The Portrait of Students’ Mental Modelling Ability on the Concept of Kinetic Theory of Gases in Science Literacy

Abstract

Before learning, students have already had initial knowledge about a concept called a mental model in terms of cognitive psychology. A static or dynamic review of the mental model that has been built and the extent to which individuals use mental model and conceptual frameworks to solve problems is called Mental Modelling Ability (MMA). Through this study, students' MMA related to the concept of the kinetic theory of gases will be identified. The method of the study was a qualitative method with data collection instruments in the form of tests and non-tests (interviews). The triangulation (combined) was done with qualitative analysis. The sample of this study was 30 students of class XI determined by the purposive method. The instrument used had been passed through a validity test of Pearson moment product correlation (bivariate Pearson) and a reliability test using the Alpha method. After triangulation was conducted, it was leveled. The results showed that 30% of students were still at the low MMA level, 50% were at the medium MMA level, and 20% were at the high MMA level. The implications of this research's results indicated the role of mental models and mental modeling abilities in the knowledge construction process.