Measuring student knowledge and skills

Assessment structure
This section describes the structure of the mathematical literacy component of the OECD/PISA test
booklets for the first assessment cycle, when a total of 60 minutes of testing time will be available for the
assessment of mathematical literacy.
In the first survey cycle, testing time will be evenly distributed between the two mathematical big
ideas: change and growth, and space and shape. The approximate division between the three compe-
tency classes will be 1:2:1. This information is summarised in Table 9, where the number of items for each
big idea and competency class is given. The items are broken down according to whether they will
require a single or multiple markers.
The minor aspects are not shown in Table 9. The distribution of the test items between the minor
aspects, curricular strands and situations will be approximately uniform. That is, the OECD/PISA assess-
ment will give equal emphasis to each of the nine curricular strands and the five situations mentioned
earlier.
Figure 12.
Example item which requires a constructed response
Indonesia lies between Malaysia and Australia. Some data of the population of Indonesia and its distribution over
the islands is shown in the following table:
One of the main challenges for Indonesia is the uneven distribution of the population over the islands. From the
table we can see that Java, which has less than 7% of the total area, has almost 62% of the population.
Question:
Design a graph (or graphs) that shows the uneven distribution of the Indonesian population.
Source:
de Lange et Verhage (1992). Used with permission.
Surface area
Percentage
Population
Percentage of
Region
(km
2
)
of total area
in 1980 (millions)
total population
Java/Madura
132 187
6.95
91 281
61.87