By: Julie O'Hara on January 25, 2024
I have been trying to use the idea of threshold concepts to put language to what I have observed with ministerial development candidates during my participation in the annual interview process occurring every January. Candidates initially interview for their first district license, then every year for renewal culminating in a final interview to be recommended…
By: Chris Blackman on January 25, 2024
I am fascinated by this approach. I wish it had been taught to me when I was young, as I always struggled to learn. I had a brother who got straight A’s in every class he took. He never seemed to do homework, he never opened books, he wrote his own algebraic equations and came…
By: Joel Zantingh on January 25, 2024
I love the rich visual imagery in liminality, crossing a threshold from one room to another and embracing the experience of the known past, gathering it with the unknown future. As I read “Overcoming Barriers to Student Learning”, I appreciated that Jan H. F. Meyer and Ray Land did not explain the nature of any…
By: Daren Jaime on January 25, 2024
High school and college all-nighters were a constant in most of our educational upbringing. It feels just like yesterday. The agonizing thoughts surrounding an upcoming paper in that subject you were shaky in, or even worse, that dreaded midterm or final exam. Those memorable, miserable thoughts of reading, rereading, cramming, comprehending, anticipating, sweating, and then…
By: Jennifer Eckert on January 25, 2024
I did not find the topic of threshold concepts particularly exciting, certainly not one I would study by choice, but I understood the idea. After numerous starts and stops, and with a bit of prayer and coaching from my spouse, I opted to illustrate my notion of concept thresholds as it applies to social services,…
By: Kari on January 25, 2024
I looked at the required reading for this week. The overwhelming feelings were familiar, yet distant. Vague, yet far too real. Was it panic? Overwhelm? Annoyance? Resolve? As I skimmed the table of contents, looked at the chapter summaries, and started to read, déjà vu hit me. In fast-paced flashbacks as saw large colorful volumes:…
By: Elysse Burns on January 25, 2024
Bonjour. Je m’appelle Elysse. Je viens de Californie et j’ai étudié le français à Neuchâtel, en Suisse, pendant 10 mois. Hello. My name is Elysse. I am from California, and I studied French in Neuchatel, Switzerland for 10 months. This short introduction became my go-to presentation whenever I met someone during my time in Switzerland.…
By: Diane Tuttle on January 24, 2024
When reading about threshold concepts, the song “Toyland” began playing in my head. “Toyland, toyland little girl and boy land. While you dwell within it you are ever happy there.”[1] It is not a song that has been part of my repertoire. Several times I tried to push it aside not really wanting to be…
By: Nancy Blackman on January 24, 2024
As soon as I began reading this book, my mind traveled back in time to elementary school where I excelled in some subjects and struggled miserably in others. Then, as I made my way through middle school, I still excelled in the same subjects and struggled with others, mainly the math and science classes. In…
By: Christy on January 23, 2024
Threshold concepts (as described by Meyer and Land in Overcoming Barriers to Student Understanding)[1] are often studied by educators [2], however, the impact extends far beyond the scope of academia into most domains of life. Reflecting on my own experiences, I realized how threshold concepts played a pivotal role in reshaping my worldview, challenging preconceived…
By: Graham English on January 23, 2024
As a child, I was told by several teachers and other adults that, “Curiosity killed the cat.” Memorize. Practice. Regurgitate when tested. Asking questions meant that you were not grasping the subject, or worse stupid. So, I kept quiet. This was drilled into me as a child and a mindset I carried with me into…
By: Debbie Owen on January 23, 2024
I vaguely remember being in the choir room at the church where I grew up in northern NJ. The folding chairs were on risers where the choir members sat and rehearsed on Sunday mornings, including my parents. I remember peering cautiously beneath the risers, wondering if I could hide underneath them. I must have been…
By: Adam Cheney on January 23, 2024
I’ll be honest. The idea this week regarding threshold concepts was itself a threshold for me. It took me a while to wrap my head around the concepts of thresholds and liminality presented. Yet, when I made the idea a bit more abstract and took it away from the educational examples that were given, I…
By: Glyn Barrett on January 23, 2024
I enjoyed the overarching theme of the book Threshold Concepts, which revolves around transformative, integrative, and irreversible concepts that, once grasped, lead to a new way of thinking within a particular discipline. Meyer and Land argue that certain concepts are gateways to deeper understanding and disciplinary expertise. The very idea that there are transformative and…
By: Shela Sullivan on January 23, 2024
When I first flipped through the pages of the book, Overcoming Barriers to Student Understanding: Threshold Concepts and Troublesome Knowledge, a wave of questions inundated my mind. The initial thought that struck me was, how will I navigate through the contents of this book? Can I retain all this information? What insights am I expected…
By: Ryan Thorson on January 22, 2024
I found Meyers and Land’s book on Overcoming Barriers and Threshold concepts very insightful. It provided language and a framework for understanding different threshold moments in my own learning and education and how I can walk alongside others to support them in their learning and process as well. It was a good reminder that learning…
By: Jeff Styer on January 22, 2024
I picked up and began to read Overcoming Barriers to Student Understanding[1] and came across the concept of “Threshold Concept”[2] I began to wonder what threshold concepts I or my department teach. I am an assistant professor of social work at a small Christian liberal arts university located in the corn fields of Central Ohio. …
By: Jennifer Eckert on January 19, 2024
When I think about shiny, rich yellow gold, the mountains of Montana come to mind, especially the Garnet Mountain range that surrounds a tiny ghost town about 18 miles outside Missoula. This once hustling and bustling late 19th-century community now sits quiet and contained, locking history inside herself. To what and whom is her legacy?…
By: Akwese on January 19, 2024
In Tom Camacho’s “Mining for Gold,” he shares his own journey of what I call leading whole, which is leading from a deep belief that who you are, as you are, is complete, whole, and lacking nothing. It sounds easy enough but unfortunately, it isn’t. Camacho talks about this challenge we face regarding believing the…
By: Kari on January 18, 2024
Perched on the edge of the produce stand, the red caught my eye. As I picked it up, I could smell the berries through the packaging. Strawberries, one of my favorite fruits, are rarely seen in my city in North Africa. When they are available, the quality is questionable, and the price tag is extortionate.…
