Development and validation of an instrument for assessing scientific literacy from junior to senior high school

Abstract

Assessing students' scientific literacy is necessary for science education policy, accountability and curriculum design and implementation, and there is a need for a valid, reliable and easy to use measurement instrument by local education authorities. Based on the definition and assessment framework of scientific literacy of PISA, a scientific literacy assessment instrument for junior high school and senior high school students was developed. The Rasch model was used to establish evidence for the validity and reliability of measures of the instrument. The results showed that the instrument measures met the validity and reliability expectations. Student scientific achievement levels were defined into four levels of Excellent, Advanced, Proficient and Basic using the Bookmarking method. The instrument can be used to assess student scientific literacy change from junior high school through high school to inform science education policy, accountability as well as curriculum design and implementation at local education levels.