Principles of Learning & Teaching Praxis Exam Questions and Answers Fully Solved
The 5 Theoretical Perspectives of Learning - Answers Behaviorism, Social Cognitive Theory, Information
Processing Theory, Constructivism, Sociocultural Theory.
Behaviorism - Answers Behaviorists view learning as a process of accessing and changing associations
between stimuli and responses. We see behaviorist theory in action in approaches to classroom
management and establishing positive contexts for learning. It focuses on what can be observed and
measured in learning; people's behaviors (responses) and events in environment that promote behavior
(stimuli). Conditioning, intrinsic and extrinsic rewards, reinforcement, and punishment are all related to
behaviorism.
Social Cognitive Theory - Answers Social Cognitive theorists focus on the ways people learn from
observing one another. Albert Bandura is a key theorist from the social cognitive theoretical perspective.
Information Processing Theory - Answers This theory focuses more on what happens inside the learner's
mind, considers the processes of learning, memory, and performance. Theorists advanced the idea of
building students' declarative (knowledge of what is), procedural (knowledge of how to), and conditional
(knowledge of when again) knowledge.
Constructivism - Answers Suggest that people construct or create knowledge based on their experiences
and interaction, as opposed to absorb knowledge. Some theorists focus on individual constructivism
(how one person makes meaning), while others focus on social constructivism (how people gain
knowledge by working together). Jean Piaget and Jerome Bruner are key theorists related to
constructivism.
Sociocultural Theory - Answers States that the combination of social, cultural, and historical context in
which a learner exists have great influence on the person's knowledge construction and the ways
teachers must organize instruction. Lev Vygotsky and his theory on the zone of proximal development
are key to sociocultural theory.
Benjamin Bloom - Answers Created Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning. It has 3 learning domains-cognitive,
performance or psychomotor, and affective. They impact the way teachers write lesson objectives, plan
learning activities, and asses student performance.
Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning - Answers Created by Benjamin Bloom.
Cognitive domain; involves the mind and skills or strategies one uses, and is organized into 6 levels.
Performance domain; involves manual or physical skills one uses, which are divided into 7 subdivisions.
Affective domain; attitude. Divided into 5 subdivision.
Cognitive Domain - Answers Knowledge; recall info or data (define, list, locate).
Comprehension; understand meaning of instruction and problems (confirm, describe, explain, match).
,Application; use concepts in a new situation (apply, build, produce, report).
Analysis; separate concepts into parts (analyze, categorize, compare, debate).
Synthesis; build a pattern from diverse elements (compose, design, hypothesize, implement).
Evaluation; make judgements (assess, conclude, solve, justify).
Performance Domain - Answers Perception; use senses to guid motor activity (choose, describe,
identify).
Set; ready to act (begin, move, proceed).
Guided responses; use trial and error, imitation to learn (copy, follow, replicate).
Mechanism; to respond in a habitual way with movements performed with some confidence and
proficiency (assemble, display).
Complex overt responses; perform complex movement patterns skillfully (assemble, quickly).
Adaptation; use well developed skills and be able to modify to fit special requirements (adapt, alter,
revise).
Origination; create new movement patterns to fit a specific problem or situation (arrange, build,
compose).
Affective Domain - Answers Receiving Phenomena; to be aware, to have selected attention (ask, follow,
use).
Responding to phenomena; to actively participate (answers, discusses, helps).
Valuing; to determine worth (demonstrate, invite, join).
Organizing; to organize values into priorities (arrange, alter, modify).
Internalizing values; control behavior using own value system (verifies, modifies, acts).
Social Learning Theory - Answers Created by Albert Bandura. States that children learn by observing
others. In a classroom setting, this may occur through modeling or learning through others experience.
Distributed cognition is an important concept from social learning. It is when a person is able to learn
more with another or in a group than they might be able to alone.
Discovery learning and scaffolding - Answers Created by Jerome Bruner. He thought learning was an
active process in which learners construct new ideas or concepts based on knowledge or past
experiences. Discovery learning techniques use methods that allow a student to discover info by
themselves or in a group. Scaffolding involves instructional supports provided to a student in a learning
situation. The more capable a student becomes, the less instructional scaffolding they will need.
