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PLT Early Childhood (0621/5621)
Practice Test 1
Section I: Multiple-Choice
70 minutes, 70 questions
Directions: Read the questions or incomplete statements below. Of the four suggested answers or completions, select the one that is best in each case. Fill in the corresponding oval on the answer sheet (page 110).
1. A small child learns the word for dog and believes that every furry four-legged animal is a dog. When the child sees a squirrel, he says, “There’s a dog.” However, his parents explain that the animal isn’t a dog, but actually a squirrel. The child notices how a squirrel differs from a dog and realizes that not all furry four-legged animals are dogs, that some are squirrels. This realization is an example of which of the following?
(A) Piaget’s concept of assimilation
(B) Piaget’s concept of accommodation
(C) Gesell’s concept of maturation
(D) Erikson’s concept of psychosocial stages
2. Which of the following is an example of classical conditioning?
(A) Students learn to recite a poem to a particular tune.
(B) The teacher presents a gold paper star to each student who makes a perfect score on a spelling quiz.
(C) Students form a line on the playground when the teacher blows a whistle.
(D) A misbehaving student is moved to a table away from his classmates.
3. Ms. Mukherjee wants to apply Vygotsky’s ideas about making meaning through community to her culturally diverse fourth-grade classroom. To accomplish this, Ms. Mukherjee could do all the following EXCEPT
(A) investigate how different cultural backgrounds and assumptions can affect understanding of academic material.
(B) tailor her instruction to appeal to different learning styles, such as auditory or visual-spatial.
(C) hold class discussions of ethnic festivals such as Cinco de Mayo celebrations.
(D) strive to learn more about her students’ cultural backgrounds by meeting their parents, friends, and neighbors.
4. Mrs. Banner decides to use scaffolding to help her students understand material about Native American history. Which of the following strategies should she use to implement this approach?
(A) Provide study guides for students to consult as they read material and listen to lectures
(B) Take the class on a field trip to an historical site or museum and have groups of students report on their experiences.
(C) Stage a classroom debate about important issues related to Native American history
(D) Invite a local Native American scholar to make a brief talk to the class and answer questions.
5. According to Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development, children in preschool tend to base their moral judgments on
(A) affirming the importance of rules for social order.
(B) seeking to please peers.
(C) avoiding penalties.
(D) receiving rewards and benefits.
6. Objectives that emphasize a cognitive approach include
I. applying a formula to a new set of information.
II. defining a term in simple language.
III. comparing one animal to another.
IV. analyzing the results of an experiment.
(A) I and II
(B) I and III
(C) I, II, IV
(D) I, III, IV
7. To supplement a science unit on plants, Ms. Wakefield plans a field trip to a local greenhouse. The greenhouse operator has promised that Ms. Wakefield’s second graders can enjoy a hands-on learning experience. What instructional approach is Ms. Wakefield employing?
(A) Structured overview
(B) Anchored instruction
(C) Cooperative learning
(D) Tiered instruction
8. Mr. Oku gives his students a math problem and asks them to solve it individually. Once they are finished, each student goes over the problem with a partner and discusses how he or she arrived at the answer. Finally, the students present their findings to the whole class. Which cooperative learning practice is Mr. Oku using here?
(A) Peer partner learning
(B) Whole-group instruction
(C) Think-pair-share
(D) Jigsaw
9. Which of the following ideas is NOT associated with the learning theory called constructivism?
(A) The process encourages higher-level or critical thinking.
(B) The teacher serves as a coach and facilitator in the learning process.
(C) Learning occurs in an academic context instead of an authentic context.
(D) The learner is able to control and mediate the learning process.
10. Memorization is a major part of which direct-instruction technique?
(A) Specific instruction
(B) Drill and practice
(C) Teacher lecturing
(D) Structured overview
11. Mrs. Gossage has decided to hold one-on-one conferences with students in addition to using other forms of assessment. What can she learn about a student through conferencing that is not gleaned in other assessment forms?
(A) What prior knowledge the student has
(B) How the student feels about a topic
(C) The logical process of the student’s thinking
(D) How well the student comprehends concepts
12. In the middle of a lesson on dinosaurs, Ms. Clemente asks her second graders to write down five facts about dinosaurs. This is an example of which kind of assessment?
(A) Summative
(B) Formative
(C) Formal
(D) Diagnostic
13. Mr. Shelton gives his third-grade students an end-of-chapter test found in the teacher’s edition of the mathematics text he is using. The test adheres closely to the chapter learning objectives. This test is most likely which of the following?
(A) A summative evaluation
(B) A portfolio evaluation
(C) A diagnostic evaluation
(D) A standardized evaluation
14. All of the following are examples of objective tests EXCEPT
(A) multiple-choice test.
(B...
