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An accurate self-assessment of student work can enhance student learning and subsequently improve academic performance. Instructors can facilitate this process by providing "standards" that students can utilize as feedback when self-evaluating their understanding. Traditional forms of feedback, such as marked assessment tasks, are limited in their ability to serve as standards, as they do not adequately capture variations corresponding to different levels of understanding. To develop a complex understanding in physiology, students have to integrate concepts pertaining to different subcomponents of body systems. The present study attempted to ascertain if exposing students to variations in complexity would refine their ability to self-evaluate their understanding and capacity to integrate concepts. Students were tasked to answer an essay-length, open-ended physiology question to expose their current understanding of the topic. The change in students' self-marking of their answer before and after being exposed to the variations in conceptual understanding of the topic were used to determine whether improvements in self-evaluation accuracy occurred. These variations were presented as instructor-generated answers to the open-ended question, framed using the structure of the observed learning outcome (SOLO) taxonomy. Student scores in the integrative questions of the end-of-semester exam were used as a measure of student ability to integrate concepts. Findings indicated that this intervention led to improvements in student self-evaluation and exam performance, and the positive outcomes were replicated across multiple iterations of the activity.

In this paper, we propose a framework to help educational developers navigate the now vast literature on threshold concepts, so that they may effectively support university teachers in their work to embed threshold concept knowledge into courses and programs. This research- and practice-informed framework consists of seven principles and seven clusters of activities. It includes an 'actionable literature review' -- a distillation and synthesis of threshold concept-related knowledge that can be acted upon and adapted in a variety of settings by educational developers and teachers.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present a brief exposure to the development of the threshold concepts framework (TCF), the intention being to illuminate for interested readers a broader landscape of research activity than that perhaps conveyed by the individual contributions to this special edition. Design/Methodology/Approach: There is first an account of how the notion of a "threshold concept" was presented by Meyer and Land in their seminal 2003 paper, and a clarification of some terminology used by them at that time to describe the (confusing for some) "characteristics" of such a concept. A discursive account, with examples, follows on how analyses for, and of, threshold concepts might proceed, and how findings might provoke a reappraisal of associated learning and teaching practices. Towards this end a contemporary pedagogical perspective is introduced based on the construct of integrated threshold concept knowledge (ITCK) as proposed by Meyer and Timmermans (2016). Reference to a detailed case study illustrates the practical dynamics of generating ITCK; specifically in the context of a third-year engineering course embedding the threshold of "critical flow". Activities and processes, transferable to other discipline contexts, are described that yield particular elements of ITCK (different constituent "types of knowledge") in relation, in this case, to "critical flow". A final consideration is the "representation" of "critical flow" for pedagogical purposes in the form of a metacognitive activity for learning and formative assessment purposes that is, again, adaptable to other discipline contexts. Findings: There are no specific findings in this paper as its purpose is to provide a condensed review of the development of the TCF. Originality/Value: This value of this paper is that it provides a contemporary expert exposure to the development of the TCF by the originator of the notion of a threshold concept.

Threshold concepts are transformative, integrative, and provocative; understanding these difficult concepts allows students to be capable of solving advanced problems. This investigation and evaluation of a metacognitive curricular approach explore variation in students' and teachers' discernment of structural complexity of concepts and its potential for enhancing students' learning and conceptual understanding of threshold concepts. Three trials of a metacognitive assessment activity administered to two cohorts of a civil engineering course (n?=?276 and n?=?264) were investigated. Students were presented with several answers (varying in structural complexity) to a question about a threshold concept and asked to mark each response. Quantitative analyses compared students' and teachers' marking schemes within and across trials, and qualitative analyses explored students' written reflections following the activity. Students' justifications for their marking schemes, their reflections on the activity's usefulness, and the convergence of students' and teachers' marking schemes suggest that the activity supported deep forms of student learning.

This paper reports on the development of metalearning capacity in the learning of a "threshold concept"--capacity of transformative significance relative to metalearning in the general response context of a discipline or subject. The development of metalearning capacity is framed within a protocol that invites students to self-construct a "learning profile" of themselves; reflect on it in light of theoretical considerations; and accordingly self-initiate changes to their learning behaviour. Findings are consistent with other studies in different disciplinary contexts that employed the same methodology--namely, that metalearning activity can be successfully focused on a particular threshold concept to benefit a substantial majority of students in a variety of ways ranging across a positive reinforcement of self, a change in conception of what "learning is," to self-initiated change. Metalearning activity is advocated as a theoretically sound, and pedagogically driven, learning intervention--one that adds value to the student learning experience.

