[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-598997-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":84,"doc-detail-598997-en":134},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":77,"head_meta":79,"extra_data":81,"updated_unix":83},105,"en","composition-forum-38-spring-2018-teaching-and-learning-threshold-concepts-in-a-writing-major-liminality-dispositions-and-program-design","Composition Forum 38 - Spring 2018 - Teaching and Learning Threshold Concepts in a Writing Major - Liminality, Dispositions, and Program Design","","In this reflective analysis, two faculty members and a graduate from a writing major examine what it means for students to learn troublesome threshold concepts in writing. Grounded in experiences across the writing curriculum, writing center practicum, and student learning dispositions, the article considers how programmatic and pedagogical elements enable or constrain deep, ongoing learning. It frames difficult and transformative concepts and explores factors that support durable engagement in liminal spaces.",{"@graph":14,"@context":76},[15,34,55],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/composition-forum-38-spring-2018-teaching-and-learning-threshold-concepts-in-a-writing-major-liminality-dispositions-and-program-design/598997/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/composition-forum-38-spring-2018-teaching-and-learning-threshold-concepts-in-a-writing-major-liminality-dispositions-and-program-design/598997.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"jay","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-25","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":33},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",{"@type":56,"mainEntity":57},"FAQPage",[58,64,68,72],{"name":59,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":61},"What problem does the article focus on regarding writing threshold concepts?","Question",{"text":62,"@type":63},"It addresses how students grapple with troublesome threshold concepts in Writing Studies, noting that research on this specific learning process has been limited.","Answer",{"name":65,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":66},"How does the article connect deep learning to program and pedagogy?",{"text":67,"@type":63},"It argues that elements of the writing major and writing center practicum can afford and constrain deep learning through programmatic and pedagogical design.",{"name":69,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":70},"Which two threshold concepts does Mikael identify as difficult and transformational?",{"text":71,"@type":63},"“Assessing writing shapes contexts and instruction” and “Writing involves the negotiation of language differences.”",{"name":73,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":74},"What factors does the article suggest help students persist through challenging concepts?",{"text":75,"@type":63},"It highlights how high-impact experiences and learner dispositions can serve as catalysts for deep learning and continued engagement in difficult liminal spaces.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":78,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":80,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":82,"site_id":7},598997,1792192288,{"code":4,"msg":85,"data":86},"success",[87,91,95,99,104,109,114,118,123,126,130],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":88,"show_sort_weight":89,"slug":90},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":92,"show_sort_weight":93,"slug":94},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":96,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":98},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":100,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":101,"show_sort_weight":102,"slug":103},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":105,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":106,"show_sort_weight":107,"slug":108},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":110,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":111,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":116,"slug":117},8,30,"research-report",{"id":119,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":121,"slug":122},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":121,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":121,"slug":125},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":127,"slug":129},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":131,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":132,"show_sort_weight":100,"slug":133},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":85,"data":135},{"doc_id":82,"user_id":136,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":137,"doc_module":4,"category_id":115,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":138,"file_id":139,"file_url":140,"file_type":141,"file_size":142,"view_count":33,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":143,"language":144,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":145,"faqs":146,"seo_title":147,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":148,"read_time":149},3985747858866,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_a8503ba1806abce46bf441b54a3ca4cd","Current Issue  From the Editors  Weblog  Editorial Board  Editorial Policy  Submissions Archives  Accessibility  Search  \nComposition Forum 38, Spring 2018  \nTeaching and Learning Threshold Concepts in a Writing Major: Liminality, Dispositions, and Program Design  \nR. Mark Hall, Mikael Romo, and Elizabeth Wardle  \nAbstract: In this article, we discuss what it means to learn troublesome “threshold concepts” about writing that cannot be adequately grappled with in a single course or assignment. Here, two faculty members and a graduate of a writing major reflect on elements of the writing curriculum, the writing center practicum, and the learning dispositions and experiences the student brought to the program in order to consider what ongoing, deep learning of writing threshold concepts can look like, as well as how programmatic and pedagogical elements may afford and constrain such learning.  \nA great deal has been written about how learning works (Tagg; Ambrose et al. ) and about threshold concepts in general and in many disciplines (Burkhardt; Clark; Hamilton; Launius and Hassel; Land, Meyer, and Flanagan; Land, Meyer, and Smith; Meyer, Land, and Baillie; Hofer, Hanick, and Townsend) . We know very little about what it looks like for students to grapple with threshold concepts in Writing Studies, however. Linda Adler-Kassner, John Majewski, and Damien Koshnick have explored the learning of threshold concepts in a general education writing course (as well as a history course) . Elizabeth Wardle and Doug Downs have organized the second and third editions of their composition textbook, Writing about Writing, around writing threshold concepts. The 2015 book Naming What We Know outlined some threshold concepts for the field of Writing Studies, and explored how writing curricula at different levels might be designed around threshold concepts (Downs and Robertson; Scott and Wardle; Taczak and Yancey) . However, there is little research about how students engage with and learn writing threshold concepts. That is the gap that this reflective analysis seeks to address. In it, Mikael, one of the authors of this article, recounts his experiences encountering several threshold concepts about writing during his time completing a B.A. in writing and rhetoric. Mikael and two of his former faculty members, Elizabeth and Mark, reflect on his experiences in order to consider the complex ways that learning about writing happens across time. Here we look at two threshold concepts identified by Mikael that were both difficult and transformational for his thinking and practices as a writer and writing center peer tutor: “Assessing writing shapes contexts and instruction” and “Writing involves the negotiation of language differences.” Mikael identifies coursework in the writing major and its interaction with his experiences in the writing center as working together across time to mutually reinforce his learning of writing-related threshold concepts and to keep him engaged in an uncomfortable liminal space. We conclude that some elements of the writing major and writing center practicum that Mikael encountered together offered him a set of what the Association of American Colleges & Universities (AAC&U) calls “high impact” experiences (Kuh) that served as a catalyst for deep learning (including internships, a capstone course, and undergraduate research) . However, we also recognize that program design is only part of the story. Mikael, an oldest child of three and immigrant from Ecuador, came to college and to the writing major with particular experiences and learning dispositions that inclined him to persist in the face of challenges and to be open to problem-based learning and exploration. We ask how programs can effectively reach students who do not initially appear to inhabit the same learning dispositions.  \nTo tell this story, we begin with background on threshold concepts—concepts that are critical for epistemological participation in a discipl","cbCaip7c7QKxq81D","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaip7c7QKxq81D","pdf",211040,17,"English","# Teaching and Learning Threshold Concepts in a Writing Major\n## Abstract\n## Threshold Concepts","[{\"question\":\"What problem does the article focus on regarding writing threshold concepts?\",\"answer\":\"It addresses how students grapple with troublesome threshold concepts in Writing Studies, noting that research on this specific learning process has been limited.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the article connect deep learning to program and pedagogy?\",\"answer\":\"It argues that elements of the writing major and writing center practicum can afford and constrain deep learning through programmatic and pedagogical design.\"},{\"question\":\"Which two threshold concepts does Mikael identify as difficult and transformational?\",\"answer\":\"“Assessing writing shapes contexts and instruction” and “Writing involves the negotiation of language differences.”\"},{\"question\":\"What factors does the article suggest help students persist through challenging concepts?\",\"answer\":\"It highlights how high-impact experiences and learner dispositions can serve as catalysts for deep learning and continued engagement in difficult liminal spaces.\"}]","Composition Forum 38 - Spring 2018 - Teaching and Learning Threshold Concepts in a Writing Major - Liminality, Dispositions, and Program Design | PDF",1792087986,43]