Date post: | 20-Mar-2017 |
Category: |
Education |
Upload: | lane-wilkinson |
View: | 6,130 times |
Download: | 1 times |
RECONSIDERING THRESHOLD CONCEPTSA critical appraisal of the ACRL Framework for
Information Literacy
LOEX 2015 – Denver, COLane Wilkinson – University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
CC-BY-NC-ND https://www.flickr.com/photos/mezzoblue/3268915152/
Where I’m not going
CC BY https://www.flickr.com/photos/aloha75/10282887855
Today’s sampler
What is threshold concept theory (TCT)?
Where does TCT
break down?
How does TCT limit the ACRL Framewor
k?
Where do we go from here?
CC BY-NC-ND, https://www.flickr.com/photos/maryatuab/6787202614/
What is Threshold Concept Theory?
CC-BY-NC-ND https://www.flickr.com/photos/woordenaar/16441044465/
Liminality
CC-BY-NC-SA https://www.flickr.com/photos/theenmoy/14960354631/
Threshold Concept theory was inspired by the anthropological concept of liminality.
Are there liminal spaces in learning?
Threshold Concepts
CC BY-NC-ND https://www.flickr.com/photos/renedepaula/6014699888/
Jan H. F. (Erik) Meyer
Univ. of Queensland
Ray LandUniv. of Strathclyde
The founders of threshold concept theory
Threshold Concepts
“akin to a portal, opening up a new and previously inaccessible way of
thinking about something.”
-Meyer & Land, 2003
CC BY-NC-ND https://www.flickr.com/photos/renedepaula/6014699888/
Threshold Concepts
“a transformed way of understanding…without which the
learner cannot progress.”
-Meyer & Land, 2003
CC BY-NC-ND https://www.flickr.com/photos/renedepaula/6014699888/
Threshold Concepts
“how people ‘think’ in a particular discipline”
-Meyer & Land, 2003
CC BY-NC-ND https://www.flickr.com/photos/renedepaula/6014699888/
Threshold Concepts
An analytical theory that speaks to how students gain mastery over
specific domains of knowledge (i.e. disciplines)
CC BY-NC-ND https://www.flickr.com/photos/renedepaula/6014699888/
Threshold Concepts
Five Characteristics:
1. Transformative2. Probably irreversible3. Integrative4. Possibly often (though not
necessarily always) bounded5. Potentially troublesome
-Meyer & Land, 2003
CC BY-NC-ND https://www.flickr.com/photos/renedepaula/6014699888/
Threshold Concepts
These are not “core concepts”
“a core concept…has to be understood but it does not
necessarily lead to a qualitatively different view of subject matter.”
-Meyer & Land, 2003
CC BY-NC-ND https://www.flickr.com/photos/renedepaula/6014699888/
Threshold Concepts and Information Literacy
Townsend, Brunetti, & Hofer, 2011• ACRL Standards are
of limited useLibrary instruction
should be reframed in terms of “big ideas” and
“core tasks”
CC BY-NC-ND https://www.flickr.com/photos/renedepaula/6014699888/
Threshold Concepts and Information Literacy
Townsend, Brunetti, & Hofer, 2011• ACRL Standards are
of limited use• Threshold concepts
can help identify “big ideas”
“information literacy instructors…expose
students to the threshold concepts of librarians’ discipline–
information science–and help students to cross
them.” CC BY-NC-ND https://www.flickr.com/photos/renedepaula/6014699888/
Threshold Concepts and Information Literacy
Townsend, Brunetti, & Hofer, 2011• ACRL Standards are
of limited use• Threshold concepts
can help identify “big ideas”
• And inform our teaching
“a way to focus and prioritize instructional content and…engaged
teaching.”
CC BY-NC-ND https://www.flickr.com/photos/renedepaula/6014699888/
TCT & the ACRL
June 2012: ACRL Board votes to revise Standards
March 2013: Task Force foundedFeb. 20, 2014: Draft 1, Part 1Apr. 4, 2014: Draft 1, Part 2Jun. 17, 2014: Draft 2Nov. 12, 2014: Draft 3Jan 12, 2015: ACRL Board files the
Framework
CC BY-NC-ND https://www.flickr.com/photos/cellphonesusie/5579103341/
Where Threshold Concepts Break
Down
CC-BY-NC-SA https://www.flickr.com/photos/jmkuchta/102288877/
CriticismRowbottom, 2007; O’Donnell, 2010; Walker, 2013; Wilkinson, 2014• Troublesome
knowledge is agent-relative
What’s troublesome for me may not be
troublesome for you.
