Identifying and Overcoming Threshold Concepts and Conceptions

Abstract

Educators have been challenged to identify threshold concepts and develop transformed students. This stands in stark contrast to many curriculum design and delivery models that currently view students as repositories of knowledge. In this article, we argue that educators can reach both goals, identify stumbling blocks and transforming students, through purposeful and insightful blending of a curriculum design and delivery using a conception-focused curriculum (CFC) to design courses built on the integration of concepts and viewing them through the lens of the discipline. This process takes advantage of the student’s previous knowledge and their natural learning tendencies. Educators that use the CFC model will identify threshold concepts, design learning activities that support learning outcomes, access prior knowledge and understandings, and guide students to overcome learning barriers.