"Treshold Concepts"

 

 

I have already write about threshold concepts and this is just what I also want to add.According to Jan Meyer & Ray Land “A threshold concept can be considered as akin to a portal, opening up a new and previously inaccessible way of thinking about something. It represents a transformed way of understanding, or interpreting, or viewing something without which the learner cannot progress.” The new framework is organized around threshold concepts.

They are transformative. That is to say, once student grasps the ‘threshold concept‘it changes the way a student thinks about a subject. It is also highly likely to be troublesome for the student. It may seem counter-intuitive, or at best, really difficult to grasp. Yet, once understood, it can make subsequent learning feel more intuitive or ‘easy‘. It is irreversible. Once grasped, the student would find it difficult to unlearn. It is integrative. That is to say that once learned, the concept helps unify aspects of the subject that may not have appeared related to the student (this is most important for me). It may completely shift the view that the student has towards the subject. This new knowledge is enhanced by an extended and improved use of language. Grasping a ‘threshold concept‘will not happen in any twenty minute lesson snapshot. There is no simple shift from easy to hard overnight. It requires revisiting and reinforcement, but the rewards can be profound for our students. In different subjects there will be crucial ‘threshold concepts‘that, once understood, can give students the essential foundation for learning.

Each frame represents what is known as a “threshold concept.” A threshold concept is an educational term that refers to a concept or attitude that students have to reach or grasp before they can progress to higher levels of understanding and mastery. Meyer and Land (2005) initially coined the use of this phrase, describing threshold concepts as “conceptual gateways or portals that lead to a previously inaccessible, and initially perhaps troublesome, way of thinking about something” (p. 373). In the Framework for Information Literacy, each threshold concept is accompanied by a set of actions or behaviors (“knowledge practices”) and attitudes (“dispositions”) that are exhibited by learners who have successfully crossed that knowledge threshold.

The idea of a Threshold Concept makes perfect sense once you hear about it. It’s those pieces of knowledge that change who you are as a person and how you see the world. You cannot unlearn them. The example that I found most amazing is my studies in library science because after I am finished with my studies, I will not see the world the same, work is different and my expectations for my own role will change. The Framework like the standards before it acknowledges that each information literacy concept will look different depending on the discipline. The Framework lists six information literacy threshold concepts:

Scholarship is a Conversation

Research as Inquiry

Authority is Contextual and Constructed

Format as a Process

Searching as Exploration

Information has Value

Videos

http://vimeo.com/27431270

http://bit.ly/1UbGsno

Applying Threshold Concepts to different disciplines:

w.doceo.co.uk/tools/threshold_3.htm

Social Learning Theory

Social learning theory (Albert Bandura) posits that learning is a cognitive process that takes place in a social context and can occur purely through observation or direct instruction, even in the absence of motor reproduction or direct reinforcement.It was Albert Bandura's intention to explain how children learn in social environments by observing and then imitating the behaviour of others. In essence, be believed that learning could not be fully explained simply through reinforcement, but that the presence of others was also an influence. He noticed that the consequences of an observed behaviour often determined whether or not children adopted the behaviour themselves. Through a series of experiments, he watched children as they observed adults attacking bobo dolls. When hit, the dolls fell over and then bounced back up again. Then children were then let loose, and imitated the aggressive behaviour of the adults. However, when they observed adults acting aggressively and then being punished, Bandura noted that the children were less willing to imitate the aggressive behaviour themselves.

From his research Bandura formulated four principles of social learning. These were:

• Attention. We cannot learn if we are not focused on the task. If we see something as being novel or different in some way, we are more likely to make it the focus of their attention. Social contexts help to reinforce these perceptions.

• Retention. We learn by internalising information in our memories. We recall that information later when we are required to respond to a situation that is similar the situation within which we first learnt the information.

• Reproduction. We reproduce previously learnt information (behaviour, skills, knowledge) when required. However, practice through mental and physical rehearsal often improves our responses.

• Motivation. We need to be motivated to do anything. Often that motivation originates from our observation of someone else being rewarded or punished for something they have done or said. This usually motivates us later to do, or avoid doing, the same thing.

How it can be applied to education

Social modelling is a very powerful method of education. If children see positive consequences from a particular type of behaviour, they are more likely to repeat that behaviour themselves. Conversely, if negative consequences are the result, they are less likely to perform that behaviour. Novel and unique contexts often capture students' attention, and can stand out in the memory. Students are more motivated to pay attention if they see others around them also paying attention. Another less obvious application of this theory is to encourage students to develop their individual self efficacy through confidence building and constructive feedback, a concept that is rooted in social learning theory. http://psychology.about.com/od/developmentalpsychology/a/sociallearning.htm .
This site gives you an brief overview of the social learning theory.

Cognitivism

 

This theory was founded by father Jean Piaget and it’s based on the thought process behind the behaviour. Changes in behaviour are observed, and used as indicators as to what is happening inside the learner's mind. Cognitive theory describes how learners think and process content and learning experiences. Following an information processing model of instruction, cognitive centers on concepts like attention, cognitive load, encoding and schemata. Cognitive seeks to identify ways to minimize the cognitive load of learners and assist them in encoding what they study Content is presented in chunks which facilitates comprehension and memorization. In Cognitive theory, learners are encouraged to apply principles of the content to real world examples, and to critique relevant viewpoints, principles and tenets.Cognitive theorists recognize that much learning involves associations established through contiguity and repetition just like the behaviorist do. They also acknowledge the importance of reinforcement, although they stress its role in providing feedback about the correctness of responses over its role as a motivator. However, even while accepting such behaviorist concepts, cognitive theorists view learning as involving the acquisition or reorganization of the cognitive structures through which humans process and store information. Gestalt views of learning have been incorporated into what have come to be labeled cognitive theories. Two key assumptions underlie this cognitive approach: (1) that the memory system is an active organized processor of information and (2) that prior knowledge plays an important role in learning. Cognitive theories look beyond behaviour to explain brain-based learning. Cognitivists consider how human memory works to promote learning. For example, the physiological processes of sorting and encoding information and events into short term and long term memory are important to educators working under the cognitive theory. The major difference between Gestaltists and behaviorists is the locus of control over the learning activity: the individual learner is more key to gestaltists than the environment that behaviorists emphasize The advantage of this approach is that the learner in this approach reflects and obtains a reason for doing a particular thing and actually takes part in the operation thus gaining experience. Why the disadvantage is that the memory of the child is over worked upon.

