Assessing Students' Higher-Order Thinking Skills: Knowledge and Practices of Chemistry Teachers in Vocational Senior Secondary Schools

Abstract

The success of efforts in developing students' higher-order thinking skills (HOTS) to face the complex challenges in the 21st century also depends on how teachers implement classroom assessments. Studies on teachers' knowledge and practices have been conducted at different levels of education. However, studies that involved teachers in vocational senior secondary schools are still limited. Therefore, this qualitative study aimed at exploring chemistry teachers' knowledge of HOTS, their assessment practices, and the barriers encountered. Ten chemistry teachers from three public and six private vocational senior secondary schools in South Jakarta were involved in this study. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews conducted between August and September 2019. The findings revealed that almost all chemistry teachers believed that providing students in vocational senior secondary schools with HOTS was essential. However, knowledge of HOTS among most teachers was still inadequate, contributing to their unpreparedness in assessing the skills. Misunderstanding about higher-order thinking was also revealed, such as associating higher-order thinking with item difficulties. The teachers in this study considered students' factors as barriers in cultivating HOTS in chemistry learning in vocational senior secondary schools, such as lack of motivation, low academic ability, and lack of reading habits. The teachers also mentioned the shortage of facilities as another barrier that inhibited their efforts in fostering HOTS in chemistry learning. Proper teacher professional development programs are needed to increase teachers' understanding of HOTS assessment and help them develop various strategies for fostering HOTS among vocational senior secondary school students.

Assessing the Work Performance of Vocational High School Teachers in Gunung Kidul: A Survey

“…In terms of status, 10 respondents (31%) were Civil Servants (ASN), while the remaining 22 respondents (69%) were non-ASN. The sample selection specifically targeted chemistry teachers at Vocational High Schools (SMKs) in Gunung Kidul due to their crucial role in providing skilled workforce in line with the needs of local and national industries, thus ensuring the relevance of the research findings to the primary goal of improving vocational education quality in the region (Driana et al, 2021;Wiyarsi, 2018).…”

Konsepsi dan Implementasi Penilaian Literasi Membaca Berbasis HOTS dalam Bahasa Inggris

“…Hasil-hasil penelitian sebelumnya menunjukkan bahwa guru meyakini pentingnya HOTS bagi seluruh siswa dan berusaha mempraktikkannya di kelas (Retnawati et al, 2018;Schulz & FitzPatrick, 2016), namun terdapat keraguan mengenai kesiapan mereka dalam menerapkan HOTS dalam pembelajaran dan penilaian (Schultz & FitzPatrik, 2016). Selain itu, berbagai penelitian juga menunjukkan kurangnya pemahaman guru terhadap HOTS sehingga menghambat keberhasilan penerapannya (Driana et al, 2021;Driana & Ernawati, 2019;Nurmawati et al, 2020).…”

HOTS-Based Learning Supplementary Book for Teaching English at First Semester of Seventh Grade Students

“…Seeing the development of the times and the demands demanded, it is necessary to emphasize and improve the HOTS itself. HOTS is considered capable of being used to think more critically and able to handle more complex situations in the future (Anasy, 2016;Driana et al, 2021). HOTS took an important role as the major implementer because it encouraged teachers to take place as the facilitator for students to develop their thinking skills through the learning activities and others supporting materials to establish their critical thinking in solving the problem (Sani, 2019;Sukatiman et al, 2020).…”