266 Vol. 3 No. 3, 2017; pp. 266-271 p-ISSN: 2442-3750; e-ISSN: 2527-6204 http://ejournal.umm.ac.id/index.php/jpbi Received: 18/08/2017 Revised: 30/11/2017 Accepted: 30/11/2017 JURNAL PENDIDIKAN BIOLOGI INDONESIA [Indonesian Journal of Biology Education] Citation: Dewi, S., R., Nurmilawati, M. & Budiretnani, D. A. (2017). Improving of scientific literacy ability using discovery learning model at the seventh grade students of state JHS 3 Ngronggot, Nganjuk-Indonesia. Jurnal Pendidikan Biologi Indonesia, 3(3), 266-271. https://doi.org/10.22219/jpbi.v3i3.4540 IMPROVING OF SCIENTIFIC LITERACY ABILITY USING DISCOVERY LEARNING MODEL AT THE SEVENTH GRADE STUDENTS OF STATE JHS 3 NGRONGGOT, NGANJUK-INDONESIA Sri Ratna Dewi*, Mumun Nurmilawati, Dwi Ari Budiretnani Biology Education Department, University of Nusantara PGRI Kediri, Indonesia *corresponding e-mail: prosperous.srd@gmail.com ABSTRACT Country with good education condition can be seen through its citizen scientific literacy. This research aims to improving the students’ scientific literacy ability by using discovery learning model at 7th grade students of State Junior High School 3 Ngronggot, Nganjuk-Indonesia. The instrument in this Kemmis and Taggart Model of Classroom Action Research was an essay test composed based on indicators developed by Gormaly. The results of the research showed that there were improvements on the students’ scientific literacy ability from cycle I to cycle II on six of seven indicators. Those improvements are as follows: Indentifying scientific opinion increased from 0% into 64.52%, reviewing literature effectively increased from 0% into 29.03%, understanding research design and the way how its effect to the finding/discussion increased from 14.29% into 19.35%, making graphic from the data correctly increased from 0% to 58.07%, solving problems using quantitative skill including operating basic statistics increased from 7.14% to 58.07%. However, in making inference, prediction and drawing conclusion based on quantitative data, the improvement was only on the students’ answer that got 1 score, it increased from 7.14% to 77.42%. In addition, for the indicator of understanding and interpreting basic statistic, it decreased from 21.43% to 12.90%. Keywords: Discovery learning, junior high school, scientific literacy, skill, student © 2017 Department of Biology Education, FTTE, University of Muhammadiyah Malang, Indonesia INTRODUCTION Indonesian human resources which have high quality and readiness to face global challenge can be realized through the improvement of education quality (Rusilowati et al., 2015). In addition, high quality education not only does it prepares the students to have one profession, but also education which enable the students to solve their daily problems. The education quality in a country can be representated by its citizen scientific literacy ability. Scientific literacy is important to be developed in several reasons such as; (1) the scientific understanding which gained by natural encompassing and learning provides personal satisfaction and pleasure, (2) every person needs information and scientific thinking to draw decisions in their daily life, (3) every person needs ability to participate in public discourse and debate about important issues that involve science and technology, (4) scientific literacy is important in the work place, because there are many jobs require high skills which make people to learn science, think, possess creative thinking, draw conclusion, and solve problems (National Research Council, 1996). The scientific literate person has ability in applying scientific concepts, principles, laws, and theories to their environment. Moreover, they also able to implement scientific processes to solve problems, draw decisions, and understand the nature (Laugksch, 2000). Scientific literacy is the ability to use scientific knowledge, identify questions and draw fact-based conclusions to understand the universe and make decisions of changes that occur due to human activities (PISA, 2006). The important scientific skills to be provided to students are the science literacy (Turiman et al., 2012). The research results conducted by Astuti, 2016, science literacy are a skill that needs to be developed in the globalization. The importance of science literacy and information literacy is in personal decision making, participation, and economic productivity. Literacy of science https://doi.org/10.22219/jpbi.v3i3.4540 Dewi et al. / Jurnal Pendidikan Biologi Indonesia / 3 (3) (2017) pp. 266-271 267 Improving of scientific literacy ability…. consists of several types of literacy such as written reading, numerical literacy and digital literacy (Information technology). In terms of learning science literacy can be applied through learning strategies that can hone students to think high otherwise multimedia-based or computer-based strategies can increase digital literacy. Thus the science literacy can be included in the curriculum for science learning, especially IPA can increase knowledge, especially scientific and technological concepts. The research results conducted by Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) organized by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) showed that the Indonesian students’ scientific literacy rank, with the subject age of 15, was the 64th of 65 countries. This means that Indonesia, with its score of 382, was categorized as the the below-OECD-standard country score (500). Various other studies support to obtain a more meaningful