Analysis of Arabic Textbook Instruction from the Perspective of Bloom’s Taxonomy: Implementation of the Merdeka Curriculum in Madrasah Aliyah

Moh Iqbal Dwi Hidayatullah (Universitas Negeri Malang, Indonesia)
Hanik Mahliatussikah (Universitas Negeri Malang, Indonesia)
Sawabila Irfanah (Universitas Negeri Malang, Indonesia)
Mahbub Humaidi Aziz (Universitas Islam Negeri Maulana Malik Ibrahim Malang, Indonesia)
Nab'han Hadyan Adnan (Universitas Negeri Malang, Indonesia)

Ahlussunnah: Journal of Islamic Education
Vol. 5 No. 2 (2026): August

The Merdeka Curriculum emphasizes the development of higher-order thinking skills (HOTS) as part of the 21st-century competencies that students must possess. Therefore, assessment instruments in textbooks need to be designed to measure not only recall and comprehension but also the ability to analyze, evaluate, and create. The purpose of this study is to identify the distribution of cognitive levels in the first- and second-semester practice questions and to analyze the contribution of the Arabic textbook based on Bloom’s taxonomy of cognitive levels. This study employs a qualitative approach using content analysis. The research subject consists of all practice test items for both semesters in the Arabic textbook for 10th-grade Madrasah Aliyah under the Merdeka Curriculum, published by PT Optima Intermedia. Data were collected through a documentary study and analyzed based on the six cognitive levels of the Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy: C1 (remembering), C2 (understanding), C3 (applying), C4 (analyzing), C5 (evaluating), and C6 (creating). The results showed that all cognitive levels were present in the analyzed questions. The distribution of questions consisted of 27.14% in the LOTS category, 15.71% in the MOTS category, and 57.14% in the HOTS category. In the HOTS category, level C4 accounted for 15.71%, C5 for 31.43%, and C6 for 10.00%, with category C5 being the most dominant level. The results of the study show that all cognitive levels were found in the analyzed questions. The distribution of questions consisted of 27.14% LOTS, 15.71% MOTS, and 57.14% HOTS. Within the HOTS category, level C4 accounted for 15.71%, C5 for 31.43%, and C6 for 10.00%, with category C5 being the most dominant level. These findings indicate that the midterm practice questions are oriented toward the development of higher-order thinking skills and support the implementation of the Merdeka Curriculum, particularly in strengthening critical reasoning skills. However, the proportion of questions at the C6 level remains relatively low; therefore, the development of questions that better accommodate creative thinking is necessary to achieve a more balanced distribution of cognitive levels and to optimally support the development of students’ competencies.