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

The results showed that in the aspects of the students' knowledge of the chemistry of atoms, ions and molecules the highest indicator achievement (74.40%) was achieved by SMPN 6 Makassar for indicators of identification of atomic numbers, mass numbers, protons, neutrons and electrons. The mean score of students' knowledge on chemical materials is in the good category. When comparing understanding of students' knowledge concepts between schools, SMPN 6 Makassar and SMPN 2 Maros are in the good category, while SMPN 4 Sinjai is in the fair category. Based on this percentage data, the level of knowledge of the students has varied their abilities ranging from the ability to know to the ability to synthesize.

Based on the results of the data analysis for the aspect of knowledge, it can be seen that the average score obtained by the students is included in both categories of all tested chemical concepts. Scores obtained by the students on the concept of understanding the concepts of atoms, ions and molecules, and materials identification of atomic numbers, mass numbers, protons, neutrons, and electrons are in the good category. Scores obtained by the students in the material connecting the concepts of atoms, ions, and molecules with daily chemical products and comparing elemental molecules and compound molecules are in the sufficient category. This shows that the role of the teacher in the learning process in the classroom is needed to further involve students in cultivating their understanding and potential so that learning outcomes especially in the aspect of knowledge are even more increased (Bastin & Dicks, 2019; Rusiani, 2017).

This research was a survey research that uses data collection in addition to providing knowledge and competency tests, also given a questionnaire to students and teachers. The questionnaire is used to provide support for student learning outcomes and competencies. The questionnaire includes the education of parents, the form and frequency of guidance, the teacher's last education, the model/method used by the teacher in the learning process, as well as the learning resources of students (Chohan & Khan, 2014). The results shows that students' scientific literacy in making conclusions based on experience learning outcomes are still low, as well as in literacy activities to analyze information and data on test questions it is very difficult to observe its function in the formation of chemical compounds, and it is difficult to make conclusions from the learning outcomes obtained. In the ability of chemistry, students are very difficult to understand the meaning of atoms, ions and molecules in forming compounds, difficult to understand the concepts of atoms, ions and molecules related to everyday life.

Achieving the ability in this aspect of knowledge can be associated with the involvement of the teachers and parents at school and at home to guide students. The results of the questionnaire analysis of the profiles of teachers and parents, and obtained the qualifications of teaching teachers of natural science subjects came from biology, physics and mathematics study programs consisting of 90% S1 degrees, S2 and S3 degrees as much as 10%. Teaching experience of teachers above 6 years and all of them have obtained educator certification, learning models used in general discovery, a small portion using PBL and inquiry models as a result of research (Widiastuti & Santosa, 2014). The background of the study program of teachers who teach science (there are chemistry lessons), as mentioned above where there are no teachers who have a background in science or chemistry study programs, so that learning for chemical materials has not been carried out optimally, it is evident that the attainment of learners is only 60 % only.

The factor of parents as the main guide and laying the foundation of attitude for students also contributes to an increase in student knowledge which is very important. Parents' education in general is S1 degree or 65%, S2 and S3 degrees are 10%, the rest are SD, SMP, SMA and Diploma 1 certificates are 25%. Parents have paid more attention to their children's education which is marked by guiding work or completing homework, advising and paying attention to their child's learning time. Parents' activities in guiding children's learning are included in the "always" category, which means that parents have given high support to their child's learning success. There is collaboration between the teacher as an advisor for aspects of knowledge, attitudes and mental skills of students in school, and parents can guide children in terms of discipline and social behavior to make students more diligent in learning and aware of the meaning of what is learned so that their learning achievement is increased (Umar, 2015).

The ability of the students in the aspect of knowledge from the results of this study is improved, especially in the ability to analyze, evaluate and synthesize, when learning in schools was carried out by teachers consistently using learning models that arouse students' curiosity such as discovery models especially when combined with approaches to everyday life the days of students (Sugiarti, 2015), as well as what is planned by the curriculum in force in Indonesia today, it is expected to enable the students to explore their mental potential and skills to be more diligent so that their chemistry learning outcomes would be better.

The results of the study for the indicators of the chemical science literacy competencies illustrate that the average achievement score of the four indicators of chemical science literacy competencies in four schools is in the "good" category. The indicator of chemical science literacy ability to conduct effective literature searches (LS2) is the highest competency. This means that students have been trained to carry out literature searches effectively as part of scientific literacy. The students in learning are free to explore learning resources both print and online to collect data from the problems made, so they easily find the answers sought.

The indicators of the ability to understand the method/meaning of questions that lead to scientific knowledge (LS1) and the ability to draw conclusions based on learning experiences (LS4) are abilities that are already possessed by students. Based on the learning model that is commonly used by teachers, namely the discovery model, allowing the students to be able to understand the questions that are scientific through a stimulus phase that provokes curiosity, the verification phase clarifies findings that emphasize the certainty of answers from the previous questions on the stimulus (Eilks et al. , 2017) and the ability of the students to draw conclusions based on learning experiences. Conclusion drawing is the final phase of learning with discovery models, greatly helping the students to understand the conclusions of the lesson.