TCT implies that all (or at least most) learners learn
the same way and struggle with the same
things for the same reasons
CC-BY-NC-SA https://www.flickr.com/photos/flysi/153021189/
CriticismRowbottom, 2007; O’Donnell, 2010; Walker, 2013; Wilkinson, 2014• Troublesome
knowledge is agent-relative
• Disciplines are not unified
Experts disagree.
So, whose threshold concepts are we
teaching?
CC-BY-NC-SA https://www.flickr.com/photos/flysi/153021189/
CriticismRowbottom, 2007; O’Donnell, 2010; Walker, 2013; Wilkinson, 2014• Troublesome
knowledge is agent-relative
• Disciplines are not unified
Experts disagree.
For example, do the thresholds in psychology
arise in behavioral psychology?
Cognitive psychology? Psychoanalysis?
CC-BY-NC-SA https://www.flickr.com/photos/flysi/153021189/
CriticismRowbottom, 2007; O’Donnell, 2010; Walker, 2013; Wilkinson, 2014• Troublesome
knowledge is agent-relative
• Disciplines are not unified
Experts disagree.
Even in information literacy.
I don’t think that the scholarship is a conversation.
Does that mean I am not information literate?
CC-BY-NC-SA https://www.flickr.com/photos/flysi/153021189/
CriticismRowbottom, 2007; O’Donnell, 2010; Walker, 2013; Wilkinson, 2014• Troublesome
knowledge is agent-relative
• Disciplines are not unified
Experts disagree.
Or are we asked to carve every discipline up into myriad non-overlapping
sub-disciplines?
CC-BY-NC-SA https://www.flickr.com/photos/flysi/153021189/
CriticismRowbottom, 2007; O’Donnell, 2010; Walker, 2013; Wilkinson, 2014• Troublesome
knowledge is agent-relative
• Disciplines are not unified
• Reinforces siloing
Threshold concepts do not play nicely with interdisciplinarity.
CC-BY-NC-SA https://www.flickr.com/photos/flysi/153021189/
CriticismRowbottom, 2007; O’Donnell, 2010; Walker, 2013; Wilkinson, 2014• Troublesome
knowledge is agent-relative
• Disciplines are not unified
• Reinforces siloing
For example, the concept of ‘information’ is
different in librarianship and engineering.
Given that TCs are irreversible, what is an engineering librarian
going to do?CC-BY-NC-SA https://www.flickr.com/photos/flysi/153021189/
CriticismRowbottom, 2007; O’Donnell, 2010; Walker, 2013; Wilkinson, 2014• Troublesome
knowledge is agent-relative
• Disciplines are not unified
• Reinforces siloing• Lack of research
TCs are informed by expert opinion.
But has anyone asked the students?
Where is the empirical research?
CC-BY-NC-SA https://www.flickr.com/photos/flysi/153021189/
Threshold Concepts & The
ACRL Framework
CC-BY-NC https://www.flickr.com/photos/96dpi/1063145950/
CC-BY-NC-SA https://www.flickr.com/photos/dontoine/6015067182/
The Standards need to go
• Not in line with other orgs (AASL, SCONUL)
• No guidance on visual and digital literacy-ACRL IL Competency Standards Review Task Force, 2012
Not entirelyCC-BY-NC-SA https://www.flickr.com/photos/stevegarfield/7410285204/
Is the Framework the right choice?
CC-BY-NC-SA https://www.flickr.com/photos/pah57/3781487784/
Rethinking the Framework1. Descriptive but not explanatory
2. No connection to Standards3. Assessment troubles
4. Problem of disciplinarity5. Lack of research6. Core concepts?
CC-BY-NC https://www.flickr.com/photos/e06158/2956432732/
1. The Framework is not explanatory
The Standards were prescriptive
Think of a footrace.The Standards focused on the finish line
The Framework is descriptive
CC-BY-NC https://www.flickr.com/photos/psi_mon/3473153641/
1. The Framework is not explanatory
The Framework shifts our attention to the obstacles
But what’s the broader picture?
CC-BY-NC https://www.flickr.com/photos/25145688@N04/8674931131/
1. The Framework is not explanatory
It’s still a one-sided account of info literacy
What are the Frames gateways into?
