Threshold conceptapproach to curriculum design
stuffing curriculum
with contentvs
focusing on what is
fundamental
Contrast
‘less is more’ approach to curriculum design
concepts that are central to the mastery of a subject
portals to new ways of thinking
Mathematics:Algebraic notation
X2 = 1
X = 1 or X = -1
Y = X2
Cookery:Heat transfer
+ immediately
wait a few minutes then +
Sports Science:
Aquatic confidence
Gaining confidence in the water
Appreciation of water as a sporting environment
CharacteristicsTransformative
- shift in perception of the subject
Irreversible
- unlikely to be forgotten
Integrative
- exposes previously hidden interrelatedness
Bounded
- might define frontier into new area
Troublesome knowledge
- counter-intuitive, alien, incoherent
Oscillation between old and new understandings
Occupation of liminal space while mastering threshold concept
E-learninglends itself to required:
excursion
recursion
digression
Meyer, J. and Land, R. (2003) Threshold Concepts and Troublesome Knowledge: Linkages to Ways of Thinking and Practising within the Disciplines, Occasional Report 4, Edinburgh: ETL Project
Available at:
http://www.tla.ed.ac.uk/etl/docs/ETLreport4.pdf
Reference
What (in this subject):As a learner – did you find hard?
As a teacher – do some students never seem to learn?
As a designer – do students have to grasp to move on to higher levels of understanding?