Sri Lanka Teachers' Service Graduate Open Exam flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Piaget concrete operational stage

The stage from about 7 to 11 years when children can reason logically about concrete objects and events, understand conservation, and classify, but struggle with abstract hypothetical reasoning.

Zone of Proximal Development

Vygotsky's concept describing the gap between what a learner can do independently and what they can do with guidance from a more capable person.

Positive reinforcement

Adding a pleasant stimulus after a behaviour to increase the likelihood that the behaviour will be repeated.

Formative assessment

Assessment carried out during instruction to gather evidence about learning and adjust teaching, typically low-stakes and feedback-oriented.

Summative assessment

Assessment administered at the end of a unit, term, or course to judge achievement against learning outcomes.

Test validity

The extent to which an assessment measures what it is intended to measure and supports the interpretations and decisions made from scores.

Item difficulty index

The proportion of examinees who answer an item correctly, ranging from 0 to 1; higher values indicate an easier item.

Criterion-referenced test

A test that interprets a student's performance against defined learning standards rather than against the performance of other students.

Bloom's revised taxonomy

A hierarchy of cognitive objectives ordered as remember, understand, apply, analyse, evaluate, and create, used to plan and assess learning.

Constructive alignment

The principle that intended learning outcomes, teaching and learning activities, and assessment tasks should all be mutually consistent.

Spiral curriculum

Bruner's idea that key concepts are revisited across grade levels with increasing depth and complexity.

Differentiated instruction

Adapting content, process, product, or learning environment to respond to differences in learner readiness, interest, and learning profile.

5E instructional model

A lesson sequence of Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate that supports inquiry-oriented teaching.

Lesson objectives (ABCD)

Objectives written with Audience, Behaviour, Condition, and Degree to make intended learning specific and measurable.

Descriptive feedback

Specific information about what a learner did well and what to improve next, given without relying on grades alone.

TPACK framework

A model describing the integration of Technological, Pedagogical, and Content Knowledge needed for effective technology-supported teaching.

SAMR model

A framework describing technology integration levels: Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition, moving from enhancement to transformation.

Flipped learning

An approach where content is studied before class and class time is used for active application, discussion, and problem-solving.

Open Educational Resources

Freely licensed teaching and learning materials that can be reused, revised, and redistributed with appropriate attribution.

13th Amendment

The 1987 constitutional amendment that created Provincial Councils, devolved certain powers, and made Tamil an official language.

Compulsory education age

In Sri Lanka, education is compulsory for children from age 5 to 14, corresponding to Grades 1 through 9.

Teachers' Service Minute

The regulatory document governing recruitment, promotion, transfer, and discipline of teachers in the Sri Lanka Teachers' Service.

National Institute of Education

The Sri Lankan institution responsible for curriculum development, textbook preparation, and teacher guides for schools.

Present perfect tense

A tense formed with 'have/has' plus the past participle, used for past actions with present relevance or unfinished time periods.

Passive voice

A construction where the object of an action becomes the subject, formed with a form of 'be' plus the past participle.

Third conditional

A sentence structure using 'if' plus past perfect and 'would have' plus past participle to describe unreal past situations.

Sinhala script origins

The Sinhala writing system derives from ancient Brahmi script and includes vowels, consonants, and dependent vowel signs called pili.

Tamil script structure

Tamil writing has 12 vowels, 18 consonants, and the aytham character, with combined letters formed by adding vowel signs.

Syllogism reasoning

A logical argument with two premises and a conclusion; validity is tested by checking whether the conclusion necessarily follows.

Work rate formula

If a person completes a task in n days, the rate is 1/n per day; combined rates of workers acting together are added.

Grama Nilavari division

The smallest administrative unit in Sri Lanka, below the Divisional Secretariat, used for local administration and service delivery.

21st Amendment

The 2022 constitutional amendment that restored the two-term limit on the presidency and re-established Constitutional Councils for independent commissions.