The Six Threshold Concepts, as initially laid out in the American Library Association’s Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education, are as follows:
>Authority is Constructed and Contextual
>Information Creation is a Process
>Searching as Strategic Exploration
Pedagogically speaking, in higher education, the six characteristics (or defining features) of threshold concepts are typically described as follows:
Transformative – Understanding the concept changes the way a student/ learner sees the subject (and sometimes the world).
Irreversible – Once grasped, the knowledge is unlikely to be forgotten/ unlearned.
Integrative – Exposes the hidden inter-relatedness of ideas within a subject/ discipline/ cultural domain.
Bounded – Has specific boundaries/ defines a particular conceptual area or discipline.
Troublesome – Can be difficult or counterintuitive to grasp, often challenging prior understandings.
Discursive – Mastery of the concept leads to a more sophisticated use of language within the subject.
Patricia Ann Mabrouk. (2024). Evaluating Threshold Concepts for Information Literacy in an Undergraduate Analytical Chemistry Literature Research Project. Journal of Chemical Education. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.3c00944
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