'''Threshold knowledge''' is a term in the study of [[higher education]] used to describe core concepts—or '''threshold concepts'''—which, once understood, transform [[perception]] of a given subject, phenomenon, or experience.<ref name=MeyerLand2003>Meyer J H F and Land R 2003 "Threshold Concepts and Troublesome Knowledge: Linkages to Ways of Thinking and Practising" in ''Improving Student Learning: Ten Years On''. C. Rust (Ed), OCSLD, Oxford.</ref>
The term was introduced by Jan Meyer and Ray Land,<ref name="MeyerLand2003" /><ref name="Sense" /><ref name="MeyerLand2005">Meyer JHF, Land R (2005). "Threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge (2): Epistemological considerations and a conceptual framework for teaching and learning" ''Higher Education'', '''49'''(3), 373-388.</ref><ref name="LandCousin2005">Land, R., Cousin, G., Meyer, J.H.F. and Davies, P. (2005), "Threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge (3): implications for course design and evaluation", in C. Rust (ed.), ''Improving Student Learning − equality and diversity, Proceedings of the 12th Improving Student Learning Conference''. Oxford: OCLSD.</ref> Meyer and Land also discuss the related idea of troublesome knowledge, ideas that appear alien or [[Counterintuitive|counter-intuitive]].<ref name="MeyerLand2003" /><ref name="MeyerLand2005" /><ref name="LandCousin2005" /> The theory holds that:
{{Quote|... there are certain concepts, or certain learning experiences, which resemble passing through a portal, from which a new perspective opens up, allowing things formerly not perceived to come into view. This permits 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 cannot progress, and results in a reformulation of the learners' frame of meaning. The thresholds approach also emphasises the importance of disciplinary contexts. As a consequence of comprehending a threshold concept there may thus be a transformed internal view of subject matter, subject landscape, or even world view. Typical examples might be 'Personhood' in Philosophy; 'The Testable Hypothesis' in Biology; 'Gravity' in Physics; 'Reactive Power' in Electrical Engineering; 'Depreciation' in Accounting; 'Legal Narrative' in Law; 'Geologic Time' in Geology; 'Uncertainty' in Environmental Science; 'Deconstruction' in Literature; 'Limit' in Mathematics or 'Object-oriented Programming' in Computer Science.<ref name="Sense">{{cite book |editor1-last=Meyer |editor1-first=Jan |editor2-last=Land |editor2-first=Ray |editor3-last=Baillie |editor3-first=Caroline |date=2010 |title=Threshold concepts and transformational learning |series=Educational futures: rethinking theory and practice |volume=42 |location=Rotterdam; Boston |publisher=Sense Publishers |page=ix |isbn=9789460912054 |oclc=649651179 |url=https://www.lamission.edu/learningcenter/docs/1177-threshold-concepts-and-transformational-learning.pdf |access-date=2017-12-18 |archive-date=2019-02-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190214212350/http://www.lamission.edu/learningcenter/docs/1177-threshold-concepts-and-transformational-learning.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>}}
These ideas have been explored by several subsequent researchers in a variety of disciplinary contexts including: * International theory<ref name="Korosteleva2010">Korosteleva, E. A. (2010) Threshold Concept Through Enactive Learnings: How Effective Are They in the Study of European Politics?, International Studies Perspectives, 11, 37-50.</ref> * Science education<ref>Park EJ, Light G (2009). "Identifying Atomic Structure as a Threshold Concept: Student mental models and troublesomeness" ''International Journal of Science Education'', '''31'''(2), 233-258.</ref><ref>Baillie C, Goodhew P, Skryabina E (2006). "Threshold concepts in engineering education-exploring potential blocks in student understanding" ''International Journal of Engineering Education'', '''22'''(5), 955-962.</ref> *[[Economics]]<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Davies|first1=Peter|last2=Mangan|first2=Jean|date=December 2007|title=Threshold concepts and the integration of understanding in economics|url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03075070701685148|journal=Studies in Higher Education|language=en|volume=32|issue=6|pages=711–726|doi=10.1080/03075070701685148|s2cid=143662293 |issn=0307-5079|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Davies|first=Peter|date=January 2019|title=The construction of frameworks in learners' thinking: Conceptual change and threshold concepts in economics|url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1477388018300069|journal=International Review of Economics Education|language=en|volume=30|pages=100135|doi=10.1016/j.iree.2018.05.002|s2cid=158978997 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> * Healthcare education<ref>Clouder L (2005). "Caring as a 'threshold concept': Transforming students in higher education into health (care) professionals" ''Teaching in Higher Education'', '''10'''(4), 505-517.</ref> * Miscellaneous<ref>Bradbeer J (2006). [http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.96.1604&rep=rep1&type=pdf#page=16 "Threshold concepts within the disciplines"]. ''Planet'', no. 17, 16-7.</ref><ref>Lucas, U., Mladenovic, R. (2007), "The potential of threshold concepts: an emerging framework for educational research and practice." ''London Review of Education'', '''5'''(3), 237−248.</ref> * [[Statistics]]<ref>Bulmer, M., O'Brien, M., Price, S. (2007) [http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.597.3009&rep=rep1&type=pdf "Troublesome concepts in statistics: a student perspective on what they are and how to learn them"], UniServe Science, Proceedings of the Assessment in Science Teaching and Learning Symposium, University of Sydney, September 28−29, 2007, 9–15.</ref> * [[Information literacy]]<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/ilframework|title=Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education|date=2015-02-09|work=Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL)|access-date=2017-10-19|language=en}}</ref> *Writing studies<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt15nmjt7|title=Naming What We Know: Threshold Concepts of Writing Studies|date=2015|publisher=University Press of Colorado|jstor=j.ctt15nmjt7 |isbn=978-0-87421-989-0}}</ref> The theory has also been criticised.<ref>Rowbottom DP (2007). "Demystifying threshold concepts". ''Journal of Philosophy of Education'', '''41'''(2), 263–270. {{doi|10.1111/j.1467-9752.2007.00554.x}}</ref>
The notion of threshold concept is related to the notion of bottleneck in the [[Decoding the Disciplines]] framework. It can be considered a special case of the latter.<ref>Shopkow L and Joan Middendorf J (2020). “Caution! Theories at play! Threshold Concepts and Decoding the Disciplines.” Threshold Concepts on the Edge edited by A. Timmermans and R. Land, 37-50. Leiden: Brill/Sense</ref><ref>Shopkow, L (2010). "What decoding the disciplines can offer threshold concepts." Threshold concepts and transformational learning, 317-331. Leiden:Brill.</ref>
==See also== *[[Eureka effect]] *[[Decoding the Disciplines]] *[[Paradigm shift]] *[[Tacit knowledge]] *[[Propaedeutics]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.ee.ucl.ac.uk/~mflanaga/thresholds.html Threshold Concepts: Undergraduate Teaching, Postgraduate Training, Professional Development and School Education — A Short Introduction and a Bibliography from 2003 to 2018] maintained by Mick Flanagan from [[University College London|UCL]] *[http://www.ed.ac.uk/etl/docs/ETLreport4.pdf ETL Project Occasional Report on threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge, by Meyer and Land]{{dead|date=March 2024}} ([https://web.archive.org/web/20050217065411/http://www.ed.ac.uk/etl/docs/ETLreport4.pdf archived])
[[Category:Higher education]]