried out by designing the initial product, validation tests by experts, analysis and revisions, and then carrying out initial trials, analysis and refinement. Data analysis was carried out using the Rasch model approach. The results of the analysis showed the reliability index of the instrument (=0.97) and the reliability of the person (α = 0.81). In general, this instrument can explain 72.7% of the variance in respondents, so this test instrument can be used to measure the scientific literacy of elementary school students. Keywords: Elementary school, instrument test, Rasch model, science literacy, student