From Confusion to Clarity: Understanding Threshold Concepts

In many learning situations, there are moments when a student’s understanding shifts in a significant way. A topic that a few minutes ago looked confusing suddenly makes sense, and from that point forward, the student sees the subject differently. A threshold concept represents this transformative point in learning. Once a learner grasps it, their understanding of a subject becomes qualitatively different.

Consider the concept of verb tenses in English. For experienced English speakers or teachers, the difference between simple, continuous, and perfect tenses is effortless. The understanding is so deeply internalised that they no longer remember what it was like to struggle with these distinctions. They automatically know when to say I have been working instead of I worked, without consciously thinking about why.

For many young or inexperienced learners, however, verb tenses are a big source of confusion. They might memorise the rules for forming tenses but still struggle to understand what those forms actually communicate about time and completeness. At times, they may use it correctly in a sentence, and other times, completely miss the mark.

In this case, verb tenses function as a threshold concept. Once learners truly understand how English expresses time and action, their entire view of how sentences are constructed changes. But for the teacher.

Meyer and Land also introduce the notion of a liminal space, which is the transitional phase that learners enter while grappling with a threshold concept. In this phase, the learner's understanding is unstable. Students may fluctuate between partial insight and confusion. This period can be uncomfortable for the student and also a bit frustrating for educators when their student is in this state of ups and downs. Recognising this helps educators interpret confusion as a natural and productive stage in conceptual change rather than a lack of ability.

Identifying Threshold Concepts in Practice

One practical starting point is to look for concepts that consistently create bottlenecks in learning. These are ideas that students struggle to grasp, but once they do, their performance and confidence noticeably improve. They often tend to share these characteristics:

• Transformative: changing the learner’s perception or identity within the discipline.
• Irreversible: once understood, the learner is unlikely to return to their prior way of thinking.
• Integrative: exposing the interconnections between ideas that previously looked unrelated.
• Bounded: they define the borders of a specific discipline or way of knowing.
• Troublesome, because they challenge existing assumptions or require letting go of prior misconceptions.

It's worth noting that identifying threshold concepts is not the same as finding difficult topics. Many difficult ideas are simply complicated, not transformative. Collaboration with other educators helps make identifying threshold concepts in the field you teach more effective. Similarly, collecting feedback from students about where their thinking “clicked” or changed also provides valuable insights.

Navigating the Liminal Space

Once students encounter a threshold concept, they usually enter what Meyer and Land describe as the liminal space (a transitional zone between not knowing and full understanding). This is a stage in the learning process where understanding is still forming, and uncertainty is common.

In the liminal space, students might use new terminology correctly one day and revert to older, less accurate explanations the next. This back-and-forth movement is typical. Learning here involves fluctuations as students test, refine, and sometimes reject ideas on the path toward a new conceptual framework.

From an instructional perspective, this phase requires sensitivity and structure. Educators play a vital role by creating environments that normalise uncertainty and encourage persistence.

• Encouraging metacognition: Helping students reflect on how they are learning makes them more aware of their progress and struggles.
• Providing scaffolding: Structured tasks, examples, and guided practice help bridge the gap between unfamiliar and familiar knowledge.
• Using dialogue and discussion: Talking through emerging ideas helps students articulate their reasoning and confront misconceptions.
• Offering formative feedback: Timely, low-stakes feedback allows students to adjust their understanding without fear of failure.

The liminal space involves both the cognitive and the emotional. This means students may feel uncertain about their abilities or even question their belonging within the discipline. Supporting affective dimensions of learning through encouragement, empathy, and patience goes a long way to make the difference between persistence and disengagement.

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References

Cousin, G. (2006). An introduction to threshold concepts. Planet, 17, 4–5. https://doi.org/10.11120/plan.2006.00170004

Cousin, G. (2008). Threshold concepts: Old wine in new bottles or a new form of transactional curriculum inquiry? In R. Land, J. H. F. Meyer, & J. Smith (Eds.), Threshold concepts within the disciplines (pp. 261–272). Sense Publishers.

Land, R., Cousin, G., Meyer, J. H. F., & Davies, P. (2005). Threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge (3): Implications for course design and evaluation. Improving Student Learning—Diversity and Inclusivity, 53–64. Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development.

Meyer, J. H. F., & Land, R. (2003). Threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge: Linkages to ways of thinking and practising within the disciplines. ETL Project Occasional Report 4. University of Edinburgh.

Meyer, J. H. F., & Land, R. (2005). Threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge (2): Epistemological considerations and a conceptual framework for teaching and learning. Higher Education, 49(3), 373–388. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-004-6779-5

Perkins, D. (2006). Constructivism and troublesome knowledge. In J. H. F. Meyer & R. Land (Eds.), Overcoming barriers to student understanding: Threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge (pp. 33–47). Routledge.