learning model for students, such as Iswari (2010) which uses laboratory-based problem-solving activities to increase students' science literacy. In addition, Wenning (2011) study concluded that inquiry learning is an excellent way for students to understand the content of science. Then research Gormally et al. (2009) applying lab inquiry learning proves that students have improved scientific investigation skills and better science literacy than conventional learning. Lessons that are relevant to the development of students' literacy skills are life- oriented learning, building student attitudes and awareness of the environment (Rakhmawan, et al., 2015). Various researches are conducted to find the effective and efficient learning process of science to get the learning outcomes with the best quality and quality. Holbrook (2005) argues that learning will achieve good results, if the learning is meaningful for students. In the oher words, Indonesian students’ scientific literacy was low compared to the other countries. Based on the observation conducted in the seventh grade students of Junior High School (JHS) 3 Ngronggot Nganjuk (East Java, Indonesia), it can be inferred that the material about population density was the most difficult material for the students. In the teaching process, teacher only explained the materials, thus, the teaching learning process was teacher- centered. Furthermore, it was less frequent for teachers in both employing instructional media and implementing the scientific literacy ability directly. This causes students can not understand the material. Finally, the scientific literacy indicators have not been reached optimally. In order to solve those problems, discovery learning was applied to improve students’ scientific literacy ability. Discovery learning model means understanding concept, meaning and correlation through intuitive student’s process to draw conclusion. Discovery happends when each person involves in the use of their mental process to find several concepts and principals (Budiningsih, 2005). In Discovery Learning, the students identify problems, solutions, find relevant information, develop solution strategy, and implement the chosen strategy. In collaborative discovery learning, the students are in practical activities to solve problems together (Borthick dan Jones, 2000). METHOD This research is Classroom Action Research (CAR) based on Kemmis and Taggart model. Classroom Action Research is a scientific activity in the classroom context which is implemented to solve the learning problems faced by teachers, to improve the quality and learning achievement (Widayati, 2008). This CAR was implemented in two cycles with four phases in each cycle: planning, action, observation and reflection. However, in the implementation, the action and observation phases could not be separated. The subject of the research is the seventh grade students of State JHS 3 Ngronggot Nganjuk. The research instruments consist of interview guide, questionnaire, observation sheet, and essay test composed based on indicators developed by Gormally, et al., (2012) thet are; 1) identifying scientific valid opinion, 2) reviewing literature effectively, 3) understanding the elements of research design and its effect to the finding/conclusion, 4) making graphic from the data correctly, 5) solving problems by using quantitative skill including basic statistics, 6) understanding and interpreting basic statistics, 7) making inference prediction and drawing conclusion based on the data. The collected data were then presented in percentage in order to show the improvements in each cycle clearly. Dewi et al. / Jurnal Pendidikan Biologi Indonesia / 3 (3) (2017) pp. 266-271 Improving of scientific literacy ability…. 268 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Percentage of the students’ achievements of scientific literacy ability in each indicator are as follows (Figure 1 to Figure 7): Identifying Valid Scientific Opinions 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Cycle I Cycle II 0% 64.52% 7.14% 6,45% 92.86% 29.03% Score 2 Score 1 Score 0 Figure 1.The percentage of students’ ability in identifying valid scientific opinions On the given test, the students were asked to identify and look for which scientific opinions that can be used as the problems cause. In cycle I to cycle II the percentage of students' answers that got 2 score increased from 0% into 64.52% (Figure 1). Reviewing Literature Effectively 0% 50% 100% Cycle I Cycle II 0% 29,03% 3,58% 22,58% 96,42% 48,39% Score 2 Score 1 Score 0 Figure 2. The percentage of students’ ability to review literature effectively On the given test, students were asked to search the trusted information that contains research results. On the first cycle to the second cycle, the precentage of the students’ answer that got 2 score increased from 0% into 29.03% (Figure 2). Understanding Research Design Elements and its Effect to the Findings/Conclusion 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Cycle I Cycle II 14.29% 19.35% 3.58% 16.13% 82.14% 64.52% Score 2 Score 1 Score 0 Figure 3. The percentage of students’ ability in understanding research design and how its effect to the finding/conclusion On the given test, the students were asked to find sentences in the form of theory and hipothesis. In cycle I to cycle II, the percentage of students' answers, who got 2 score, was from 14.29% into 19.35% (Figure 3). Making Graphic from the Data Correctly 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% Cycle I