ELearning Workshop
From SLN e-Learning Project
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Troublesome knowledge in the SLN eLearning Project | |
| The SLN eLearning Project tackled some troublesome knowledge in a morning workshop at the InQbate Creativity Zone of the University of Sussex on Tuesday 2nd October. | |
Like to know more?This brief report of the workshop is designed to convey a sense of the range and nature of the activities around troublesome knowledge in the workshop. If you would like to know more please follow the links which will take you to some useful resources and a broader discussion with which you are encouraged to engage. Want to see more photos?Click on any of the small images to see it in a larger size. We've also added a link to photographs of the event as these illustrate the ways in which we explored the terrific potential of the flexible and interactive space offered within the Creativity Zone. So, are you running into troublesome knowledge? If not, you should be!This was the theme of our workshop where the SLN eLearning Project team invited colleagues to begin by considering the idea of 'threshold concepts'. Drawn from the work of Erik Meyer and Ray Land (2006) such 'threshold concepts' represent those essential steps which all learners must make in the acquisition of skills, knowledge and understanding essential to a particular subject, discipline or set of practices. However, such 'threshold concepts' are not acquired without difficulty. These concepts can unsettle existing knowledge and can challenge taken-for-granted or common-sense knowledge and experience. | |
Introducing the idea | |
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| To introduce and illustrate the idea of 'threshold concepts' Diane Brewster (InQbate Learning Facilitator, University of Sussex) guided workshop participants through an exercise on plagiarism. Now, of course, we all know what plagiarism is (and some of us have strong feelings on the topic) why it occurs, how it can be detected and how it should be dealt with. Diane's skilful workshop, however, quickly revealed different points of view and disagreements both between and within subject and institutional groupings. The workshop encouraged participants to think about possible causes of plagiarism and the discrepancies between the student perspective and academic institutional practices which are, perhaps, less consistent and more tacit than we would comfortably believe, particularly in relation to what, from a student viewpoint, would seem to be the conflicting demands and conventions of academic writing. The result of these activities was a good deal of 'troublesome knowledge' as participants began to consider their own assumptions and understanding of topic which is often taken-for-granted. Applying the ideas of threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge | |
   
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| In new workshop groups participants then had an opportunity to identify those threshold concepts typical to their subject or practice areas. There was some resulting contention as colleagues began to examine often very different preconceptions and ideas around the ways in which learners were introduced to and grasped threshold concepts. Interesting here was discussion about our level of awareness of the situated experience of novice learners, often on vocational courses, and their perceptions of academic practices as seemingly arcane. | |
Strategies for teaching and learning | |
| A complementary challenge was the consideration of the kinds of teaching and learning activities and opportunities to which learners could be meaningfully introduced in order both to acquire key threshold concepts and to navigate the often stormy and unsettling waters of troublesome knowledge. By way of example, particular attention was given in one group to the practice of Art and Design students, whose idea of creativity, for example, might be unhelpfully caught up with out-moded ideas of individual genius and solitary originality. Such ideas are far removed from the actual professional practices of working artists and designers who have the self-confidence and knowledge to build upon, transform and make reference to a range of sources. | |
Learning technologies | |
| Attention then turned to the kinds of learning technologies which might best facilitate the kinds of teaching and learning activities essential to the support of students in their introduction to the 'threshold concepts' for their subject. Helpful here were the interventions of Tom Hamilton and Diane Brewster who illustrated some of the elearning technologies available within the Creativity Zone. One particular example illustrated how a space can be manipulated to accommodate small working groups with immediate access to resources such as moveable walls, flexible spot- lighting, curtained spaces and locally-controlled touch-screens. | |
Want to find out more about elearning technologies? | |
| The SLN eLearning Project now offers information about and opportunities to explore a range of appropriate elearning technologies. Members of the team provided a 'tour' of the eLearning Project's web presence. A useful illustration of the use of blogs and wikis, for example, can be accessed through the eLearning project map. The tension between the experiences of many vocational learners and what might be perceived as lofty academic expectations is being successfully resolved by the use of Web 2.0 networking. Examples of social networking can also be accessed through the mapping exercise. The ways in which students make use of resources for writing is currently being investigated within the SLN Writing Skills Project, and participants at the workshop were encouraged to post and discuss their experience and solutions within that site. We would encourage you to visit these sites and to contribute your ideas and feedback to this wiki. | |
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Reference:Meyer, J.H.F. and Land, R. (2006) Overcoming Barriers to Student Understanding: threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge, London and New York: Routledge |
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