Threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge

Threshold concepts and forms of learning

The notion of threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge can be linked with the deep and surface learning distinction if we consider the problems learners have (and you may have had) when first trying to learn at higher education level in a chosen discipline. It may be helpful to consider the following questions:

• When you were learning your subject, can you recall any aspects that seemed especially hard to grasp?

• Are there any aspects of the subject you teach that (some) learners just don’t seem to learn, however many times you teach this? What are they?

• Why do you think some aspects of the subject are resistant to learning?

• Are there any key concepts in your subject that seem to be resistant to learning, but without a grasp of which your students can not move on to higher levels of understanding? Do you have any teaching strategies to help students grasp these key, or 'threshold' concepts?

If you are intrigued by these questions - and they are highly relevant for teaching in higher education in any discipline - you will be interested in the current large-scale UK investigation into this topic. This is an ESRC-funded project: 'Teaching-Learning Environments: ways of thinking and practising in the disciplines'

http://www.ed.ac.uk/etl