Threshold Concepts

Learn­ing a new sub­ject is like explor­ing a maze, stu­dents encounter var­i­ous obsta­cles and chal­lenges that can make their jour­ney both excit­ing or daunt­ing. Now with­in the maze, there are spe­cial keys hid­den along the way. These keys are called thresh­old con­cepts (road­blocks to “aha” moments). They are not just any keys; they are like mag­i­cal keys that have the pow­er to unlock doors to new areas of under­stand­ing, or “aha” moments with­in the maze.

When stu­dents stum­ble on a thresh­old con­cept and use a mag­i­cal key to unlock the door, it’s like find­ing a short­cut or hid­den pas­sage that leads to a whole new lev­el of com­pre­hen­sion, an “aha” moment. Sud­den­ly the maze does not seem as com­plex or intim­i­dat­ing any­more.

A fun­da­men­tal thresh­old con­cept in math is the under­stand­ing of Func­tions and their Graphs. Func­tions are essen­tial math­e­mat­i­cal objects that describe rela­tion­ships between inputs and out­puts. They are foun­da­tion­al to many areas of math­e­mat­ics and have wide rang­ing appli­ca­tions in sci­ence, engi­neer­ing, eco­nom­ics and beyond. Once stu­dents grasp the con­cept of func­tions and their graphs, it unlocks a whole new lev­el of under­stand­ing and pro­fi­cien­cy in var­i­ous math­e­mat­i­cal top­ics.

In the social sci­ences a fun­da­men­tal thresh­old con­cept is per­spec­tive tak­ing or under­stand­ing mul­ti­ple per­spec­tives. The con­cept involves the abil­i­ty to rec­og­nize and appre­ci­ate dif­fer­ent view­points, inter­pre­ta­tions and expe­ri­ences with­in a giv­en social con­text. Once stu­dents grasp the impor­tance of per­spec­tive tak­ing, it trans­forms their under­stand­ing of social phe­nom­e­non and their abil­i­ty to ana­lyze and inter­pret com­plex social dynam­ics. Per­spec­tive tak­ing is a cru­cial thresh­old in the social sci­ences for devel­op­ing crit­i­cal think­ing, cul­tur­al com­pe­tence and mak­ing inter­dis­ci­pli­nary con­nec­tions.

ways to recognize when students are faced with a threshold concept

1. Strug­gle and Resis­tance: Stu­dents may show signs of strug­gle or resis­tance when encoun­ter­ing a thresh­old con­cept. This could man­i­fest as con­fu­sion, frus­tra­tion, or reluc­tance to engage with the mate­r­i­al.
2. Mis­con­cep­tions and mis­in­ter­pre­ta­tions: Edu­ca­tors may observe com­mon pat­terns of mis­un­der­stand­ing among stu­dents or recur­ring mis­con­cep­tions that per­sist despite clar­i­fi­ca­tion and instruc­tion.
3. Crit­i­cal ques­tions and reflec­tions: Stu­dents may ask prob­ing ques­tions or engage in reflec­tive dis­cus­sions that indi­cate they are grap­pling with the under­ly­ing prin­ci­ples of the thresh­old con­cept. They may ques­tion assump­tions, seek clar­i­fi­ca­tion, or express curios­i­ty about alter­na­tive per­spec­tives, sig­nal­ing a deep­er lev­el of engage­ment with the mate­r­i­al.
4. Incon­sis­ten­cies in Learn­ing Progress: Edu­ca­tors may notice incon­sis­ten­cies in stu­dents’ learn­ing progress or per­for­mance relat­ed to the thresh­old con­cept. Some stu­dents may demon­strate sud­den break­throughs or “aha” moments where they sud­den­ly grasp the con­cept, while oth­ers may con­tin­ue to strug­gle or show min­i­mal improve­ment over time.
5. Metacog­ni­tive Aware­ness: Stu­dents may reflect on their learn­ing process and artic­u­late their under­stand­ing (or lack there­of) of the thresh­old con­cept. They may express uncer­tain­ty about their com­pre­hen­sion, acknowl­edge areas of con­fu­sion, or artic­u­late strate­gies they are using to over­come obsta­cles.
6. Appli­ca­tion and Trans­fer: Stu­dents may strug­gle to apply or trans­fer their under­stand­ing of the thresh­old con­cept to new con­texts or prob­lem-solv­ing tasks. They may demon­strate dif­fi­cul­ty in rec­og­niz­ing when and how to apply the con­cept appro­pri­ate­ly, indi­cat­ing a need for addi­tion­al sup­port or scaf­fold­ing.
7. Peer Inter­ac­tions: Edu­ca­tors may observe stu­dents dis­cussing the thresh­old con­cept with their peers or col­lab­o­rat­ing on prob­lem-solv­ing tasks. Peer inter­ac­tions can pro­vide valu­able insights into stu­dents’ under­stand­ing, as they may reveal com­mon mis­con­cep­tions, alter­na­tive per­spec­tives, or strate­gies for over­com­ing obsta­cles.

