Read the following statements and choose the correct option: Assertion (A):…

In an Assertion-Reason question, each statement must first be judged true or false on its own merit; only if both Assertion (A) and Reason (R) are individually true does the question of whether R is the correct explanation of A arise. 'Correct explanation' means R states the actual mechanism behind why A holds, not merely another true fact sitting beside it. In pedagogy, activating prior knowledge before new instruction is a foundational principle: constructivist and schema-based learning theory hold that new information is learned and retained more effectively when learners can anchor it to knowledge they already possess.

1. Assertion (A) states that prompting students to recall previous knowledge is important. This matches the pedagogical principle above -- prior-knowledge activation is treated as an important step in instruction -- so (A) holds.

2. Reason (R) states that recalling previous knowledge helps students connect known knowledge to new knowledge. This is the very mechanism through which prior-knowledge activation supports learning, so (R) holds.

3. Because (R) names the exact mechanism -- connecting known to new knowledge -- that makes (A)'s claim hold (prompting recall is worth doing), (R) functions as the correct explanation of (A) rather than an unrelated true fact.

• "(A) is true, but (R) is false" would require the connecting-function claim in (R) to be inaccurate; since linking prior and new knowledge is exactly why recall-prompting is valued, that claim is not inaccurate.

• "(A) is false, but (R) is true" would require prompting recall to carry no importance at all, which is inconsistent with (R)'s own claim that recalling supports learning.

• "Both (A) and (R) are true, but (R) is not the correct explanation of (A)" would require (R) to be a true statement unrelated to why (A) matters; here (R) directly names the mechanism behind (A), so the two are causally linked rather than merely co-occurring.

Both statements hold individually, and (R) supplies the actual reason (A) is valued in teaching practice: "Both (A) and (R) are true and (R) is the correct explanation of (A)."