1. ‘The jewels in the curriculum’
Threshold concepts:
‘The jewels in the curriculum’
Education Faculty Day

2. How do students ‘get’ it? (Atherton, 2008)
Teacher of engineering said “that guy will pass his assessments and get his degree, but he’ll never think like an engineer”
Tom Angelo quotes example of physics graduates
Atherton says this is partly to do:
with how we teach (the stuffed curriculum’)
how we assess (what is easy and measurable, tailoring our teaching to help students pass assessments)
Ways of thinking and practising are difficult to teach directly and very difficult to assess except in courses where there are placements.
So what might be done?
Very tricky question and although we know that there are many students who graduate and are highly proficient in their chosen area of practice/or knowledge we also know, if we are being frank. that there are some who pass the course and are not fully competent.
on graduation day being unable to answer one of the basic fundamental principles of physics in explaining what forces are operating when you throw a ball up into the air

3. Introducing threshold concepts
Growing body of research (derived from work of Meyer and Land, 2003,2005,2006) to suggest that within every discipline or subject, there are some ideas which hold the key to students getting it: threshold concepts
They are different for each discipline.
They are not the whole answer, but they are necessary for authentic, genuine learning,
If threshold concepts have not been understood, students will never ‘get it’.

4. What are threshold concepts?
A threshold concept is like a portal, opening up a new and previously inaccessible way of thinking about something.
It represents a transformed way of understanding, or interpreting, or viewing something, without which the learner can not progress.
As a consequence of comprehending a threshold concept there may be a transformed internal view of subject matter, subject landscape, or even world view.

5. Characteristics of threshold concepts
Transformative- marks an important step into the culture of the subject
Irreversible- (can’t forget it , but it can be transformed or modified to refine understanding)
Integrative- allows us to see the relatedness of ideas- enables us to make connections that were previously hidden
Bounded- there will be borders with other threshold concepts
Troublesome- can be seen as counter-intuitive, unsettling

6. Transference and counter-transference: example from psychoanalysis
Threshold concept:
Counter-transference due to unresolved issues within the therapist (e.g. rejected by her father)
Affects therapist’s feelings about the client (colludes in authority pleasing behaviour)
Can be unconscious (and therefore dangerous)
In some cases therapist can actually take on suffering of the client (taking on client’s neurosis)
Can be used as a therapeutic tool to discover what’s going on in inter-personal relationships

7. Why is that a threshold concept?
Difficult to grasp- books have been written about it!
This is a concept that relates to ways of thinking about the discipline and to professional practice
Changes students’ whole understanding of ‘therapy’ and why and how counsellor’s own struggles must be worked through (transformative, irreversible and troublesome)
Understanding that difficulties and past conflicts do not have to all be resolved but acknowledged and used (integrative and bounded)
Can be extremely uncomfortable for students of counselling who have their own unresolved issues and may want to reject this understanding (troublesome)

8. Troublesome knowledge
Changing the way you think can be anxiety-provoking
Changing what you thought you knew about a topic can be very disturbing
Might have implications for your practice, your belief systems or even your life-style, so it may be resisted…

9. What disciplines are using threshold concepts?
Mathematics- complex numbers and limits in mathematics
Statistics - confidence intervals
Economics- opportunity pricing (most researched)
Biology - evolution
Computer science - object-oriented programming
Health related - caring, clinical fluency in nurses
Largely science-based so far.
Not much evidence of yet being used in Education subjects ……??

10. Not just elements
As more research being done, becoming apparent that threshold concepts are not just single clearly defined elements but may be much more closely aligned to distinctive ways of thinking and practicing.
Some threshold concepts are obvious, but sometimes because they are so obvious we, as teachers, might not pay enough attention to them and do not realise our students do not understand them. (e.g. probability in psychology statistics)

11. The portal (conceptual gateway)

12. Characterised by ambiguity, openness can lead to anxiety, confusion, loss of identity (temporary)

13. The eureka moment
When real understanding happens it’s irreversible, you cannot un-understand something.
The ‘light has been switched on’, the ‘penny’s dropped’, the ‘aha’ moment.
It’s uplifting and exciting and you want to go on- you are not at the threshold any more, you have gone through the portal
Not all threshold concepts are related to Eureka moments – according to Meyer & Land they can be sighted and rejected, and only gradually accepted, if at all…

14. So what happens if threshold concepts are not understood?
Likely that:
Students will mimic understanding (and may be able to go through their whole degree programme ’faking it’
Learning becomes a ritualised performance
Assessment becomes artificial and mechanistic

15. What are the jewels in the curriculum?

16. The jewels in the curriculum are powerful transformative points in the students learning experience- as such they identify key areas that need mastery (Cousins, 2006) According to Land (et al, 2006):“A focus on these jewels allows for richer and more complex insights into aspects of the subjects students are studying; it plays a diagnostic role in alerting tutors to areas of the curriculum where students are likely to encounter troublesome knowledge and experience conceptual difficulty”
Cousins suggest practical strategies to help students:
Listening for understanding
A holding environment for the toleration of confusion
Recursiveness and excursiveness

17. Further reading and resources
Atherton, J.S (2008) Doceo; Introduction to Threshold Concepts (on-line) UK Available
Burchmore, Irvine & Carmichael(2007) Threshold Concepts: A Review of Related Literature. Available
Threshold Concepts: Undergraduate Teaching, Postgraduate Training and Professional Development. A short introduction and reference list available at    
Erik Meyer, one of keynotes at forthcoming PRHE conference will talk about threshold concepts

18. Three questions to ponder
Can you think of an example of just one threshold concept in your subject?
How can you distinguish between genuine understanding of this threshold concept and a fake or simulated understanding?
Can you give an example of how you would organise the teaching and assessment experience which would most likely lead to students properly grasping this threshold concept?