Information Literacy 707

Reflection on lecture of 22 August 2017

Threshold Concepts and the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education

I really enjoyed this lecture. It was so informative. We covered the following concepts and frameworks in class:

Threshold Concept

Learning is a steady progression. It is impossible to predict how any individual will learn concepts and new information. We can test their learning abilities yes, but not know with accuracy how students understand new information.

Learning as a "stepped" pattern.

Here questions are asked concerning the learners:

How is learning acquired?
What is the learner experiencing?

Students will now understand better, and try to remember and revise.

Learning as a series of slopes and steps:

Learning is like trying to climb a hill. Learner sees the top of the hill, but on the way there he/she experience struggles. Eventually when they reach the top, they discover there are other hills to climb. So what are these struggles in the Threshold Concept? These struggles are understanding new concepts. At first you don't understand and you feel anxious, because you are confused as a student, but the more you hear these concepts, the more you understand them. It is a process. You learn bits and pieces at a time. Not all students learn the same way. Meyer and Land came up with the Threshold Concept theory, which is "premised on the notion that, in all disciplines, there are certain concepts, or certain learning experiences, which are akin to passing through a portal, permitting the learner to enter new conceptual territory in which things formerly not perceived are brought into view. These learning thresholds are often the points at which students experience difficulty." In other words, students are reaching enlightenment at the end of the portal or tunnel. The Threshold Concept is based on work emanating. It is a portal or gateway gaining a new view of a subject. It is a "liminal", place where anxiety is experienced. Student find him/herself in space which is challenging, unsettling, where the student may become "stuck".

Learner progression:
Learner got a "Basic Understanding" of a concept.
Progression toward  more sophisticated understanding.

Traversing the threshold.
Over the threshold through continued exposure. You form your way of understanding once you over the threshold. Your behaviour & disposition will eventually change. When your thinking changes you start to think like a professional.

Threshold Concepts:
Geology - the scale of geolic time
Economics - oportunity cost
Accounting - depreciation
Biology - photosynthesis
Rhetoric Studies - Genres

According to Meyer and Land there is no easy method of learning. It is a messy journey where you move back and forth all the time.

Characteristics of Threshold:

Transformative: Once you understand it, a transformation takes place. You will have a new way of thinking. New perspective. Now you will start to think and behave like a professional does. Once the student has  internalised the concept that scholarship is a conversation, she/he will understand a scholarly article, and that it is not a stand-alone document in a database. It is not just one voice, but a conversation among experts.

Integrative: Exposes the hidden interrelatedness of a phenomenon. It allows you to integrate other disciplines into the threshold concept to create a better understanding. The aim is to get the learner to become a T-shape student.

Irreversible: Once understood, the learner is unlikely to forget it, and it cannot be unlearned. Once grasped, it cannot be ungrasped in other words.

Bounded: It is unique to a discipline, beyond reasonable doubt. Define academic territories. Certain terms are bound to certain disciplines.

Troublesome: When the student struggle to understand the concept. It is like you hit a road block in your learning. Student is not familiar with certain concepts. It is still very new to him/her. As a result, the student will feel anxious and find concepts difficult.

Liminal (transitional) space: The learner is between understanding the information, and a state of achievement and self doubt.

After the lecture we wrote a test just to check if we understood what we learnt thus far.