Students come to science class with many ideas of how the natural world works, some of which do not match the consensus of the scientific community and can lead to misunderstandings. Because a growing body of educational research indicates that these misconceptions can serve as resources for learning, we developed a four-point plan to leverage…

The use of threshold concepts to define key points of curricula is a relatively recent development in educational research. Threshold concepts represent crucial stages of learning, the acquisition of which enables learners to progress from one level of achievement to another. In this context, the learner is described as passing through an…

This study examined how participation in an inquiry-based workshop on assessing course syllabi for equity-mindedness and cultural inclusivity fostered community college math faculty learning about racial/ethnic equity and equity-mindedness. Findings show that the workshop prompted reflection on what equity means and how participants' teaching…

Creativity is one of the important skills of the twenty-first century and central to higher education (HE). When we look closer into research on creativity in HE, however, it is not clear how university teachers conceptualise student creativity. How do teachers grasp, observe and express student creativity? Different methods such as interviews and…

This paper offers an account of a reflexive "trip" undertaken by a professional doctoral student and her supervisor. It presents a series of vignettes which offer an account of unbecomings and becomings encountered by the student. Making use of a dialogic approach in which the supervisor responds to the student, we suggest this method of…

Higher education institutions are developing more and more online courses to supplement and augment the courses they offer in on-campus modes. In fact, some universities now offer the majority of their courses through online contexts. However, for academic staff who design and teach these courses, the transition from teaching on-campus courses to…

The Threshold Concept Framework is used to initiate a dialogue on an empirically supported pedagogy that focuses on students' conceptual understanding required for solving application-based problems. The present paper uses a triangulation approach to identify the threshold concept in a third-year undergraduate civil engineering course on open…

In this paper we report on research we conducted to begin the process of identifying threshold concepts in the field of postsecondary teaching. Meyer & Land (2006) propose that within all disciplinary fields there seem to be particular "threshold concepts" that serve as gateways, opening up new and previously inaccessible ways of…