Threshold Concepts and Conceptions

Abstract

This article explores how insights from the broader education literature on threshold concepts and conceptions can be applied to improve the teaching of undergraduate introductory management courses. The authors propose that these courses are underpinned by the threshold conception, or “underlying game,” that management is a practice informed by theory. This threshold conception is both troublesome and transformative for novice management students. Using the redesign of the undergraduate introductory management course the authors teach as an exemplar, they demonstrate how student learning can be improved by designing learning activities and assessment that help students “see” the threshold conception that connects management theory and practice.