Cycle II 0% 58.07% 25% 6.45% 75% 35.48% Score 2 Score 1 Score 0 Figure 4. The students’ ability in making graphic from the data correctly On the given test, the students were asked to make a graphic based on the data in the test. In cycle I to cycle II, the percentage of students' answers, who got 2 score, was from 0% into 58.07% (Figure 4). Dewi et al. / Jurnal Pendidikan Biologi Indonesia / 3 (3) (2017) pp. 266-271 269 Improving of scientific literacy ability…. Solving Problems Using Quantitative Skill Including Basic Statistics 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Cycle I Cycle II 7.14% 58.07% 7.14% 22.58% 85.71% 19.35% Score 2 Score 1 Score 0 Figure 5. Students’ ability in solving problem using quantitative skill including using basic statistics On the given test, the students were asked to read and analyze the provided data. In cycle I to cycle II the percentage of students' answers that got 2 score increased from 7.14% into 58.07% (Figure 5). Understanding and Interpreting Basic Statistics 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Cycle I Cycle II 21,43% 12,90% 10,71% 3,23% 67,86% 83,87% Score 2 Score 1 Score 0 Figure 6. Students’ ability to understand and interpret the basic statistics On the given test, the students were asked to explain the reason of using statistical data. In cycle I the percentage of students' answers that got 2 score was 21.43%. However in cycle II the percentage of the students’ answer that got 2 score, decreased into 12.90% (Figure 6). Making Inference, Prediction, and Drawing Conclusion based on Quantitative Data 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Cycle I Cycle II 0% 0% 7,14% 77,42% 92,86% 22,58% Score 2 Score 1 Score 0 Figure 7. Students’ ability to make inference, prediction and to draw conclusion from quantitative data In this indicator, there was no increasing on the percentage of the students’ answer that got 2 score. It is because the percentage of the students’ answer that got 2 scores in cycle I and II was the same at 0%. However, the increasing was on the percentage on the students’ answer that got score 1, it increased from 7.14% into 77.42% (Figure 7). Application of discovery learning can explain the advantages and disadvantages at the beginning of each cycle; this deficiency arises because students are not familiar with the changing way of learning being applied. After getting used to the same learning patterns the students are able to improve those skills. Based on the percentage in cycle I, half of the indicators which have percentage of the students’ answer with 2 score was 0%. It shows that the students had not understood the problems and the questions so they got difficulties on answering the questions correctly. In cycle II, there was significant improvement on each indicator. It proved that the students had been able to comprehend the problems and questions so they could answer the question correctly. Actual action is the most dominant activity in developing students' literacy skills (Istikomayanti, et al., 2016). According Cobble (2012) students who have high literacy skills are people who are active and Dewi et al. / Jurnal Pendidikan Biologi Indonesia / 3 (3) (2017) pp. 266-271 Improving of scientific literacy ability…. 270 progressive and able to survive and face the problems around him. The improvement of the students’ scientific literacy ability is caused by the implementation of the discovery learning. According to Cahyo (2013), in discovery learning, the students are facilitated to be able to find the concepts and principles by using their own mental process. In finding the concept, the students observe, classify, maka hypothesis, explain, and draw conclusion, etc in order to find several concepts and principles. Furthermore, the obvious learning principal in discovery learning is the instructional materials that are presented are not in the final form, but they are in the active process. The students are facilitated to identify what they have known, continue finding the information by themselves, after that they organize what they have known and comprehended as the final form. The students actively construct their own experience by relating the new knowledge with the internal capacity or the cognitive structure that they have got (Cahyo, 2013). From the explanation above, it can be seen that discovery learning model is the suitable model to improve the students’ scientific literacy ability, because the steps of the discovery learning have the same direction as the indicators of the scientific literacy, that the writer used in this research (Gormally et al., 2012). CONCLUSION Based on the explanation above, it can be concluded that the use of discovery learning in science subject in the topic of population density to the environment can increase the students’ scientific literacy ability on the VII-1 students of State JHS 3 Ngronggot. The improvements were on the six out of seven indicators, especially on the percentage of the students with 2 score that can be explained as follows: identify the valid scientific opinion increased 64.52%, reviewing literature effectively increased 29.03%, understanding research design and its effect to the research finding/ conclusion increased 5.06%, making graphic from the data correctly increased 58.07%, solving the problem using quantitative skill inclusing using basic statistics increased 50.93%. However, on the indicator understanding and interpreting the basic statistics decreased 8.53%. 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