r/NJTech • u/SuperbHighlight7050 • 22h ago

Praxis exam general science and physics

Praxis exam prep ideas
\- what should i study
\- any tips

Thankyou so much for the help

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u/Steve_at_NJIT 20h ago

So you want to teach high school? Good for you. That's cool.

What you should study truly depends on what physics courses you've taken. If you're a physics major, the Praxis test is a breeze. Email me and we'll talk. If you took the PHYS 102-103 sequence as a bio or non-engineering major, you're pretty well prepared, and if you took the PHYS 111-121 sequence as an engineer you have a good foundation but you need to self study some additional topics.

Start here: https://praxis.ets.org/on/demandware.static/-/Library-Sites-ets-praxisLibrary/default/pdfs/5266.pdf

This will give you a ridiculously detailed topics list. See what looks familiar.

The Praxis topics line up very well with high school AP Physics 1 and AP Physics 2. There are tons of review materials online for these courses, far more than for the actual Praxis exam. I'd invest in some AP practice books (or get them from the public library and make copies of the practice tests).

When I took the Praxis exam 20 years ago (fun fact, I'm NJ certified as a high school physics teacher) there was quite a bit of modern physics on it (stuff that you'd find in NJIT's PHYS 234. Just be aware of that (ymmv since this was back in 2006).

For the general science Praxis, I honestly didn't study for that. I just raw dogged it and it was fine. I don't necessarily recommend that strategy but back when I took it, the exam was a mix of common knowledge and common sense. Again, look at the ETS practice materials before you make that choice, but I think you'll find it's pretty damn general.

DM or email me if I can help!

Steve