Studi Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) bertujuan untuk mengetahui efektivitas sistem pendidikan dalam perspektif internasional dengan berfokus pada hasil asesmen Sains, Matematika, dan Literasi Membaca. Penelitian ini bertujuan menelaah karakteristik soal membaca PISA pada empat kali pelaksanaan, yaitu soal membaca sebagai bahan uji mayor 2000-2009 dan sebagai bahan uji minor 2003-2006. Penelitian ini adalah penelitian kualitatif dengan teknik analisis isi. Data yang digunakan adalah hasil PISA tahun 2000-2009. Hasil analisis menunjukkan bahwa soal literasi membaca PISA didominasi keterampilan berpikir tingkat tinggi berupa kemampuan interpretasi, refleksi, dan evaluasi. Kemampuan membaca yang diujikan adalah mengungkapkan kembali informasi, mengembangkan interpretasi dan mengintegrasikan, dan merefleksikan dan mengevaluasi teks. Soal cenderung menggunakan wacana panjang (135-630 kata) dan kalimat pertanyaan cenderung kompleks. Ragam tes yang digunakan meliputi pilihan ganda, pilihan ganda kompleks, jawaban singkat, esai tertutup, dan esai terbuka. Karakteristik konteks diklasifikasikan empat kategori, yaitu pendidikan, pekerjaan, personal, dan masyarakat. Isi kutipan bertema keselamatan keamanan diri, bermasyarakat, cara menyelesaikan pendidikan dan IPTEK, cerita personal berisi nilai moral untuk meningkatkan kualitas hidup.Kata kunci: literasi, kemampuan membaca, sistem pendidikan, karakteristik soal  THE CHARACTERISTICS OF LITERACY TEST ITEMS IN PISAAbstractA study of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) aimed to investigate the effectiveness of the education system in an international perspective by focusing on the results of the science, mathematics, and literacy assessments. This study aimed to examine the characteristics of PISA reading test items from four administrations, namely reading as a major test in 2000-2009 and as a minor test in 2003-2006. This was a qualitative study using content analysis. The data were the results of PISA in 2000-2009. The results of the analysis showed that the PISA literacy test items were dominated by those measuring high-order thinking skills in the form of the ability in interpretation, reflection, and evaluation. The reading ability tested was revealing information, developing and integrating interpretation, and reflecting and evaluating texts. The test items tended to be based on long discourses (135-630 words) and the questions tended to be complex. In terms of variety, the item tests included multiple choice, complex multiple choice, short answer, closed essay, and open essay items. The characteristics of the contexts were classified into four categories, namely education, employment, personal matters, and community. The contents of the citations comprised self-safety, community, ways of completing education, and science and technology. Personal stories contained moral values to improve the quality of life.Keywords: literacy, reading ability, educational system, characteristics of test items

This study aimed to find out the critical thinking patterns of students in the argumentative essay, explain and explore students' arguments that contain critical elements. This study used the content analysis method. Data was obtained from argumentative essays written by first-year students of Brawijaya University who took Indonesian Language courses. The total of data was 90 posts. Data collection was done by assignments and interviews. Data was analyzed using data analysis procedures from Cresswel of six stage is preparing and organizing, data exploration, using code, representing findings, interpretations, and validate the accuracy of the findings. Three critical thinking patterns were found in the student's essay, namely pattern I (Inference-Evaluation), and pattern II (Analysis-Evaluation), pattern III (Interpretation-Evaluation). In pattern two, there were four pattern variations while there was only one pattern in patterns I and III. The results of this study indicated that students' critical thinking patterns were oriented towards analytic thinking, namely analyzing various phenomena by revealing evidence and reasons to draw logical conclusions. The pattern found can be used as a reference for writing lecturers in developing students' critical thinking skills in higher education.

<div align="center"><table width="645" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td valign="top" width="439"><pre><strong>Abstract:</strong> This research was aimed to produced a new products in the form of storybooks with a focus on Theme 1, namely the Beautifulness of Togetherness in the Subtema of Cultural Diversity in My Country to improve the ability to read and write fourth grade students. The development model used in this study is Dick &amp; Carey. The selection of the development model is based on goal-oriented and results that can be used to create an optimal learning. The Dick &amp; Carey development model has 10 stages in development. In this study only use until the 9th stage, because in this story book does not provide summative evaluation. </pre><pre><strong>Abstrak: </strong>Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menghasilkan produk baru berupa buku cerita dengan fokus pada Tema 1 yaitu Indahnya Kebersamaan Subtema Keberagaman Budaya Bangsaku untuk meningkatkan kemampuan membaca dan menulis siswa kelas IV SD. Model pengembangan yang digunakan pada penelitian ini adalah Dick &amp; Carey. Pemilihan model pengembangan tersebut didasarkan oleh berorientasi pada tujuan serta hasil yang dapat digunakan untuk menciptakan sebuah pembelajaran yang optimal. Model pengembangan Dick &amp; Carey mempunyai 10 tahapan dalam pengembangan. Pada penelitian ini hanya menggunakan sampai pada tahap kesembilan saja dikarenakan pada buku cerita ini tidak menyediakan evaluasi sumatif.</pre></td></tr></tbody></table></div>

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This article aims to explain the weaknesses of metacognition that affect writing skills. Weaknesses of writing like content development, the organization of writing, compatibility of content with themes and audience awareness are assumed from the weaknesses of student metacognition. By using a qualitative approach, data is collected through questionnaires and interviews. Using the questionnaire found the level of student metacognitive awareness. A total of 22 male and female students were randomly selected. Responses given through self-report questionnaires showed that as many as 15 students had high metacognitive awareness and as many as 7 students had low metacognitive awareness. Furthermore, through interviews found metacognitive skills in academic writing. The results of the data analysis show that there are three weaknesses of student metacognitive, namely: students are too dependent on feedback from lecturers and highly dependent on lecturers and colleagues when writing, students cannot assess their own understanding of the information they receive for writing assignments, students are not aware benefit from the strategies used during writing. Students need to be trained to plan, monitor and evaluate writing activities so that they are skilled in arranging words, concepts, and terminology used in writing. In addition, through the writing they produce, it can be seen how the process of produces the meaning and thinking skills of students in writing.