The Threshold Capability Integrated Theoretical Framework (TCITF) is presented as a framework for the design of university curricula, aimed at developing graduates' capability to deal with previously unseen situations in their professional, social, and personal lives. The TCITF is a new theoretical framework derived from, and heavily dependent upon, the ideas of the Threshold Concepts Framework (Meyer and Land 2003a; Land et al. 2006) and Capability Theory (Bowden and Marton 1998; Bowden et al. 2000; Bowden 2004). Capability theory is firmly based in phenomenography and variation theory, is concerned with the development of knowledge capability, but has had limited application in practice. The threshold concepts framework has enjoyed greater acceptance by a large range of academics in many fields. This acceptance has initially focussed on analytic studies of what constitutes a threshold concept--and the location and distribution of such concepts--in a given domain. In many instances subsequent attention has focussed on issues of pedagogy and assessment, including the design of curricula. We propose a merging of capability theory and the threshold concepts framework and argue that capability and variation theories provide the ideal mechanism for developing a strong pedagogical approach based on newly emerging knowledge of the critical features of threshold concepts within different domains.

The Threshold Concepts Framework acts as a catalyst in faculty development activities, energising and provoking discussion by faculty about their own courses in their own disciplines, and often leading to the discovery of transformational concepts that occasion epistemic and ontological shifts in their students. The present study focuses on faculty development programs where faculty are the students and provides evidence for variation in student learning as a threshold concept that for many faculty members transforms their conceptions of teaching, their identities as teachers, and their practice. A detailed discussion of the pedagogy used to achieve transformational outcomes is provided.

The present study aims to analyse the complex relationships between the relevant constructs of students' demographic background, perceptions, learning patterns and (proxy measures of) learning outcomes in order to delineate the possible direct, indirect, or spurious effects among them. The analytical methodology is substantively framed against the studies of Richardson (British Journal of Educational Psychology 76:867-893, "2006", Higher Education 54:385-416, "2007") that utilised a regression-based methodology to infer the possible causal relationships among the relevant learning constructs. A composite research instrument, written in Chinese and derived from the Inventory of Learning Styles (ILS) and the Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ), was used to collect students' feedback on their perceptions of the learning environment and their learning patterns. Valid responses were obtained from 1,572 students studying at six institutions in the post-secondary education sector in Hong Kong, a new response-context for both the CEQ and the ILS. In adapting the research instruments to a new Chinese response-context, the findings are generally consistent with those reported in other published works (e.g. no relationship between students' demographic background and their satisfaction with the programme, and a significant relationship between students' exhibition of undirected learning patterns and low expected performance), but there are also some noteworthy discrepancies. The findings therefore buttress the confidence with which an ILS-based General Theoretical Model of student learning, adapted from Richardson (British Journal of Educational Psychology 76:867-893, "2006", Higher Education 54:385-416, "2007"), may be used to conceptualise and interpret the dynamics of variation across different cultural response-contexts. While the CEQ provides some valuable complementary insights, it is an instrument that requires further development in the response-context of the present study.

Purpose: The purpose of the present study is to report the initial analyses of relationships between various components of the learning patterns exhibited by a group of 1,572 post-secondary students in Hong Kong as operationalized via the Inventory of Learning Styles (ILS), a quantitative instrument developed by Vermunt originally for the Dutch higher education context. Design/methodology/approach: The ILS was adapted and translated into Chinese for the new response-context. After validation of the ILS scales (results reported in another paper), the possible direct, indirect, or spurious effects among the learning constructs operationalized by these scales were explored using a general theoretical model proposed by Richardson, according to the exhibited statistical significance and magnitude of the beta weights derived from multiple regression analyses. Findings: Empirical support was found in this new Chinese response-context for the theoretical model that underpins the ILS. In particular, the findings confirm the central explanatory role of regulation strategies in students' learning patterns, as originally hypothesized by Vermunt. Originality/value: The present study contributes to the ILS literature by expanding the application of the instrument to a new Chinese response-context. It is also believed to be the first attempt to adapt Richardson's general theoretical model to analyse the relationships between the ILS components. (Contains 5 notes, 2 figures, and 7 tables.)

Purpose: The Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) is a quantitative instrument for collecting student feedback on programme quality that has been tested and practically used in Western university response-contexts. The purpose of this paper is to adapt and partially validate a Chinese translation of the CEQ, for application in the new context of post-secondary education in Hong Kong. Design/methodology/approach: From a population of about 2,515 students in six institutions, 1,572 responses were obtained, representing a response rate of 62.5 percent. Given that a Chinese CEQ has never been tested in this new context, an exploratory approach was adopted by examining the psychometric properties of the CEQ constituent scales and their underlying factor structure as exhibited via item-correlation analysis and exploratory factor analysis. Findings: The alpha values of the CEQ scales in the present study are generally lower than those of the other reported studies. The results of exploratory factor analysis indicate that the degree of overlap among the constructs as measured by the CEQ scales is more extensive than most other reported studies, resulting in only four factors being explicitly indicated, with some constructs being overshadowed by other more salient constructs and failing to exhibit in the factor structure. Practical implications: While broadly supporting the potential of CEQ-type surveys in informing the quality endeavour, the findings of the present study (and those of some related tests on Chinese students that have recently been reported) suggest the need for further development of the CEQ for application in the Chinese context in general, and the context of Hong Kong post-secondary education in particular. Originality/value: The paper cross-validates the CEQ in a new context. (Contains 5 tables and 2 notes.)

