PRAXIS 5153 PEDAGOGY EXAM QUESTIONS ANSWERED CORRECTLY LATEST UPDATE 2026
Bruner - cognitivism; sees student as active agent and should work to discover for themseleves the
links and relationships between different concepts; principles of any subject can be taught at any age;
enactive representation (action-based); iconic representation (image-based); symbolic representation
(language-based)
Piaget - stages of cognition; sensorimotor stage (0-2) learn through senses and motor activities;
preoperational stage (2-7 years) ability to use mental representations; concrete operational stage (7-
11 years); formal operational stage (11- adulthood) abstract thought
Bloom - levels of cognition; 6 major categories: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis,
synthesis, and evaluation
Marzano/Pickering - Research Based Instruction: using research-based instructional strategies
maximizes teachers' ability to enhance student achievement.
McTighe - Big Idea/Assessment: Use analysis of achievement data to develop improvement plan
Vygotsky - social learning theory; sociocultural theory - social interaction, language, learning occurs
within zone of proximal development
Maslow - hierarchy of needs: physiological, safety, love/belonging, esteem, self-actualization
Erikson - emotional learning; 8 stages of psychosocial development, each stage a person experiences
a crisis that aids in their development - trust vs mistrust (hope); autonomy vs shame (will); initiative
vs. guilt (purpose); industry vs. inferiority (competency); identity vs role confusion (fidelity); intimacy
vs isolation (love); generativity vs stagnation (care); ego integrity vs despair (wisdom)
Wiggins - backwards design is focused on student learning and understanding
typical and atypical variance within each domain of adolescent development - goes through less
conflict with parents, shows more independence, interest in developing relationships with the other
sex, capacity for caring, time with firneds, can experience deeper emotion, concern about
school/work, girls physically maturing before boys
metacognition - "Thinking about thinking" or the ability to evaluate a cognitive task to determine how
best to accomplish it, and then to monitor and adjust one's performance on that task
schema - a concept or framework that organizes and interprets information
transfer - cognitive practice whereby a learner's mastery of knowledge or skills in one context enables
them to apply that knowledge or skill in a different context
self-efficacy - An individual's belief that he or she is capable of performing a task.
constructivism - A philosophy of learning based on the premise that people construct their own
understanding of the world they live in through reflection on experiences; learners build on their
existing foundation to learn new information
self-regulation - understand and manage behavior and your reactions to feelings and things
happening around you
zone of proximal development - In Vygotsky's theory, the range between children's present level of
knowledge and their potential knowledge state if they receive proper guidance and instruction
assimilation - interpreting our new experiences in terms of our existing schemas
accommodation - adapting our current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information
adaptation - piaget - changing to meet the situational demands
Describe the intellectual, physical, psychological, social, moral, and ethical developmental
characteristics of adolescent development - physical rapid growth, growth spurts, puberty, neural
changes in brain, cognitive thinking like metacognition and independent thought and abstract
thought; strong need to belong to a group and receive peer approval; psychological development of
identity formation and quest for independence
cognitive development - the development of thinking, skills, reason, dispositions, problem solving,
and memory
areas of exceptionality: cognitive - some cognitive disabilities include aphasia, autism, attention
deficit, dyslexia, dyscalculia, intellectual and memory loss
areas of exceptionality: auditory - conductive - sounds being sent through the outer and/or middle ear
sensorineural - damage of the hair cells in the inner ear (cochlea)
mixed - both conductive and sensorineural
auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder - auditory nerve does not send messages to the auditory
centers of the brain
, areas of exceptionality: visual - lost of central vision, loss of peripheral side vision, blurred vision,
generalized haze, light sensitivity
areas of exceptionality: motor/physical - spinal cord injury, CP, MS, MD
areas of exceptionality: speech/language - stutter, articulation errors, tongue-tie (ankyloglossia),
apraxia, dysarthria
areas of exceptionality: social/emotional - anxiety disorders, bipolar disorder, conduct disorders,
schizophrenia
areas of exceptionality: behavioral - ADHD, ODD
explain how exceptionalities may impact adolescent learning - tend to have low GPA, problems
passing standardized tests or exams, decreases in self-esteem and motivation
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) - Legislation passed in 1990 that prohibits discrimination against
people with disabilities. Under this Act, discrimination against a disabled person is illegal in
employment, transportation, public accommodations, communications and government activities.
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) - A special education law that requires schools to
educate students with disabilities in least restrictive environments to the greatest extent of their
abilities using plans tailored to the individual needs of the students.