CC-BY-NC https://www.flickr.com/photos/25145688@N04/8674931131/
1. The Framework is not explanatory
We need both description and prescription (explanation)
This is intentional
CC-BY-SA https://www.flickr.com/photos/cogdog/8426054506/
2. The Framework does not connect to the Standards
“The existence of Standards undermines
the purpose of the Framework”
-Swanson, 2015
Problem: Librarians are going to try
CC-BY-SA https://www.flickr.com/photos/cogdog/8426054506/
2. The Framework does not connect to the Standards
“It is NOT counterproductive to map the IL Standards to the IL Framework”
- Dalal, 2015
Problem: The Standards are still here
CC-BY-SA https://www.flickr.com/photos/cogdog/8426054506/
2. The Framework does not connect to the Standards
“Filed by the ACRL Board February 2,
2015, as one of the constellation of
information literacy documents from the association.”
The ACRL is promoting two conflicting documents
CC-BY-SA https://www.flickr.com/photos/cogdog/8426054506/
2. The Framework does not connect to the Standards
“Filed by the ACRL Board February 2,
2015, as one of the constellation of
information literacy documents from the association.”
Like it or not, we have to assess
CC-BY-ND https://www.flickr.com/photos/petroleumjelliffe/8376835399/
3. What about assessment?
Problem: The Framework resists assessment
CC-BY-ND https://www.flickr.com/photos/petroleumjelliffe/8376835399/
3. What about assessment?
“flexible options for implementation, rather
than…a set of standards, learning
outcomes, or any prescriptive enumeration of
skills.”
Problem: The Framework resists assessment
CC-BY-ND https://www.flickr.com/photos/petroleumjelliffe/8376835399/
3. What about assessment?
“it’s impossible to adequately describe a
learning goal to students who haven’t yet achieved
that goal.”
-Meyer & Land, 2010
Problem: The Framework resists assessment
CC-BY-ND https://www.flickr.com/photos/petroleumjelliffe/8376835399/
3. What about assessment?If we’re going to adopt
threshold concept theory we have to abandon
assessment.
Or, we can do the work and explain how Meyer and
Land are wrong on assessment.
So, who’s going to do that?
CC-BY https://www.flickr.com/photos/pigpilot/8648649408/
4. Issues of disciplinary identity
“information literacy is a disciplinary and a transdisciplinary learning agenda”
-ACRL Framework
Problem: is information literacy a discipline?
“Think like a __________________”mathematician.
CC-BY https://www.flickr.com/photos/pigpilot/8648649408/
4. Issues of disciplinary identity
Problem: Who do we want them to think like?
Threshold Concept Theory is about the troublesome spaces that separate novices
from experts.
“Think like a __________________”chemist.
CC-BY https://www.flickr.com/photos/pigpilot/8648649408/
4. Issues of disciplinary identity
Problem: Who do we want them to think like?
Threshold Concept Theory is about the troublesome spaces that separate novices
from experts.
“Think like a __________________”English professor.
CC-BY https://www.flickr.com/photos/pigpilot/8648649408/
4. Issues of disciplinary identity
Problem: Who do we want them to think like?
Threshold Concept Theory is about the troublesome spaces that separate novices
from experts.
“Think like a __________________”librarian?
CC-BY https://www.flickr.com/photos/pigpilot/8648649408/
4. Issues of disciplinary identity
Problem: Who do we want them to think like?
Threshold Concept Theory is about the troublesome spaces that separate novices
from experts.
CC-BY-SA https://www.flickr.com/photos/ryawesome/4279981607/
5. Lack of research
The Delphi Study?
CC-BY-SA https://www.flickr.com/photos/ryawesome/4279981607/
5. Lack of research
Problem: The right methodology?
Delphi Methodology
1950s RAND CorporationForecasting the otherwise untestable
Diverse group of expertsAnonymous peer collaboration
CC-BY-SA https://www.flickr.com/photos/ryawesome/4279981607/
5. Lack of research
Problem: Why this methodology?
Is student learning otherwise untestable?
Are these findings backed up by any other research? Can they be?
CC-BY-SA https://www.flickr.com/photos/ryawesome/4279981607/
5. Lack of research
Problem: Whose Frames are these?
Who came up with these Frames?
Who are the experts? How diverse are they?
Do they represent your library?
CC BY-ND https://www.flickr.com/photos/craige/3783034877/
6. Where are the core concepts?
Problem: Threshold concepts are not core concepts
Recall that Meyer & Land are explicit about this.
So, what are the core concepts of information literacy?
CC BY-ND https://www.flickr.com/photos/craige/3783034877/
6. Where are the core concepts?
Problem: Threshold concepts are not core concepts
Threshold concepts are few and far between in student learning.
So what are we teaching in between?
What comes before and after the threshold?
CC-BY-NC-SA https://www.flickr.com/photos/anotherpintplease/8017018077/
Bonus: Even the Threshold Concepts guy is skeptical!
