Threshold Concepts of Research in Teaching Scientific Thinking

Abstract

Development of scientific thinking through its components can be challenging. Therefore, pedagogical solutions that help teachers to understand the students' challenges in learning and to overcome these difficulties are helpful. Research over the past 15 years has highlighted the theory of threshold concepts, that is, the concepts that are key to deep understanding in specific disciplines. Much of the work on the threshold concepts framework was originally related to discipline-specific learning at the undergraduate level, however, more recently the threshold concept framework has been extended to include the concepts in learning to be a researcher. This chapter proposes how doctoral supervisors might be able to use threshold concepts to help students in learning scientific thinking.