PROBLEM SOLVING VIRTUAL LABORATORY WITH SCIENTIFIC WRITING ABILITY TO IMPROVE STUDENTS' SCIENTIFIC LITERACY SKILLS

Abstract

Chemistry learning involves students in the practice of science in the classroom and the laboratory. Online learning has become a necessity in the world of education since the Covid-19 pandemic. Virtual practicum is needed to support learning. This study aims to see the effectiveness of problem solving virtual laboratory learning with scientific writing to improve students' literacy skills. The research design was a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest control group. The research sample was 140 students of class XI SMA Negeri in Indonesia. It consisted of 70 students in the experimental group who used problem solving virtual laboratory learning with scientific writing; and 70 students in the control group with learning without virtual experiments. The scientific literacy instrument test with 7 valid items and Cronbach's Alpha reliability value of 0.869. The data were analyzed by ANCOVA because the research data were normally distributed and homogeneous. The results showed that problem solving virtual laboratory learning with scientific writing succeeded in increasing students' scientific literacy skills significantly with a large effect size. Descriptive analysis of post-test results, that students who reached a high level in the experimental class more than the control class. This research implies that learning chemistry needs to integrate virtual experiments and practice scientific writing skills to improve students' scientific literacy skills.