 

Here is what educators can do:

1. Pro­vide Explic­it Instruc­tion
   • Edu­ca­tors can offer clear expla­na­tions and demon­stra­tions of the thresh­old con­cept, break­ing down com­plex ideas into small­er, more digestible com­po­nents. They can use analo­gies, visu­al aids, and real-world exam­ples to illus­trate the con­cept and make it more acces­si­ble to stu­dents.
2. Encour­age Explo­ration and Inquiry
   • Edu­ca­tors can cre­ate oppor­tu­ni­ties for stu­dents to explore the thresh­old con­cept through hands-on activ­i­ties, inquiry-based tasks, and open-end­ed ques­tions. They can encour­age curios­i­ty, exper­i­men­ta­tion, and inde­pen­dent inves­ti­ga­tion, allow­ing stu­dents to dis­cov­er and con­struct their under­stand­ing of the con­cept.
3. Fos­ter Col­lab­o­ra­tive Learn­ing
   • Edu­ca­tors can facil­i­tate col­lab­o­ra­tive learn­ing expe­ri­ences where stu­dents can engage in dis­cus­sions, share per­spec­tives, and col­lab­o­rate on prob­lem-solv­ing tasks relat­ed to the thresh­old con­cept. Peer inter­ac­tions can pro­vide valu­able insights, pro­mote deep­er engage­ment, and fos­ter a sup­port­ive learn­ing com­mu­ni­ty.
4. Address Mis­con­cep­tions
   • Edu­ca­tors can address com­mon mis­con­cep­tions or mis­un­der­stand­ings relat­ed to the thresh­old con­cept by pro­vid­ing cor­rec­tive feed­back, engag­ing stu­dents in dia­logue, and offer­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties for reeval­u­a­tion and revi­sion of their under­stand­ing. They can encour­age stu­dents to ques­tion assump­tions, chal­lenge pre­con­ceived notions, and recon­sid­er their per­spec­tives.
5. Pro­mote Metacog­ni­tive Aware­ness
   • Edu­ca­tors can help stu­dents devel­op metacog­ni­tive aware­ness by encour­ag­ing reflec­tion on their learn­ing process, mon­i­tor­ing their under­stand­ing, and iden­ti­fy­ing areas of con­fu­sion or uncer­tain­ty.
   • They can teach stu­dents strate­gies for self-assess­ment, self-reg­u­la­tion, and self-cor­rec­tion, empow­er­ing them to take own­er­ship of their learn­ing jour­ney.
6. Offer Scaf­fold­ing and Sup­port
   • Edu­ca­tors can pro­vide scaf­fold­ing and sup­port to help stu­dents nav­i­gate the chal­lenges asso­ci­at­ed with the thresh­old con­cept.
   • This may involve break­ing down com­plex tasks into man­age­able steps, pro­vid­ing guid­ed prac­tice and feed­back, and offer­ing addi­tion­al resources or instruc­tion­al assis­tance as need­ed.
7. Cre­ate a Safe Learn­ing Envi­ron­ment
   • Edu­ca­tors can cre­ate a safe and sup­port­ive learn­ing envi­ron­ment where stu­dents feel com­fort­able tak­ing risks, mak­ing mis­takes, and ask­ing ques­tions relat­ed to the thresh­old con­cept.
   • They can fos­ter a growth mind­set by empha­siz­ing the val­ue of per­sis­tence, effort, and resilience in the face of chal­lenges.
8. Dif­fer­en­ti­ate Instruc­tion
   • Edu­ca­tors can dif­fer­en­ti­ate instruc­tion to meet the diverse needs of stu­dents fac­ing the thresh­old con­cept.
   • This may involve pro­vid­ing addi­tion­al enrich­ment oppor­tu­ni­ties for stu­dents who grasp the con­cept quick­ly, offer­ing extra sup­port for strug­gling stu­dents, and adapt­ing instruc­tion­al mate­ri­als to accom­mo­date var­i­ous learn­ing styles and pref­er­ences.