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Pedagogy & Teaching Methodology — Practice MCQs (DSSSB TGT CS)

40 original questions styled for teaching exams. Choose the best option.


1. According to behaviourism, learning is primarily a change in:

  • A) Innate instincts only
  • B) Observable behaviour through stimulus–response
  • C) Genetic structure
  • D) School building design

2. Operant conditioning is most closely associated with:

  • A) Piaget
  • B) Skinner
  • C) Freud
  • D) Kohlberg

3. Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) refers to:

  • A) What a learner can do alone without help
  • B) Gap between independent performance and assisted performance
  • C) Only physical classroom space
  • D) Final examination ranking

4. Scaffolding in teaching means:

  • A) Permanent removal of all support
  • B) Temporary support that is gradually withdrawn
  • C) Building school walls
  • D) Ignoring learner difficulty

5. Constructivism emphasises that learners:

  • A) Passively receive fixed knowledge
  • B) Actively construct knowledge from experience
  • C) Learn only by rote
  • D) Never collaborate

6. In revised Bloom’s taxonomy, the highest cognitive level is:

  • A) Remember
  • B) Understand
  • C) Apply
  • D) Create

7. The verb “define” typically maps to which Bloom level?

  • A) Evaluate
  • B) Create
  • C) Remember
  • D) Analyze

8. Formative assessment is mainly used:

  • A) Only after the course ends for certification
  • B) During learning to guide improvement
  • C) To replace teaching entirely
  • D) Only for teacher appraisal

9. Summative assessment primarily aims to:

  • A) Give continuous diagnostic feedback only
  • B) Certify achievement at the end of a unit/term
  • C) Avoid any grading
  • D) Measure only attendance

10. Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) covers:

  • A) Only one annual exam
  • B) Scholastic and co-scholastic aspects continuously
  • C) Sports only
  • D) Teacher salaries

11. Assessment for learning is closest to:

  • A) Pure ranking without feedback
  • B) Using evidence to adjust teaching and learning
  • C) Ignoring student errors
  • D) Only entrance tests

12. Inclusive education means:

  • A) Separate schools for all CWSN only
  • B) All learners learning together with appropriate support
  • C) Excluding slow learners
  • D) Teaching only gifted students

13. An Individualised Education Plan (IEP) is mainly for:

  • A) School accountants
  • B) Learners needing tailored goals and accommodations
  • C) Building contractors
  • D) Only sports coaches

14. NCF 2005 is associated with the phrase:

  • A) Learning without burden
  • B) Punishment as primary method
  • C) Textbook as the only knowledge source
  • D) Ban on activity methods

15. NCFTE 2009 emphasises the teacher as a:

  • A) Mere content deliverer
  • B) Reflective practitioner / facilitator
  • C) Strict examiner only
  • D) Administrative clerk

16. Microteaching mainly helps student-teachers to:

  • A) Practice discrete teaching skills in a scaled setting
  • B) Avoid lesson planning
  • C) Replace school practice entirely
  • D) Grade board exams

17. A “skill of probing questions” in microteaching aims to:

  • A) Discourage student talk
  • B) Draw out deeper responses and thinking
  • C) Only shout louder
  • D) Skip content

18. Herbartian steps of lesson planning typically begin with:

  • A) Application
  • B) Preparation / introduction
  • C) Home assignment only
  • D) Evaluation only

19. An advance organiser (Ausubel) is used to:

  • A) Confuse prior knowledge
  • B) Bridge new material with existing cognitive structure
  • C) Replace all examples
  • D) Ban textbooks

20. Discovery learning is strongly associated with:

  • A) Bruner
  • B) Pavlov only
  • C) Thorndike’s cats only
  • D) Classical conditioning alone

21. Motivation that comes from interest in the task itself is:

  • A) Extrinsic
  • B) Intrinsic
  • C) Compulsory only
  • D) Punitive

22. A teacher praising effort to encourage persistence uses mainly:

  • A) Negative punishment only
  • B) Positive reinforcement
  • C) Extinction of all behaviour
  • D) Sensory deprivation

23. Diagnostic testing is best used to:

  • A) Award final certificates only
  • B) Identify learning gaps before or during instruction
  • C) Rank schools nationally
  • D) Measure furniture quality

24. Peer tutoring primarily supports:

  • A) Isolation of weak learners
  • B) Collaborative learning and mutual explanation
  • C) Ban on group work
  • D) Only competitive ranking

25. ICT integration in teaching is most effective when:

  • A) Used as a substitute for all human interaction
  • B) Aligned with learning objectives and pedagogy
  • C) Limited to showing slides without purpose
  • D) Banned from classrooms

26. NEP 2020 emphasises foundational literacy and numeracy mainly at:

  • A) Only postgraduate level
  • B) Early grades / foundational stage
  • C) Only adult education
  • D) Only vocational training abroad

27. Multidisciplinary and holistic education is a key thrust of:

  • A) NEP 2020
  • B) Only colonial syllabus
  • C) Ban on arts subjects
  • D) Exclusive rote exams

