PSTET Paper 1 cheat sheet

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

Vygotsky: learning is social; the Zone of Proximal Development is the gap between independent performance and performance with adult or peer support; scaffolding is temporary, gradually withdrawn assistance.

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

Erikson's first four stages: trust vs mistrust (0–1), autonomy vs shame (1–3), initiative vs guilt (3–6), industry vs inferiority (6–12).

Piaget's schema processes: assimilation fits new experience into an existing schema; accommodation alters the schema; equilibration restores balance after cognitive conflict.

Krashen's distinction: acquisition is subconscious and meaning-focused; learning is conscious rule study; the affective filter (anxiety, low motivation) blocks intake.

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

Inclusive education principle: adapt content, process, and product (differentiation) rather than expecting the learner to fit a fixed method; remedial help addresses specific, diagnosed gaps.

Assessment terms: formative assessment is ongoing and diagnostic; summative assessment judges achievement at the end; a rubric states criteria and performance levels in advance.

Gurmukhi is written left to right; it is an abugida in which every consonant carries an inherent 'a' vowel unless a vowel sign (lagā mātrā) or a mukta (no sign) state applies.

The Punjabi vowel system uses ten vowel signs: aṛ, āṛ, i, ī, u, ū, e, ai, o, au; the mukta form has no visible sign.

Nasalisation is marked by a bindi (ਂ) or a ṭippī (ੰ); the ṭippī is used with short vowels and the bindi with long vowels and at word end.

The adhak (ੱ) doubles the following consonant; the halant/paireen form (੍) suppresses the inherent vowel to form consonant clusters.

Punjabi is a tonal language: three tones (high, mid, low) are associated with the letters gh, jh, ḍh, dh, bh and with h; tone is not written with a separate sign.

Punjabi nouns carry gender (masculine/feminine), number (singular/plural), and case; postpositions (ne, nūṁ, dā, vich, te) follow the noun, not precede it.

Verb agreement in the perfective ergative construction: with a transitive verb in the perfective, the subject takes ne and the verb agrees with the object, not the subject.

Reading pedagogy: phonics builds letter–sound correspondence; whole-word and meaning-focused approaches build fluency; a balanced approach combines both with comprehension checks.

Language skills order in teaching: listening and speaking precede reading and writing; dictation tests sound–symbol mapping, not comprehension.

Articles: 'a/an' with singular countable nouns on first mention; 'the' for specific, previously mentioned, or unique referents; zero article with plurals and uncountables in generic use.

Tenses: present perfect (has/have + past participle) links past to present; past perfect (had + participle) marks the earlier of two past events; future perfect (will have + participle) marks completion by a future point.

Conditionals: first (if + present, will + base), second (if + past, would + base), third (if + past perfect, would have + participle).

Passive voice: be + past participle; the object becomes subject and the agent is dropped or introduced with 'by'.

Reported speech backshift: present becomes past, past becomes past perfect, will becomes would; time and place words shift (now→then, here→there, tomorrow→the next day).

Modals: 'must' expresses strong obligation or logical certainty; 'should' gives advice; 'can/could' express ability or permission; 'may/might' express possibility.

Phonology: English has 44 phonemes (24 consonants, 20 vowels including 12 monophthongs and 8 diphthongs); stress placement can change meaning (record noun vs record verb).

Reading pedagogy: skimming is fast reading for gist; scanning is fast reading for a specific detail; intensive reading builds close comprehension; extensive reading builds fluency.

Place value: each digit's value is digit × its place (ones, tens, hundreds); regrouping (borrowing/carrying) follows from base-10 exchange of ten units for one of the next place.

Divisibility: by 2 (last digit even), by 3 (digit sum divisible by 3), by 4 (last two digits divisible by 4), by 5 (last digit 0 or 5), by 9 (digit sum divisible by 9), by 11 (alternating digit sum divisible by 11).

Fractions: a/b = c/d implies ad = bc; to add or subtract, use a common denominator; division by a fraction equals multiplication by its reciprocal.

Percentage: x% of N = (x/100) × N; percentage change = (change ÷ original) × 100; successive changes of a% and b% give a net factor (1+a/100)(1+b/100).

Profit and loss: profit% = (SP − CP)/CP × 100; discount% is always calculated on the marked price, not the selling price.

Simple interest I = PRT/100; compound amount A = P(1 + R/100)^T; SI and CI are equal for the first year only.

Area and perimeter: rectangle A = l × b, P = 2(l + b); triangle A = ½ × base × height; circle A = πr², C = 2πr; parallelogram A = base × height.

Average = sum of values ÷ number of values; speed = distance ÷ time; unit conversions: 1 km = 1000 m, 1 hour = 3600 s, 1 m/s = 3.6 km/h.

LCM and HCF: LCM × HCF = product of the two numbers; HCF is found by the Euclidean algorithm or prime factorisation, LCM by taking highest powers of all primes.

Food chain: producers (green plants) → primary consumers (herbivores) → secondary consumers (carnivores); decomposers break down dead matter and return nutrients to soil.

Photosynthesis: green plants use sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide to make glucose and release oxygen; chlorophyll in chloroplasts absorbs light.

Human digestive order: mouth → oesophagus → stomach → small intestine → large intestine; most nutrient absorption occurs in the small intestine.

Respiratory system: air passes nose → trachea → bronchi → lungs → alveoli, where gas exchange (oxygen in, carbon dioxide out) occurs.

Water cycle stages: evaporation, transpiration, condensation, precipitation, and collection; groundwater is recharged by percolation through soil.

Air composition: about 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, 0.9% argon, 0.04% carbon dioxide; oxygen supports combustion and is used in respiration.

States of matter: solids have fixed shape and volume; liquids have fixed volume but not shape; gases have neither; changes of state are physical and reversible.

Pollution types: air (particulates, SO₂, CO), water (sewage, industrial effluent), soil (pesticides, plastic), noise (measured in decibels); afforestation and waste segregation are mitigation measures.

EVS pedagogy: use observation, local environment, and hands-on activity; concepts are built from the child's immediate surroundings (family, school, neighbourhood) outward.