As for the indicators of the ability to organize, analyze, and interpret scientific data and information (LS3), it is still relatively low. Implicitly this third indicator instills a high affection attitude for the students (Gen, 2015). This ability indicator is indeed very difficult for junior high school students when compared to other science competency indicators. This is because it requires high-level thinking and the complexity of linking abstract concepts of atoms, ions and molecules requires concentration of the teacher thought and guidance during the learning process. Students need a thorough understanding between the concepts, reasoning was needed by involving expert advisors in the field of chemistry who continuously practice structured thinking as Vygotsky said (Ayuningsih, 2010). The teachers must not have low literacy abilities and competencies because it will be difficult to develop the realm of personal, social and social chemical literacy in students (Shah & Sharma, 2013). One of the initial efforts of the teachers that need to be endeavored is to promote the chemical literacy to the students and even the surrounding community (Shwartz et al., 2006), especially for junior high school students who have never studied before.

The results also showed that the literacy abilities of chemical science in the three schools showed differences. The students with the highest literacy ability of chemistry are at SMPN 6 Makassar and are significantly different from the literacy abilities of chemical science students at SMPN 2 Maros and SMPN 4 Sinjai. One of the factors causing the high literacy ability of chemical science in SMPN 6 Makassar is because of the location of schools in the big cities. A various learning supporting facilities and the teacher with high proviciency in the school is one of the factors that cause the high literacy ability of students in chemical science compared to other schools. Furthermore, the second highest literacy ability of chemical science is students at SMPN 2 Maros. This is because the distance of Maros Regency is closer to Makassar City as one of the major cities in Eastern Indonesia. This allows for a rapid flow of information and communication for both the teacher and the students. The students at SMPN 4 Sinjaihe have the lowest literacy ability of chemical science. One of the factors causing the low literacy ability of chemical science is due to the location of Sinjai Regency, which is far from the center of Makassar. Long distance is also a factor that causes the lack of willingness of teachers to attend professional training which further impacts on the lack of innovative chemistry learning that can increase the chemistry literacy of students.

The school differences also show differences in the indicators of students' literacy of chemical science. Where SMPN 6 Makassar students have the highest scores on all indicators of chemical science literacy compared to the two other schools having lower scores for these indicators. The high scores for indicator effective literature search (LS2) are supported by adequate facilitation to search for literature in schools in big cities. As for the indicator of understanding the method/meaning of questions that lead to scientific knowledge (LS1), the students of SMPN 6 Makassar also achieved the highest score compared to the two other schools. The students in the schools that are located in big cities like Makassar tend to understand questions more quickly than schools in the middle and small cities due to language factors that are used more often than regional languages. For the indicator of drawing conclusions based on learning experiences (LS4), the students in SMPN 6 have the highest scores because teachers are accustomed to using learning models that are able to practice scientific methods in students where one of the final stages is drawing conclusions. For the indicators of organizing, analyzing, and interpreting data and scientific information (LS3), the students of SMPN 6 Makassar achieved the highest score compared to the two other schools, even though the scores obtained were still in the low category. This indicates that the students in all sample schools tend to be rarely trained at a higher level of ability.

The results of this study are in line with the results of Shah & Sharma's (2013) research where the students have a very low level of chemical science literacy in terms of four things, first, the students are not able to understand chemistry in their lives, second, they can not respond to the benefits of chemistry in the community, third, They do not understand the concept of chemistry in food, and forth, they have not been able to voice global issues. The same result also found by Adnan et al. (2021) research. That research showed that the biological science literacy of students was still low.

Based on the above, the recommendation that can be given by researchers is the teacher must try to practice the students' scientific literacy skills. One effort that can be taken is the use of the appropriate learning models. The learning models that are considered suitable are not only transferring the knowledge, but building the concepts/knowledge by the students. The knowledge is obtained through the process of titrating through reading, counting, interpreting nature and the physical environment as well as the community environment which is carried out gradually starting from discussing the terms, definitions and explanations of the nature of the material being studied (Kurniawati, 2013). Followed by understanding the meaning, application, procedure and development of science that explains the nature, role of science (science) in his life and society.

Through mastering knowledge in education will build skills in a person (Merril, 1994). Through knowledge there are a number of skills that can be developed including procedural, conceptual and implications. Procedural knowledge is useful for completing certain tasks and participating in certain activities, this includes specific skills strategies. Knowledge is conceptual when knowledge is based on concepts that drive factual information from the world around us, and focuses on regrouping large understandings and corresponding relationships between them. Conceptual knowledge highlights the relationship between the concepts themselves (Bloom, 1956). This type of knowledge can only be obtained through purposeful and reflective learning. Next is the implication, the tendency is to express standards in terms of only factual knowledge, rather than procedural and conceptual knowledge. Estuary practice of learning parts can be implemented through practical learning for example in the laboratory (Nuic, 1968).

Literacy chemistry competencies of students can be implemented through learning that uses learning models (Hadinugrahaningsih, Rahmawati, & Ridwan, 2017) to help students interpret concepts, identify problems and draw conclusions. At present competence is very important in all fields and sectors. The purpose of this competency is to guarantee the quality of someone in their field, for example the competency of students' skills, meaning students are expected to be able to develop skills both acquired through learning and from industry. Competence is not limited to physical and intellectual abilities. But more than that, competence is related to human knowledge and behavior, and it can be said that behavior is the peak of the competency itself (Yulianti, 2017).

Literacy competency achievement can be measured through three things according to PISA, namely through the learning process, science content, and the context of science applications. The measurement through the learning process can be conducted by observing the activities of students in learning activities as outlined in the student activity sheet (LKPD). The content measurement is taken from learning outcomes after learning, and the measurement of the application context is conducted through the behavior of students during the school environment that intersects with all the material around them both human, and the natural environment around the school (Sugiarti, 2015).