Scaffolding could be a teacher reading the text aloud and then asking the student to repeat.
, John Dewey - Answers Created Learning Through Experience. He is considered the father of progressive
education practices that promotes individuality, free activity, and learning through experiences, such as
project based learning, cooperative learning, and arts-integration activities.
Learning Through Experience - Answers Created by John Dewey. It says that school is primarily a social
institution and a process of living, not an institution to prepare for future living. He believes that schools
should teach children to be problem solvers by helping them learn to think as opposed to helping them
learn only the content of a lesson. He thinks that students should be active decision makers in their
education. For example, allowing students to choose a topic for a project.
The 8 stages of Human Development - Answers Created by Erik Erikson. They are based on a crisis or
conflict that a person resolves.
Infancy (0-1); trust vs. mistrust, key event=feeding.
Toddler (1-2); autonomy vs. doubt, key event=toilet training.
Early Childhood (2-6); initiative vs. guilt, key event=independence.
Elementary & middle school (6-12); competence vs. inferiority, key event=school.
Adolescence (12-18); identity vs. role confusion, key event=sense of identity.
Young adulthood (18-40); intimacy vs. isolation, key event=intimate relationships.
Middle adulthood (40-65); generativity vs. stagnation, key event=supporting the next generation.
Late adulthood (65-death); integrity vs. despair, key event=reflection and acceptance.
Stages of the Ethic of Care - Answers Created by Carol Gilligan. It questions the male-centered
personality psychology of Freud and Erikson, and Kohlberg's male-centered stages of development. She
proposed the stage theory of the moral development of women.
Pre-conventional stage; goal is individual survival.
Transition from selfishness to responsibility to others.
Conventional stage; goal is self-sacrifice is goodness.
Transition from goodness to truth that she is a person, too.
Post-conventional stage; goal is principle of nonviolence.
The Theory of Moral Development - Answers Created by Lawrence Kohlberg.
Pre-conventional level; Elementary school aged children are generally at the first stage of moral
development. At this level, some authority figure's threat or application of punishment inspires
obedience.
The 5 Theoretical Perspectives of Learning - Answers Behaviorism, Social Cognitive Theory, Information
Processing Theory, Constructivism, Sociocultural Theory.
Behaviorism - Answers Behaviorists view learning as a process of accessing and changing associations
between stimuli and responses. We see behaviorist theory in action in approaches to classroom
management and establishing positive contexts for learning. It focuses on what can be observed and
measured in learning; people's behaviors (responses) and events in environment that promote behavior
(stimuli). Conditioning, intrinsic and extrinsic rewards, reinforcement, and punishment are all related to
behaviorism.
Social Cognitive Theory - Answers Social Cognitive theorists focus on the ways people learn from
observing one another. Albert Bandura is a key theorist from the social cognitive theoretical perspective.
Information Processing Theory - Answers This theory focuses more on what happens inside the learner's
mind, considers the processes of learning, memory, and performance. Theorists advanced the idea of
building students' declarative (knowledge of what is), procedural (knowledge of how to), and conditional
(knowledge of when again) knowledge.
Constructivism - Answers Suggest that people construct or create knowledge based on their experiences
and interaction, as opposed to absorb knowledge. Some theorists focus on individual constructivism
(how one person makes meaning), while others focus on social constructivism (how people gain
knowledge by working together). Jean Piaget and Jerome Bruner are key theorists related to
constructivism.
Sociocultural Theory - Answers States that the combination of social, cultural, and historical context in
which a learner exists have great influence on the person's knowledge construction and the ways
teachers must organize instruction. Lev Vygotsky and his theory on the zone of proximal development
are key to sociocultural theory.
Benjamin Bloom - Answers Created Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning. It has 3 learning domains-cognitive,
performance or psychomotor, and affective. They impact the way teachers write lesson objectives, plan
learning activities, and asses student performance.
Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning - Answers Created by Benjamin Bloom.
Cognitive domain; involves the mind and skills or strategies one uses, and is organized into 6 levels.
Performance domain; involves manual or physical skills one uses, which are divided into 7 subdivisions.
