Threshold Concepts, Decoding the discipline, Integrative learning, Higher Education, Teaching and Learning
The 6th Annual Conference of the National Academy for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning (NAIRTL) and the 4th Biennial Threshold Concepts Conference was held at Trinity College Dublin on 27-29 June 2012.
The conference theme – From Personal Practice to Communities of Practice –
challenged us to broaden our views of the idea that there are disciplinary and
interdisciplinary Threshold Concepts. We looked at our own practice from new perspectives and extended our understanding of co-existing concepts
and frameworks.
We were delighted to bring the 4th Threshold Concepts Conference to Ireland. This year’s conference aimed to build on the successes of previous Threshold Concepts conferences which were held in Sydney, Ontario and Glasgow, and to support the development of new connections and collaborations. We welcomed close to 300 delegates, representing sixteen countries on four
continents, and feel that many new connections have been made, and the nascent Threshold
Concept community in Ireland will develop and flourish.
At each Threshold Concepts conference ideas are developed and move forward. This year was no exception as we debated the sub-themes of Engaging Students with Threshold Concepts, Interdisciplinary Threshold Concepts, Threshold Concepts in Professional Development, and New
Developments in Threshold Concepts. This publication contains a selection of papers from the conference. The papers provide insights into how we can apply the Threshold Concepts idea to gain a deeper understanding of how students learn, and also how we can use it to gain new ways of
looking at our own disciplines.
We hope that this publication will be of use to scholars and practitioners who are interested in the idea of Threshold Concepts to advance student learning.