Benjamin Bloom, became one of the most influential theorists to promote mastery learning and higher level thinking. The epitome of Bloom’s work was intentionally focused on organizing educational objectives according to their cognitive complexity. Bloom was interested in providing a useful practical tool that was congruent with what was understood about the features of the higher mental processes. Thus, he created Blooms Taxonomy. He discovered that the higher order thinking was dependent on the level that preceded it. In other words, students needed to be able to recall information to then comprehend, to analyze, then to apply it, and so on. Bloom discovered that the goal of teaching needed to be geared toward the designing of tasks so students were led to the realization of the objectives vs. given the objectives for recall. Recently, Bloom's Taxonomy has been revisited and revised after determining that Synthesis was a higher thinking process than evaluation. It was also revised to show "verbs" instead of "nouns."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jt3-PIC2nCs :
Learn about the stages and developmental milestones in Piaget's theory of cognitive development.

Behaviourism

 

This theory is based on the observable changes in behaviour. Behaviourism focuses on a new behavioural pattern being repeated until it becomes automatic. The theory of behaviourism concentrates on the study of overt behaviours that can be observed and measured. It views the mind as a "black box" in the sense that response to stimulus can be observed quantitatively, totally ignoring the possibility of thought processes occurring in the mind. Some key players in the development of the behaviourist theory were Pavlov and Skinner. In essence, three basic assumptions are held to be true. First, learning is manifested by a change in behaviour. Secondly, the environment shapes behaviour and thirdly, the principles of contiguity (how close in time two events must be for a bond to be formed) and reinforcement (any means of increasing the likelihood that an event will be repeated) are central to explaining the learning process. For behaviourism, learning is the acquisition of new behaviour through conditioning.
The advantage of this approach is that it gives the learner an opportunity to acquire sufficient knowledge while spending little time trying to construct the knowledge. The disadvantage is that a child easily forgets what he has memorized immediately he stops practicing and this approach out rightly rejects any role of subjective experience in the learning process.
Guys read this article its quite understandable and very interesting with nice colourful pictures and there is also some questions at the end: peoplelearn.homestead.com/beduc/chapter_4.pdf 

Some of the important learning theories

• Behaviourism
• Cognitivism
• Social learning 
• Constructivism

Defining the theories

 

Learning is commonly defined as a process that brings together cognitive, emotional, environmental influences and experiences for acquiring, enhancing, or making changes in one's knowledge, skills, values, and world views. Learning as a process focuses on what happens when learning takes place. Explanations of what happens constitute learning theories. A learning theory is a description of how people and animals reason, thereby helping us to understand the inherently complex process of learning. Learning theories have two chief values. One is in providing us with vocabulary and a conceptual framework for interpreting the examples of learning that we observe. The other is in suggesting where to look for solutions to practical problems. The theories do not give us solutions, but they do direct our attention to those variables that are crucial in finding solutions.

Learning Theories

I was not able to attend the class on the 21 July but have done some reading and have now a better understanding of learning theories. A learning theory (or theories) helps understand how people learn, thereby assisting educators, trainers and facilitators reflect on their educational practices.

"Threshold Concepts"

 

In the class last week the lecturer also mention “threshold concepts” and I was very curious to found out what it is and what it entails, so I have read the article of Meyer and Land and they suggest that in order to progress in our learning we need to cross thresholds, moving from our old way of understanding or perceiving something, to a new way. 



 

 

Once we've crossed that threshold, we can't go back to the old way of understanding. They suggest that threshold concepts involve "troublesome knowledge", a great term for expressing the fact that accepting a new idea can be challenging and that learning may not be comfortable. Ray emphasised that crossing a threshold implies moving from a safe to a riskier space so learning requires stepping into the unknown. We may exist in a state of liminality for a while, oscillating between known and unknown, old and new. "Getting it" can be instant, or can be a gradual process. I think this concept is very relevant to information literacy. Ray also talked about the importance of language and how changes in language can affect threshold concepts, very pertinent to the way in which we have developed lenses for the Seven Pillars model.

 

I've always thought that in terms of IL, there are different communities to be considered in terms of threshold concepts. It's not just about challenging students to become more information literate, academic staff,  library staff and university leaders all have thresholds to cross so that we all have a similar understanding. Ray mentioned a useful website maintained by Mick Flanagan at UCL, which brings together all the references to threshold concepts that he has found. Sadly, he has classified Information Literacy under Library Studies, maybe a threshold concept for Mick there! However, there are some useful papers listed and it's great to see the topic being applied to IL. I'm sure this book: Meyer, J.H.F., Land, R. & Baillie, C. (2010). Threshold Concepts and Transformational Learning. You can also watch the slide share at http://www.slideshare.net/tmackey/ct-conference11 to get a better understanding of why threshold concepts are integrated in IL.