This article outlines the recently developed idea of "Threshold Concepts" and explains how this idea may be used to describe the progress of learning in economics. The authors examine the relationship between threshold concepts, key concepts and conceptual change and suggest that a distinction between basic, discipline and procedural…

Two lessons from comparable undergraduate courses in physics and engineering are analyzed to identify content, issues emphasized, and concepts used. Differences reflecting the pure nature of one field (physics) in contrast to the applied nature of the other are identified. Implications for classroom instruction and for research on college teaching…