Affective domain; attitude. Divided into 5 subdivision.
Cognitive Domain - Answers Knowledge; recall info or data (define, list, locate).
Comprehension; understand meaning of instruction and problems (confirm, describe, explain, match).
,Application; use concepts in a new situation (apply, build, produce, report).
Analysis; separate concepts into parts (analyze, categorize, compare, debate).
Synthesis; build a pattern from diverse elements (compose, design, hypothesize, implement).
Evaluation; make judgements (assess, conclude, solve, justify).
Performance Domain - Answers Perception; use senses to guid motor activity (choose, describe,
identify).
Set; ready to act (begin, move, proceed).
Guided responses; use trial and error, imitation to learn (copy, follow, replicate).
Mechanism; to respond in a habitual way with movements performed with some confidence and
proficiency (assemble, display).
Complex overt responses; perform complex movement patterns skillfully (assemble, quickly).
Adaptation; use well developed skills and be able to modify to fit special requirements (adapt, alter,
revise).
Origination; create new movement patterns to fit a specific problem or situation (arrange, build,
compose).
Affective Domain - Answers Receiving Phenomena; to be aware, to have selected attention (ask, follow,
use).
Responding to phenomena; to actively participate (answers, discusses, helps).
Valuing; to determine worth (demonstrate, invite, join).
Organizing; to organize values into priorities (arrange, alter, modify).
Internalizing values; control behavior using own value system (verifies, modifies, acts).
Social Learning Theory - Answers Created by Albert Bandura. States that children learn by observing
others. In a classroom setting, this may occur through modeling or learning through others experience.
Distributed cognition is an important concept from social learning. It is when a person is able to learn
more with another or in a group than they might be able to alone.
Discovery learning and scaffolding - Answers Created by Jerome Bruner. He thought learning was an
active process in which learners construct new ideas or concepts based on knowledge or past
experiences. Discovery learning techniques use methods that allow a student to discover info by
themselves or in a group. Scaffolding involves instructional supports provided to a student in a learning
situation. The more capable a student becomes, the less instructional scaffolding they will need.
Scaffolding could be a teacher reading the text aloud and then asking the student to repeat.
, John Dewey - Answers Created Learning Through Experience. He is considered the father of progressive
education practices that promotes individuality, free activity, and learning through experiences, such as
project based learning, cooperative learning, and arts-integration activities.
Learning Through Experience - Answers Created by John Dewey. It says that school is primarily a social
institution and a process of living, not an institution to prepare for future living. He believes that schools
should teach children to be problem solvers by helping them learn to think as opposed to helping them
learn only the content of a lesson. He thinks that students should be active decision makers in their
education. For example, allowing students to choose a topic for a project.
The 8 stages of Human Development - Answers Created by Erik Erikson. They are based on a crisis or
conflict that a person resolves.
Infancy (0-1); trust vs. mistrust, key event=feeding.
Toddler (1-2); autonomy vs. doubt, key event=toilet training.
Early Childhood (2-6); initiative vs. guilt, key event=independence.
Elementary & middle school (6-12); competence vs. inferiority, key event=school.
Adolescence (12-18); identity vs. role confusion, key event=sense of identity.
Young adulthood (18-40); intimacy vs. isolation, key event=intimate relationships.
Middle adulthood (40-65); generativity vs. stagnation, key event=supporting the next generation.
Late adulthood (65-death); integrity vs. despair, key event=reflection and acceptance.
Stages of the Ethic of Care - Answers Created by Carol Gilligan. It questions the male-centered
personality psychology of Freud and Erikson, and Kohlberg's male-centered stages of development. She
proposed the stage theory of the moral development of women.
Pre-conventional stage; goal is individual survival.
Transition from selfishness to responsibility to others.
Conventional stage; goal is self-sacrifice is goodness.
Transition from goodness to truth that she is a person, too.
Post-conventional stage; goal is principle of nonviolence.
The Theory of Moral Development - Answers Created by Lawrence Kohlberg.
Pre-conventional level; Elementary school aged children are generally at the first stage of moral
development. At this level, some authority figure's threat or application of punishment inspires
obedience.
