Reading Response 2: Observing Threshold Concepts

"How can the 5 key threshold concepts from Naming What We Know be observed in a learning-to write setting?"

The threshold concepts in writing in writing studies are cognitively slippery (a term used from another professor when describing abstract or difficult-to-grasp concepts). They're elusive, not easy to define, and they often interact/overlap with one another (they have high intertextuality).

So what do these concepts look like in a classroom? For those of us who spent most our undergraduate years in English or Composition courses, they may be easier to identify:

• Reflections on major writing assignments = 5.4 "Reflection Is Critical for Writers' Development"
• Rhetorical Analysis on Literature = 1.0 "Writing is a Social and Rhetorical Activity"
• Developing Genre Awareness = 2.0 "Writing Speaks to Situations through Recognizable Forms"

However, what do these concepts look like in a science classroom? One that doesn't even have a traditional teacher-centered layout (like the one pictured above)?

To be able to observe these concepts and place them in the correct threshold category, it is necessary to understand them and recognize when students engage in them. I've listed some ideas below:

Concept 1.1 Writing Is A Knowledge-Making Activity

• conducting empirical research (including testing a hypothesis)
• completing lab work
• writing a report

Concept 4.4 Revision Is Central To Developing Writing

• peer review
• collaborative writing (group research project)
• rewriting abstracts

Concept 1.1 Text Is An Object Outside of Oneself That Can Be Improved and Developed

• reading and responding to research already conducted
• giving an oral presentation
• writing a 2nd draft of a research paper
• following strict scientific conventions (verb tense, tone, word count, citations)

Of course there are many more examples, and the ones listed above can fit in multiple categories. As we continue to explore writing in different disciplines, I will be able to find more examples and find where they fit in the five threshold concepts.