ERIC Number: EJ1246152
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0307-5079
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
The Difference between Troublesome Knowledge and Threshold Concepts
Studies in Higher Education, v45 n3 p665-676 2020
It has been stated that a criterion of a threshold concept is that it is troublesome or difficult to understand. However, not all difficult concepts are also threshold concepts. This article explores this difference through the context of students' difficulties in learning prosthetics and two models of describing threshold concepts. Students and staff at two UK universities teaching prosthetics and orthotics participated in interviews and questionnaires. Data were analysed using an interpretative phenomenological analysis approach. Five themes of difficulty emerged from the data, two of which were difficult concepts and three of which were difficult and threshold concepts. These themes involved issues with numbers, the human body, disciplinary language, gait and a holistic perspective. The differentiation was that threshold concepts involved both conceptual and ontological transformation and the use of procedural concepts with associated memories in order to develop disciplinary ways of viewing a concept.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Fundamental Concepts, Difficulty Level, Assistive Technology, Numbers, Human Body, Jargon, Psychomotor Skills, Holistic Approach, Allied Health Occupations Education, College Students
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: United Kingdom
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A