The 21 st century science learning: HOTS and digital literacy among junior high school students in Semarang, Indonesia

Abstract

The 21st-century skills was broadly discussed in all sectors. It challenges education to equip next generation with all important skills to face the digital technology transformation. The focus of this study was to identify profile of student’s higher-order thinking skills (HOTS) and digital literacy among junior high school students in science learning. Mixed method, a combination of quantitative and qualitative was used in this study. A total number of 170 of grade 7th students in private and public junior high school in Semarang City were administered in the integrated science test (IST). IST were used to measure student’s HOTS through constructed-multiple choice test. 17 science teachers were the key informant of HOTS and digital literacy in science learning. Rasch model and descriptive analysis used to identify HOTS and digital literacy based on gender and type of school. The results reveal that : (1) most of junior high school students HOTS performace were at low slight to moderate level (2) female students performs better than male students in HOTS, (3) type of school significantly impact on students’ achievement, and (4) teachers’ operation and thinking skills as basic skill of digital literacy were still unsufficient to provide digital-based learning. However, it is necessary to accustom implementation of HOTS assessment as well as digital technology in the science learning environment.