Digital Literacy's Influence on Critical Thinking Skills of Office Administration Education Students at UNESA

: This study aims to discover a significant positive relationship between digital literacy and critical thinking abilities among students in the Office Administration Education Program at Universitas Negeri Surabaya. The research employed a quantitative ex-post facto design. The sample consisted of 235 randomly selected students from a population of 650. Sample determination utilized the Isaac and Michael table with a 5% margin of error. Data collection was conducted via survey using a questionnaire. Data analysis techniques included outer model analysis (convergent validity, composite reliability, Cronbach's alpha, discriminant validity, AVE), inner model analysis (R-Square, F-Square, direct effect) using smartPLS 4.0 software. The findings indicate that digital literacy significantly influences critical thinking abilities among Office Administration Education students’ class of 2021-2023. The implications of this research are that a student's digital literacy can aid in collecting, organizing, and analyzing data, as well as synthesizing information from various digital sources, allowing one to build a more comprehensive and integrated understanding of an issue and develop stronger arguments.


INTRODUCTION
Critical thinking skills are currently essential for everyone to confront challenges and issues in life.Therefore, cultivating critical thinking habits is crucial for the younger generation, especially college students.Throughout their academic journey, students are prepared and equipped with knowledge to navigate the competitive landscape of the workforce through both on-campus and off-campus learning experiences.This is because individuals with critical thinking skills can adapt to changes and complex environments (Sudrajat et al., 2021).Someone with critical thinking skills is not just adept at arguing or debating, but is capable of thinking to find solutions to problems.Essentially, critical thinking is an effective skill that enables students to achieve success in dynamic environments by enhancing their thinking abilities (Aktoprak & Hursen, 2022).Thus, individuals with critical thinking skills can make informed decisions regarding problems or challenges they face, using well-directed and organized alternative solutions.
This demonstrates that critical thinking involves a thoughtful and meticulous thinking process concerning information and beliefs, while considering supporting evidence (Rahmawanty, 2017).Students accustomed to critical thinking will delve deeper into information and understand the core of issues, enabling them to generate multiple alternative solutions for making informed decisions.Critical thinking is a cognitive skill involving disciplined conceptualization, analysis, application, evaluation, reasoning, argumentation, and conclusion-making processes to guide actions or decision-making (Fitri et al., 2023).Critical thinking abilities can be cultivated through one's environment and social circles.Every lecturer undoubtedly expects their students to possess critical thinking skills in both learning processes and completing academic tasks.However, the reality in the field is that not all students possess critical thinking skills.Students' critical thinking skills can be developed by continuously updating their information and knowledge.Today, with the sophistication of information technology, it is very easy to access various desired information, demanding that students be tech-savvy.
Digital literacy provides a strong foundation for enhancing one's critical thinking skills by facilitating access to diverse information, utilizing advanced analytical tools, and enabling critical and skeptical evaluation of information.Digital literacy itself is the ability for individuals to adapt to technological advancements, encompassing skills such as searching for information on the internet, reading and understanding websites, evaluating various media, and drawing conclusions from information obtained from social media (Putra et al., 2023).Previous research conducted (Rochmatika et al., 2020) indicates a positive influence of digital literacy on students' critical thinking abilities, where students with knowledge and skills in digital literacy exhibit critical thinking capabilities in solving economic issues while studying economics.Similarly, (Haryanto et al., 2022) found a positive and significant correlation between digital literacy and critical thinking skills.However, contrasting findings were reported in the study (Indah et al., 2022) which suggests that digital literacy does not always automatically support the enhancement of critical thinking skills.
Based on the initial observations conducted by the researcher on students of the Office Administration Education Program at Universitas Negeri Surabaya from the 2021-2023 cohort, it was found that many students exhibit less than optimal critical thinking abilities.This is evident during both offline and online classroom learning processes, where only a few students

RESEARCH METHOD
This study is a quantitative research using an ex-post facto method.The quantitative approach is chosen because each variable analysis is presented using numbers and is statistically analyzed (Sugiyono, 2016).The quantitative approach is a research method aimed at testing hypotheses based on positivist philosophy using sample and statistically analytical methods (Saragih et al., 2021).The study aims to obtain data and information that will explain the influence of digital literacy on critical thinking abilities in students of Office Administration Education.Digital literacy is the ability of an individual to operate communication tools and technology to search for, access, manage, and obtain information and knowledge that meets the demands of the times.Critical thinking, on the other hand, is the ability to analyze, reason, and evaluate information obtained from various sources and draw conclusions from that information.
The sample is taken from Isaac and Michael's table with a 5% error rate.Thus, from a population of 650 Office Administration Education students, a sample size of 235 students is obtained.The sampling technique used is Proportionate Stratified Random Sampling, which is employed when the research population has heterogeneous and proportionally stratified members/elements (Sugiyono, 2016).It is considered heterogeneous because the population in this study has varying backgrounds and abilities and is composed of three different cohorts, which can be regarded as strata.The data collection method used is a questionnaire created by the researcher, with a Likert scale as the measurement tool.The questionnaire will be developed by the researcher using Google Forms, then distributed to respondents via WhatsApp.
Instrument testing is conducted through validity and reliability tests.For data analysis, the

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The outer model analysis is used to evaluate the constructs of variables to determine their suitability as measurement tools (validity and reliability) (Siagian & Khair, 2018).Several calculations are employed in this study, including Convergent Validity, Composite Reliability, Cronbach's Alpha, Discriminant Validity, and Average Variance Extracted (AVE) (Ghozali & Latan, 2015).The results of the outer model analysis are as follows Picture 1.The results of the outer model analysis Convergent Validity is the loading factor value on latent variables indicating that the indicators are statistically significant with values > 0.7 (Hair et al., 2010).The results of Outer loading values can be seen in the following table.

Jurnal Simki Pedagogia, Volume 7 Issue 2, 2024, Pages 609-618 Lifa
Particularly during question and answer sessions, only a handful of students respond and actively participate in discussions with both lecturers and fellow students.Moreover, during observations and when respondents were asked questions, their answers were often based on personal opinions rather than supported by reliable sources.Similarly, when faced with challenging problems in assignments, they tend to rely on classmates whom they consider capable.Such habits hinder the development of students' critical thinking skills.Given the observed phenomena among students of the Office Administration Education Program at Unesa from the 2021-2023 cohort and the discrepancies with previous research findings, the researcher aims to further investigate the influence of digital literacy on students' critical thinking abilities.
be seen in the following table.Based on Table2, the results of composite reliability with digital literacy and critical thinking abilities variables show that all items have values > 0.7.Therefore, all items are considered to have high reliability.

Table 2 .
Composite Reliability Discriminant Validity is the cross-loading factor value useful for determining the extent to which a construct is truly different and adequate from other constructs.Discriminant validity can be observed through cross-loadings between indicator values and their constructs and through Fornell-Larcker by comparing the square root of the AVE of each construct with the correlations between one construct and another.The results of discriminant validity can be seen in the following table.Based on Tables4 and 5, the results of Cross Loading and Fornell-Larcker for digital literacy and critical thinking abilities variables show that all indicator values in Cross Loading are greater than the construct value, and in Fornell-Larcker, all AVE square values are greater