28. Classroom management that sets clear routines mainly aims to:

  • A) Maximise chaos
  • B) Create a conducive learning environment
  • C) Reduce teaching time to zero
  • D) Ignore student needs

29. Differentiated instruction means:

  • A) Same task, same pace for every learner always
  • B) Adjusting content/process/product to learner needs
  • C) Teaching only one ability group forever
  • D) Avoiding any support

30. Reflective teaching involves:

  • A) Never reviewing one’s practice
  • B) Critically examining one’s teaching to improve
  • C) Copying only old notes
  • D) Avoiding feedback

31. Piaget’s concrete operational stage typically involves:

  • A) Only sensorimotor reflexes
  • B) Logical thinking about concrete objects
  • C) Formal abstract hypothetico-deductive thought only
  • D) No conservation skills

32. The lowest level in Bloom’s revised taxonomy is:

  • A) Create
  • B) Evaluate
  • C) Remember
  • D) Analyze

33. Portfolio assessment is useful because it:

  • A) Shows only one end test score
  • B) Documents growth through samples of work over time
  • C) Ignores student products
  • D) Replaces all teaching

34. Co-scholastic areas under CCE may include:

  • A) Only mathematics marks
  • B) Life skills, attitudes, co-curricular participation
  • C) Only attendance registers
  • D) Building blueprints

35. A good instructional objective should be:

  • A) Vague and unobservable
  • B) Specific, measurable, and learner-centred
  • C) Only teacher-centred slogans
  • D) Impossible to assess

36. Remedial teaching is meant for:

  • A) Learners who have already mastered everything
  • B) Addressing identified learning difficulties
  • C) Replacing enrichment forever
  • D) Only sports practice

37. Collaborative learning differs from competitive learning mainly by:

  • A) Emphasising shared goals and mutual help
  • B) Ranking only one winner always
  • C) Banning discussion
  • D) Isolating students

38. RTE Act, 2009 is primarily concerned with:

  • A) Free and compulsory education for children in the prescribed age group
  • B) Only university research funding
  • C) Private coaching bans worldwide
  • D) Teacher transfer rules alone

39. A lesson’s “closure” phase typically:

  • A) Introduces brand new unrelated topics only
  • B) Summarises and consolidates learning
  • C) Avoids checking understanding
  • D) Starts homework without review

40. Which pair is correctly matched?

  • A) Skinner – classical conditioning only
  • B) Vygotsky – social constructivism / ZPD
  • C) Piaget – operant conditioning
  • D) Bloom – only physical education

Answer Key

  1. B — Behaviourism defines learning as observable behaviour change via S–R.
  2. B — Skinner developed operant conditioning with reinforcement.
  3. B — ZPD is the gap between unaided and assisted performance.
  4. B — Scaffolding is temporary, fading support.
  5. B — Constructivism: learners actively build knowledge.
  6. D — Revised Bloom peaks at Create.
  7. C — Define/list/recall map to Remember.
  8. B — Formative assessment guides ongoing improvement.
  9. B — Summative certifies achievement at end points.
  10. B — CCE is continuous and covers scholastic + co-scholastic.
  11. B — Assessment for learning informs next teaching steps.
  12. B — Inclusion = common setting with support for all.
  13. B — IEPs tailor goals/accommodations for individual needs.
  14. A — “Learning without burden” is a NCF 2005 hallmark.
  15. B — NCFTE stresses reflective, facilitating teachers.
  16. A — Microteaching drills specific skills in reduced settings.
  17. B — Probing questions deepen student responses.
  18. B — Classic Herbartian flow starts with preparation/intro.
  19. B — Advance organisers link new content to prior schema.
  20. A — Bruner is linked with discovery and spiral curriculum.
  21. B — Intrinsic motivation arises from the task itself.
  22. B — Praise/rewards after desired behaviour = positive reinforcement.
  23. B — Diagnosis finds gaps to plan instruction.
  24. B — Peer tutoring enables collaborative explanation.
  25. B — ICT works when tied to clear pedagogical goals.
  26. B — NEP stresses FLN in the foundational stage.
  27. A — Multidisciplinary education is central to NEP 2020.
  28. B — Clear routines support orderly learning.
  29. B — Differentiation adapts teaching to learner diversity.
  30. B — Reflective practice critiques and improves teaching.
  31. B — Concrete operational: logic with concrete materials.
  32. C — Remember is the base of revised Bloom.
  33. B — Portfolios collect evidence of progress over time.
  34. B — Co-scholastic includes attitudes, skills, activities.
  35. B — Good objectives are clear and assessable.
  36. B — Remediation targets diagnosed difficulties.
  37. A — Collaboration emphasises shared success.
  38. A — RTE guarantees free & compulsory education in the age band.
  39. B — Closure consolidates the day’s learning.
  40. B — Vygotsky ↔ social constructivism and ZPD.