Developing an Essay Test Instrument for Measuring Diagram Representation and the Capability of Argumentation on Newton’s Law

Abstract

The objective of this research was to develop an essay test instrument for measuring diagram representation and capability of argumentation of senior high school students. This research was conducted through three stages: (1) planning; (2) instrument experiment; and (3) manufacture. The instrument that would be administered was an essay test that consisted of 14 items for measuring diagram representation and capability of argumentation on the Newton’s law. This study implemented qualitative and quantitative validation analyses that have been provided by eight experts (lecturers, teachers, and peer reviewer) and an empirical validation using the Partial Credit Model (PCM) Item Response Theory (IRT) instrument with QUEST and PARSCALE application. The results of the quantitative validation were attained from Aiken’s V Index and showed this index of six items on the measurement of diagram representation is around 0.94-1.00. On the other hand, the results of the quantitative validation through Aiken’s V Index also showed that index of eight items on the measurement the capability of argumentation had is around 0.88-1.00. Then, the empirical validity test involved 250Grade XI students from SMAN 8 Bulukumba, South Celebes. Instrument analysis was conducted using PCM IRT on the basis of the QUEST application, and the results of this analysis showed that the INFIT Means-Square (INFIT MNSQ) was around 0.77 to 1.33 and the level of difficulty was around -0.824 to 0.797. The item reliability of each test item for the diagram representation and capability of argumentation was 0.79 and 0.85 respectively. In conclusion, the test instrument was in accordance with the students’ capability, ranging from -2.542 to 1.922, with a Standart Error Measurement SEM of 0.222, based on the PARSCALE outcome.