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In this special issue we explore the idea that the field of educational development has threshold concepts: ideas about teaching and learning that have the power to transform the way educators understand the teaching and learning process and their role in it. Meyer and Land initially developed the threshold concept framework to describe aspects of students learning in economics in University settings in the United Kingdom (Meyer & Land, 2003). Since then, the framework has been applied to a wide range of disciplines, providing a heuristic for faculty to explore their own disciplines from a student perspective, and to use the results to enhance their teaching and their students' learning (see Cousin, 2010; Land, Cousin, Meyer, & Davies, 2006; Lucas & Mladenovic, 2007).
In order to put the contributions to this issue in context, we provide here a very brief description of the threshold concepts framework. For a more detailed introduction see Cousin (2006); and for more in depth coverage see three edited volumes by Meyer and Land (2006), Land, Meyer, and Smith (2008), and Meyer, Land, and Baillie (2010). If you want to fully immerse yourself in threshold concepts or search for applications to specific domains see the excellent website maintained by Flangan (2012).
A Brief Overview of Threshold Concepts
The threshold concepts framework helps educators focus on essential aspects of disciplinary knowledge. Threshold concepts are, by definition, challenging to learn. When a threshold concept is mastered, however, other significant disciplinary learning follows. This kind of knowledge is akin to a portal or doorway; once a learner has crossed the threshold, she is able to see and learn significant new things. Without crossing the threshold, that new learning is impossible. Two examples might be the concept of opportunity cost in economics (Davies «Sc Mangan, 2007; 2010) or the concept oí function in mathematics (Pettersson, 2012). In both cases, developing a deep understanding of that concept not only allows the learner to grasp important new disciplinary material, but it also reshapes how the learner sees other aspects of the world. A student who masters opportunity cost, for example, will not only be able to grasp advanced economics knowledge, but she also may think differently about the choices she makes about whether to do her...