In Ray Land’s essay ‘Threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge (3)*: implications for course design and evaluation’ he talks about Threshold Concepts as:
‘Within all subject areas there seem to be particular concepts that can be considered as akin to a portal, opening up a new and previously inaccessible way of thinking about something. A threshold concept represents a transformed way of understanding, or interpreting, or viewing something without which the learner cannot progress.’ (Land, 2005, p.53).
Land also refers to threshold concepts as ‘defined as concepts that bind a subject together, being fundamental to ways of thinking and practising in that discipline.’ (Land, 2005, p.54).
This is really interesting as a methodology for breaking down a subject/discipline, in my case typography, into its key ideas/concepts, the fundamental aspects that help a student understand and practise typography. I feel that this is something I have approached in teaching, as a way for me to prioritise what to teach and understanding more about the theory of threshold concepts could help me to do this more successfully. I particularly liked the idea of a threshold concept being akin to a portal, a really interesting way to describe it, a door that opens into new worlds of understanding.
Crucial to the use of threshold concepts seems to be identifying what these would be for my subject and how these specific concepts can help a student progress and unlock new areas of learning.
‘Students who have not yet internalised a threshold concept have little option but to attempt to learn new ideas in a more fragmented fashion. On acquiring a threshold concept a student is able to transform their use of the ideas of a subject because they are now able to integrate them in their thinking.’ (Land, 2005, p.54).
This suggests that threshold concepts can act like building blocks, and aid progression through learning about a particular subject, rather than learning in a fragmented fashion. This implies that a coherent and progressive structure is important in teaching.
The essay also talks about the integrative aspect being particularly difficult for students who are studying a specialism as part of their degree, as the students may not think of themselves as learners of the specialism and therefore may find it more difficult to grasp these threshold concepts and successfully integrate them into their practice. This may have particular relevance to my teaching as I’m teaching a specialism, typography, to group of students who are often more generalist, studying graphic design and associated disciplines.
‘Threshold concepts are inherently problematic for learners because they demand an integration of ideas and this requires the student to accept a transformation of their own understanding’. (Land, 2005, p.54).
Land talks about an in-between state resulting if this transformation doesn’t totally take place: ‘One outcome is that students present a partial, limited or superficial understanding of the concept to be learned which we have characterised as a form of ‘mimicry’. ’A more serious outcome is that students become frustrated, lose confidence and give up that particular course.’ (Land, 2005, p.55).
This perhaps explains how typography in particular can be frustrating and off-putting for many students, leading to them rejecting the subject and failing to interact further with it.
In the conclusion, Land talks about the task for course developers being to identify the barriers to knowledge and redesign activities and sequences of teaching through the use of ‘scaffolding’, the provision of support materials, etc that will ‘provide the necessary shift in perspective that might permit further personal development’ (Land, 2005, p.63). Importance of removing obstacles to learning, to free up various ways that a student will be able to be ‘empowered to move’. (Land, 2005, p.63).
As Land says: ‘The significance of the framework provided by threshold concepts lies, we feel, in its explanatory potential to locate troublesome aspects of disciplinary knowledge within transitions across conceptual thresholds and hence to assist teachers in identifying appropriate ways of modifying or redesigning curricula to enable their students to negotiate such transitions more successfully.’ (Land, 2005, p.63)
Bibliography
Land, R. ‘Threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge (3)*: implications for course design and evaluation’, Rust, C (ed) (2005) Improving Student Learning Diversity and Inclusivity. Oxford: Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development.