PA Chapter 14 - Ensure that all children with disabilities have free, appropriate public education
designed to enable students to participate fully and independently in the community, including
preparation for employment or higher education
PA Chapter 16 - Outlines and defines the regulations and responsibilities each school district must
adhere to while identifying and programming for the Mentally Gifted students.
adaptions - changes made to the learning environment, available equipment, or how
assignments/assessments are completed by a student
Section 504, Rehabilitation Act - Requires a school district to provide a free appropriate public
education(FAPE) to each qualified person with a disability who is in the school district's jurisdiction,
regardless of the nature or severity of the person's disability
modifications - changes made to the curriculum, content and skills that students are expected to
master
inclusion - Educating a child with special education needs full-time in the regular classroom.
documentation - notes and logs about students as part of the classroom process, communication with
parents, colleagues, community agencies, documentation related to IEPs or other support plans
accommodations - often used interchangeably with adaptation
ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) - cognitive disability - term commonly used to describe symptoms of
inattention, distractibility, and poor working memory
ADHD - a cognitive disability marked by the appearance by age 7 of one or more of three key
symptoms: extreme inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity
autism spectrum - A cognitive disability characterized by deficits in social relatedness and
communication skills that are often accompanied by repetitive, ritualistic behavior. It also affects how
people learn and behave
dyslexia - cognitive disability; A serious difficulty learning to read, write, and spell
emotional disability - (a) A condition whereby a child exhibits one or more of the following
characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree that adversely affects the child's
performance in the educational environment: an inability to learn which cannot be explained by
intellectual, sensory or health factors; an inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal
relationships with peers and teachers; inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal
circumstances; a general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression; a tendency to develop
physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems. (b) Includes children who
are schizophrenic but does not include children who are socially maladjusted unless they are also
determined to have an emotional disability as determined by evaluation.
learning disability - A marked delay in a particular area of learning and in the acquisition of new skills
physical disability - Impairment in certain structures or function(s) of the body, such as vision, hearing,
or mobility.
gifted student - A student who demonstrates a high degree of intellectual and/or creative ability(ies),
exhibits an exceptionally high degree of motivation, and/or excels in specific academic fields, and who
needs special instruction and/or special ancillary services to achieve at levels commensurate with his
or her abilities.
Bruner - cognitivism; sees student as active agent and should work to discover for themseleves the
links and relationships between different concepts; principles of any subject can be taught at any age;
enactive representation (action-based); iconic representation (image-based); symbolic representation
(language-based)
Piaget - stages of cognition; sensorimotor stage (0-2) learn through senses and motor activities;
preoperational stage (2-7 years) ability to use mental representations; concrete operational stage (7-
11 years); formal operational stage (11- adulthood) abstract thought
Bloom - levels of cognition; 6 major categories: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis,
synthesis, and evaluation
Marzano/Pickering - Research Based Instruction: using research-based instructional strategies
maximizes teachers' ability to enhance student achievement.
McTighe - Big Idea/Assessment: Use analysis of achievement data to develop improvement plan
Vygotsky - social learning theory; sociocultural theory - social interaction, language, learning occurs
within zone of proximal development
Maslow - hierarchy of needs: physiological, safety, love/belonging, esteem, self-actualization
Erikson - emotional learning; 8 stages of psychosocial development, each stage a person experiences
a crisis that aids in their development - trust vs mistrust (hope); autonomy vs shame (will); initiative
vs. guilt (purpose); industry vs. inferiority (competency); identity vs role confusion (fidelity); intimacy
vs isolation (love); generativity vs stagnation (care); ego integrity vs despair (wisdom)
Wiggins - backwards design is focused on student learning and understanding
typical and atypical variance within each domain of adolescent development - goes through less
conflict with parents, shows more independence, interest in developing relationships with the other
sex, capacity for caring, time with firneds, can experience deeper emotion, concern about
school/work, girls physically maturing before boys
metacognition - "Thinking about thinking" or the ability to evaluate a cognitive task to determine how
best to accomplish it, and then to monitor and adjust one's performance on that task
schema - a concept or framework that organizes and interprets information
transfer - cognitive practice whereby a learner's mastery of knowledge or skills in one context enables
them to apply that knowledge or skill in a different context
self-efficacy - An individual's belief that he or she is capable of performing a task.