• “What are these frames…entries into? Because they’re not entry into your profession.”
• “[Trying to introduce assessment]…reverts back to measuring skills and outcomes. We’re a bit wary about that.”
• Covering this in a one-shot seems “a bit of a tall order”
-Land, 2015 LILAC Conference
Where do we go from here?
The Framework is a great document
but with limited scope CC B
Y-N
C htt
ps:/
/ww
w.fl
ickr
.com
/pho
tos/
visu
aliti
es/1
5981
5673
/
It’s just one beer in the six-pack
CC BY https://www.flickr.com/photos/pagedooley/14554179051/
Lessons from the Framework
1. Pedagogy matters
CC BY-NC-SA https://www.flickr.com/photos/tomscott/1967268/
Lessons from the Framework
Students do have liminal experiences
CC BY-NC-SA https://www.flickr.com/photos/tomscott/1967268/
1. Pedagogy matters2. Thresholds matter
Lessons from the Framework
Let’s explore broader roles and new
partnerships across the curriculum.
CC BY-NC-SA https://www.flickr.com/photos/tomscott/1967268/
1. Pedagogy matters2. Thresholds matter
3. Integration matters
Lessons from the Framework
Ownership implies responsibility.
Let’s do some real research on this and make our position
airtight.
CC BY-NC-SA https://www.flickr.com/photos/tomscott/1967268/
1. Pedagogy matters2. Thresholds matter
3. Integration matters
4. Research matters
Lessons from the Framework
Social epistemologyCritical theory
Communication theory
Speech act theory???
Librarians aren’t as theory-averse as you
might think CC BY-NC-SA https://www.flickr.com/photos/tomscott/1967268/
1. Pedagogy matters2. Thresholds matter
3. Integration matters
4. Research matters5. Theories matter
Thanks from Chattanooga!Lane Wilkinson
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
[email protected]@lnwlk
Stuff I mentionedDalal, H. (2015, Jan. 7). An open letter regarding the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education.
ACRLog.org [web log]. Retrieved from http://acrlog.org/2015/01/07/an-open-letter-regarding-the-framework-for-information-literacy-for-higher-education/
Davies, P. (2006). “Threshold concepts: how can we recognize them?” in Meyer, E. & Land, R., eds. Overcoming Barriers to Student Understanding Threshold Concepts and Troublesome Knowledge. London: Routledge.
Iannuzzi, P. (2013). “Info lit 2.0 or déjà vu?” Communications in Information Literacy, 7(2), 98-107.Land, R. (2015). “There could be trouble ahead’. Threshold concepts, troublesome knowledge and information
literacy – a current debate.” Presentation at the meeting of the Librarians’ Information Literacy Annual Conference, Newcastle, UK.
Meyer, J. H. F. & Land, R. (2003). Threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge: linkages to ways of thinking and practising within the disciplines. In C. Rust (ed.), Improving Student Learning–Ten Years On. Oxford: Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development (OCSLD), 412-424.
Morgan, P. (2015). “Pausing at the threshold.” Portal: Libraries and the Academy, 15(1), 183-195.Oakleaf, M. (2014). "A roadmap for assessing student learning using the new Framework for Information Literacy for
Higher Education." Journal of Academic Librarianship, 40(5), 510-514.O’Donnell, R. (2010). A critique of the threshold concept hypothesis and its application to opportunity cost in
economics.( Working Paper No. 164). Retrieved from http://www.finance.uts.edu.au/research/wpapers/wp164.html
Rowbottom, D. P. (2007). Demystifying threshold concepts. Journal of Philosophy of Education, 41(2): 263-270.Swanson, T. (2015, Jan. 12). The IL Standards and Framework cannot coexist. [Web log]. Retrieved from
http://tametheweb.com/2015/01/12/the-il-standards-and-il-framework-cannot-co-exist-by-ttw-contributor-troy-swanson/
Townsend, L., Brunetti, K., & Hofer, A. R. (2011). Threshold concepts and information literacy. portal: Libraries and the Academy, 11(3), 853-869.
Townsend, L., Brunetti, K., & Hofer, A. R. (2012). Troublesome concepts and information literacy: investigating threshold concepts for IL instruction. portal: Libraries and the Academy, 12(4), 387-405.
Walker, G. (2013). A cognitive approach to threshold concepts. Higher Education, 65(2), 247-263.Wilkinson, L. (2014, June 19). The problem with threshold concepts. [Web log]. Retrieved from
https://senseandreference.wordpress.com/2014/06/19/the-problem-with-threshold-concepts/