Bihar STET Paper 2 cheat sheet

Piaget's stages: sensorimotor (0-2, object permanence), preoperational (2-7, egocentrism, irreversibility), concrete operational (7-11, conservation, classification, seriation), formal operational (11+, abstract and hypothetical reasoning).

Vygotsky: Zone of Proximal Development is the gap between independent performance and assisted performance; scaffolding is temporary support withdrawn as competence grows; inner speech internalizes social speech.

Kohlberg's moral levels: preconventional (punishment/obedience, instrumental exchange), conventional (good boy/girl, law and order), postconventional (social contract, universal ethical principles).

Erikson's school-relevant crises: initiative vs guilt (3-6), industry vs inferiority (6-12), identity vs role confusion (adolescence).

Classical conditioning (Pavlov): neutral stimulus paired with unconditioned stimulus becomes conditioned stimulus; operant conditioning (Skinner): behaviour shaped by reinforcement and punishment schedules.

Inclusive education principle: children with disabilities learn best in the least restrictive environment with curriculum adaptation, not segregation; RTE Act 2009 mandates free compulsory education for ages 6-14.

Assessment types: formative (during learning, diagnostic feedback), summative (end of course, grading), continuous and comprehensive evaluation covers scholastic plus co-scholastic areas.

Learning disability markers: dyslexia (reading/decoding), dysgraphia (writing), dyscalculia (number processing); these are not caused by low intelligence or poor motivation.

Linguistic competence (Chomsky) is the internalized rule system; performance is actual use. Universal Grammar posits an innate language acquisition device.

Acquisition vs learning (Krashen): acquisition is subconscious and meaning-focused; learning is conscious rule study. The affective filter (anxiety, low motivation) blocks intake.

Reading models: bottom-up (phonics to meaning), top-down (schema-driven prediction), interactive (both). Skimming is fast gist reading; scanning is locating specific detail.

Communicative Language Teaching prioritizes meaning, fluency and authentic tasks; the grammar-translation method prioritizes written translation and explicit rules.

Hindi and English sound contrasts relevant to Bihar learners: aspiration (क/ख, त/थ, प/फ) distinguishes phonemes in Hindi but not English; English /v/ and /w/ both map near Hindi व.

Morpheme types: free (book) vs bound (re-, -ed); inflectional (tense, plural, person) vs derivational (changes word class, e.g., -ness, un-).

Figures of speech: simile (like/as), metaphor (direct comparison), personification, alliteration (initial consonant repetition), onomatopoeia (sound words).

Error vs mistake: an error reflects an incomplete interlanguage rule system and is systematic; a mistake is a performance slip the learner can self-correct.

Tense consistency rule: a past-tense main clause normally takes a past-tense reported clause (He said that he was ill), except for universal truths (He said that the sun rises in the east).

Active to passive: object becomes subject, verb becomes be + past participle, agent marked by by; only transitive verbs passivize (The book was written by him).

Conditionals: zero (If + present, present), first (If + present, will + base), second (If + past, would + base), third (If + had + past participle, would have + past participle).

Articles: a/an for indefinite singular count nouns (an before vowel sound), the for specific or unique referents, zero article for generic plurals and abstract nouns.

Direct to indirect speech: change pronouns to reflect speaker, shift tense back one step, convert time/place markers (now to then, here to there, today to that day).

Subject-verb agreement traps: each/every/either/neither take singular verbs; collective nouns take singular when acting as a unit; 'one of the + plural noun' takes a singular verb.

Vocabulary skills: synonym (same meaning), antonym (opposite), homophone (same sound, different spelling: their/there), homograph (same spelling, different meaning/sound).

Comprehension strategy: identify the main idea, distinguish stated fact from inference, and use context clues (definition, example, contrast) for unfamiliar words.

Quadratic formula: x = (-b ± √(b² - 4ac)) / 2a for ax² + bx + c = 0; discriminant b² - 4ac > 0 gives two real roots, = 0 equal roots, < 0 imaginary roots.

Pythagoras theorem: in a right triangle, hypotenuse² = sum of squares of the other two sides; triples include 3-4-5, 5-12-13, 8-15-17.

Circle: area = πr², circumference = 2πr; arc length = (θ/360) × 2πr; sector area = (θ/360) × πr².

Speed, distance, time: distance = speed × time; average speed = total distance / total time (not the mean of speeds).

Newton's laws: inertia (no net force means no change in motion), F = ma, and equal-opposite reaction forces on different bodies.

Ohm's law V = IR; power P = VI = I²R = V²/R; resistors in series add, in parallel reciprocal adds.

Photosynthesis: 6CO₂ + 6H₂O + light → C₆H₁₂O₆ + 6O₂, occurring in chloroplasts with chlorophyll; respiration is the reverse energy-releasing process.

Cell organelles: mitochondria (ATP release), ribosomes (protein synthesis), chloroplasts (photosynthesis, plants only), nucleus (genetic material).

Acids and bases: pH < 7 acidic, = 7 neutral, > 7 basic; acid + base gives salt + water (neutralization); litmus turns red in acid, blue in base.

Harappan civilization (c. 2600-1900 BCE): cities of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro, grid street planning, drainage systems, Great Bath, undeciphered script.

Mauryan Empire: Chandragupta Maurya founded it, Kautilya wrote the Arthashastra, Ashoka's edicts promoted dhamma after the Kalinga war (c. 261 BCE).

Indian National Movement milestones: INC founded 1885, Partition of Bengal 1905, Jallianwala Bagh 1919, Non-Cooperation 1920, Dandi March 1930, Quit India 1942.

Fundamental Rights (Part III, Articles 12-35): equality, freedom, against exploitation, religion, cultural-educational, constitutional remedies; the Right to Education was added by the 86th Amendment (2002).

Indian federal structure: Union List (defence, foreign affairs), State List (police, agriculture), Concurrent List (education, forests); residuary powers rest with Parliament.

Monsoon mechanism: differential heating of land and sea reverses pressure gradients; the southwest monsoon (June-September) brings most rainfall; the retreating monsoon affects Tamil Nadu in October-November.

Latitudes and longitudes: Tropic of Cancer (23.5°N) crosses Bihar and central India; IST is based on 82.5°E longitude, 5.5 hours ahead of GMT.

Indian economy basics: primary (agriculture, mining), secondary (manufacturing), tertiary (services) sectors; Green Revolution introduced high-yielding wheat/rice varieties in the 1960s.

Bloom's revised taxonomy order: Remember, Understand, Apply, Analyse, Evaluate, Create; the first three are lower-order, the last three higher-order objectives.

Teaching aids classified by sensory channel: audio (radio, tape), visual (charts, models), audiovisual (video, TV); concrete aids are more effective for primary-level abstraction.

Constructivist classroom indicators: learner-generated questions, group investigation, prior-knowledge activation, teacher as facilitator rather than sole transmitter.

Assessment for Learning differs from Assessment of Learning: the former is diagnostic and feedback-driven, the latter is judgemental and certification-oriented.

Individual differences: intelligence is multidimensional (Gardner's multiple intelligences: linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, musical, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalistic).

Motivation: intrinsic (interest, curiosity) sustains learning longer than extrinsic (marks, prizes); Maslow's hierarchy places physiological and safety needs before esteem and self-actualization.

Action research cycle: identify problem, plan intervention, act, observe, reflect, revise; it is teacher-led and localized to classroom context.

Right to Education Act 2009: no detention or expulsion until elementary completion, no board examination until Class VIII, pupil-teacher ratio norms, and prohibition of capitation fees.