UGC NET Questions (Paper – 1)

University teaching aims to move students from rote learning to higher-order thinking. The main objective is to develop independent and critical thinkers who can analyse, evaluate and create ideas. Option B expresses this broader academic goal.

Option A:
Option A stresses memorization, which is a lower-level outcome. Some memory is necessary, but higher education cannot be reduced to cramming facts for exams.

Option B:
Option B emphasizes critical and independent thinking, encouraging learners to question, reason and form their own conclusions. This is central to the mission of higher education.

Option C:
Option C discourages students from questioning the teacher. This goes against the spirit of inquiry, debate and academic freedom expected at universities.

Option D:
Option D makes success in terms of pass percentage the main goal. Examination results are only indicators; they do not guarantee deep understanding or genuine learning.

Statements A, C, D and F present widely accepted aims of teaching across educational levels. A is correct because higher education emphasises critical and independent thinking. C is correct as teaching seeks cognitive, affective and psychomotor development. D is correct since value formation and social sensitivity are central contemporary goals. F is correct because curiosity and self-directed study underpin lifelong learning, whereas B and E are narrow or incorrect; hence A, C, D and F only is the correct combination.

Option A:
Option A includes exactly the statements A, C, D and F, all of which are true and collectively reflect intellectual, moral, social and lifelong learning aims of teaching. It deliberately excludes B, which ignores learners’ experiences, and E, which reduces aims to examination success. Because it contains all and only the true statements, this option is correct.

Option B:
Option B omits F, thereby leaving out the crucial aim of fostering lifelong learning habits. Although A, C and D are correct, the absence of F makes the combination incomplete and therefore not acceptable as the best answer.

Option C:
Option C wrongly includes E along with C, D and F. Since E claims that examination performance is the sole aim of teaching, which is a distorted and limited view, this combination mixes true and false statements and cannot be considered correct.

Option D:
Option D adds B to an otherwise correct set of statements. B wrongly suggests that primary teaching should ignore children’s experiences, which contradicts child-centred pedagogy. Because it incorporates this false statement, A, B, C, D and F only is not a valid option.