an introduction to threshold concepts阈值概念.PDF

Planet No. 17 December 2006 Section 1: Introduction to threshold concepts An introduction to threshold concepts Glynis Cousin, Higher Education Academy Introduction The idea of threshold concepts emerged from a UK national research project into the possible characteristics of strong teaching and learning environments in the disciplines for undergraduate education (Enhancing Teaching-Learning Environments in Undergraduate Courses - ). In pursuing this research in the field of economics, it became clear to Erik Meyer and Ray Land (2003, 2005, 2006), that certain concepts were held by economists to be central to the mastery of their subject.These concepts, Meyer and Land argued, could be described as ‘threshold’ ones because they have certain features in common.The purpose of this brief piece is to outline these features and to point to the distinctive value of a threshold concept approach for curriculum design. Overcoming the ‘stuffed’ curriculum If we want to develop an understanding of the pedagogy of the subject we teach, we have to start somewhere and making sense of what seems central and often difficult to grasp by most learners, is a good place to begin our inquiry. A tendency among academic teachers is to stuff their curriculum with content, burdening themselves with the task of transmitting vast amounts of knowledge bulk and their students of absorbing and reproducing this bulk. In contrast, a focus on threshold concepts enables teachers to make refined decisions about what is fundamental to a grasp of the subject they are teaching. It is a ‘less is more’ approach to curriculum design. Recognising threshold concepts So how do we recognise threshold concepts? Meyer and Land present five key characteristics of a threshold concept: 1. Grasping a threshold concept is transformative because it involves an ontological as well as a conceptual shift. We are what we know. New understandings are assimilated into our biography, becoming part of who we are, how we see an