constructivism - A philosophy of learning based on the premise that people construct their own
understanding of the world they live in through reflection on experiences; learners build on their
existing foundation to learn new information
self-regulation - understand and manage behavior and your reactions to feelings and things
happening around you
zone of proximal development - In Vygotsky's theory, the range between children's present level of
knowledge and their potential knowledge state if they receive proper guidance and instruction
assimilation - interpreting our new experiences in terms of our existing schemas
accommodation - adapting our current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information
adaptation - piaget - changing to meet the situational demands
Describe the intellectual, physical, psychological, social, moral, and ethical developmental
characteristics of adolescent development - physical rapid growth, growth spurts, puberty, neural
changes in brain, cognitive thinking like metacognition and independent thought and abstract
thought; strong need to belong to a group and receive peer approval; psychological development of
identity formation and quest for independence
cognitive development - the development of thinking, skills, reason, dispositions, problem solving,
and memory
areas of exceptionality: cognitive - some cognitive disabilities include aphasia, autism, attention
deficit, dyslexia, dyscalculia, intellectual and memory loss
areas of exceptionality: auditory - conductive - sounds being sent through the outer and/or middle ear
sensorineural - damage of the hair cells in the inner ear (cochlea)
mixed - both conductive and sensorineural
auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder - auditory nerve does not send messages to the auditory
centers of the brain
, areas of exceptionality: visual - lost of central vision, loss of peripheral side vision, blurred vision,
generalized haze, light sensitivity
areas of exceptionality: motor/physical - spinal cord injury, CP, MS, MD
areas of exceptionality: speech/language - stutter, articulation errors, tongue-tie (ankyloglossia),
apraxia, dysarthria
areas of exceptionality: social/emotional - anxiety disorders, bipolar disorder, conduct disorders,
schizophrenia
areas of exceptionality: behavioral - ADHD, ODD
explain how exceptionalities may impact adolescent learning - tend to have low GPA, problems
passing standardized tests or exams, decreases in self-esteem and motivation
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) - Legislation passed in 1990 that prohibits discrimination against
people with disabilities. Under this Act, discrimination against a disabled person is illegal in
employment, transportation, public accommodations, communications and government activities.
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) - A special education law that requires schools to
educate students with disabilities in least restrictive environments to the greatest extent of their
abilities using plans tailored to the individual needs of the students.
PA Chapter 14 - Ensure that all children with disabilities have free, appropriate public education
designed to enable students to participate fully and independently in the community, including
preparation for employment or higher education
PA Chapter 16 - Outlines and defines the regulations and responsibilities each school district must
adhere to while identifying and programming for the Mentally Gifted students.
adaptions - changes made to the learning environment, available equipment, or how
assignments/assessments are completed by a student
Section 504, Rehabilitation Act - Requires a school district to provide a free appropriate public
education(FAPE) to each qualified person with a disability who is in the school district's jurisdiction,
regardless of the nature or severity of the person's disability
modifications - changes made to the curriculum, content and skills that students are expected to
master
inclusion - Educating a child with special education needs full-time in the regular classroom.
documentation - notes and logs about students as part of the classroom process, communication with
parents, colleagues, community agencies, documentation related to IEPs or other support plans
accommodations - often used interchangeably with adaptation
ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) - cognitive disability - term commonly used to describe symptoms of
inattention, distractibility, and poor working memory
ADHD - a cognitive disability marked by the appearance by age 7 of one or more of three key
symptoms: extreme inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity
autism spectrum - A cognitive disability characterized by deficits in social relatedness and
communication skills that are often accompanied by repetitive, ritualistic behavior. It also affects how
people learn and behave
dyslexia - cognitive disability; A serious difficulty learning to read, write, and spell
emotional disability - (a) A condition whereby a child exhibits one or more of the following
characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree that adversely affects the child's
performance in the educational environment: an inability to learn which cannot be explained by
intellectual, sensory or health factors; an inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal
relationships with peers and teachers; inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal
circumstances; a general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression; a tendency to develop
physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems. (b) Includes children who
are schizophrenic but does not include children who are socially maladjusted unless they are also
determined to have an emotional disability as determined by evaluation.
learning disability - A marked delay in a particular area of learning and in the acquisition of new skills
physical disability - Impairment in certain structures or function(s) of the body, such as vision, hearing,
or mobility.
gifted student - A student who demonstrates a high degree of intellectual and/or creative ability(ies),
exhibits an exceptionally high degree of motivation, and/or excels in specific academic fields, and who
needs special instruction and/or special ancillary services to achieve at levels commensurate with his
or her abilities.
