Glossary of Key Terms
Andrea S. Webb
Threshold Concept
A core idea within a discipline that is transformative, integrative, irreversible, and often troublesome for learners. Crossing this threshold changes how learners understand and engage with the subject.
Transformative
Describes the profound shift in perspective and identity that occurs when a learner grasps a threshold concept. It changes not just what they know, but how they think.
Integrative
A characteristic of threshold concepts that connects previously disconnected ideas, enabling learners to see relationships and patterns within a discipline.
Irreversible
Once understood, a threshold concept is unlikely to be forgotten. Learners cannot easily return to their prior way of thinking.
Troublesome Knowledge
Knowledge that is conceptually difficult, counter-intuitive, or alien to a learner’s existing framework, often causing discomfort or resistance.
Liminality
The transitional state learners occupy when grappling with a threshold concept. It is marked by uncertainty, ambiguity, and oscillation between old and new understandings.
Discursive Shift
The change in language and discourse that accompanies mastery of a threshold concept. Learners begin to “talk the talk” of the discipline.
Epistemological Obstacle
A barrier to understanding rooted in the learner’s prior assumptions or worldview, which must be overcome to grasp a threshold concept.
Portal Metaphor
The idea that threshold concepts act as gateways or portals, opening new ways of thinking and enabling progression within a discipline.
Identity Shift
The reconfiguration of a learner’s sense of self as they adopt new disciplinary ways of knowing and being.