A Chinese translation of the Inventory of Learning Styles (ILS), a quantitative instrument employed mainly in Western higher education contexts for collecting students' feedback on their learning patterns (in the form of students' processing strategies, regulation strategies, learning orientations and conceptions of learning), was adapted and validated for application in the new response-context of Hong Kong post-secondary education via a large student sample. The reliabilities of the adapted ILS scales, as reflected by Cronbach's coefficient alphas, were found to be generally satisfactory. From an exploratory factor analysis conducted on the adapted ILS scales, four factors were identified that resemble the relevant features of the factor structure reported in a study in an Indonesian response-context. Overall, the present study provides qualified support for the reliability and validity of the adapted ILS for application in the context of Hong Kong post-secondary education. (Contains 4 tables.)

This study aims to further our understanding of metalearning activity through the analysis of qualitative data gathered from 370 first-year microeconomics students in three UK universities. The students were asked to produce undirected reflective essays in response to a personal "learning profile" generated before, and after, the teaching of a threshold concept. The purpose was to compare the capacity and/or inclination of students studying threshold concepts to write about their learning in a manner that conveys an understanding of the self, and sense of control, in the associated process. Findings are first, that as a posited benefit of the metalearning experience a majority of students demonstrate an increased level of control over their learning of threshold concepts, and second that the metalearning activity may provide the basis for study support intervention, tailored to the individual student's needs as identified in their self-reported learning profile and reflective essay. (Contains 3 tables and 3 notes.)

This study explores variation in postgraduate students' and supervisors' conceptions of research. Based on earlier work, a Conceptions of Research Inventory (CoRI) was trialled on a mixed sample of postgraduate students and supervisors (n = 251). Exploratory factor analyses of resultant data yields a five-dimensional empirical model, the composition of which is consistent with earlier work by the present authors. Four of these five dimensions distinguish between (variation in) conceptions of research such as "truth", "problem-solving", "re-search", and "an insightful process". The fifth dimension captures variation in terms of what are interpreted as "misconceptions". The discrete conceptual dimensions suggested within the factor model are further explored via k-means cluster analyses in terms of partitioning of the dataset, as limited by sample sizes, according to postgraduate status and supervisor designation. These analyses provide further insights into variation, across the various clusters in each case, as expressed in the profiles of cluster mean scores. Such differences as are evidenced highlight contrasting patterns of variation between, for example, experienced and novice researchers. There is also evidence of dissonance in some of the cluster solutions and it is further demonstrated via analysis of variance that dissonant cluster membership is associated with a generally lower level of self-estimated performance. The implications of these findings are finally considered in relation to postgraduate training and supervision. (Contains 2 tables, 5 figures and 4 notes.)

Background: The Approaches to Teaching Inventory (ATI) is structured as two main scales, reflecting a teacher-centred information-transmission approach versus a student-centred conceptual-change approach, each subdivided into intention and strategy subscales. Its use in higher education investigations is increasing and, by default, it is assuming an operational definition of variation in "approaches to teaching". However, the ATI's conceptual foundations and procedures of development have not been systematically scrutinized. Aims: The present paper presents a comprehensive historical review and critique of the ATI's development. Method: The procedures applied in the ATI's initial development are critically evaluated. Close attention is paid to the source of its foundation item pool, the criteria used in selecting from those foundation items, the adequacy of subject samples used in item trialling and the uses made of resultant trial response data in determining the final form of the inventory. The historical record is examined closely to determine the conceptual and psychometric credibility of the instrument. Conclusions: There are serious and irreversible concerns with the rigour and methodology adopted in the psychometric development of the ATI. The ATI manifestly does not reflect a functionally useful range of "approaches to teaching", and its application to activities connected with the professionalization (and evaluation) of university teaching is rejected.

Relatively little is known about students' conceptions of research and, in particular, whether there are conceptually discrete patterns of variation that can be used to model this phenomenon in terms of research-as-learning outcomes. The present study explores the dimensionality of students' conceptions of research from two complementary research perspectives. The open-ended written responses of students (n=154) to questions aimed at soliciting variations in conceptions of what research is are analysed using a qualitative methodology to isolate "categories of description". Findings are summarized in terms of eight such main categories, some of which are further internally differentiated. In terms of the main categories, research is conceived in terms of (variation in): (A) information gathering, (B) discovering the truth, (C) insightful exploration and discovery, (D) analytic and systematic enquiry, (E) incompleteness, (F) re-examining existing knowledge, (G) problem-based activity, and (H) a set of misconceptions. The substantive verbatim excerpts that formed the units of analysis in the qualitative analysis were used as a basis for item stems which were psychometrically operationalized into a Students' Conceptions of Research Inventory (SCoRI). This inventory was administered to a second heterogeneous sample of postgraduate students (n=224) and the resultant data were subjected to exploratory factor analyses that provided empirical support (as dimensions of variation) for a smaller subset of the categories isolated in the qualitative analysis. Empirically, and in terms of additional psychometric considerations, there was support for five dimensions of variation (common factors) in terms of categories B, C, F, G, and H. These findings provide an initial conceptual basis for interpreting how students engaged in research activity may differ from one another in terms of their conceptions, as well as what the likely consequences of any such stable differences may bng outcomes.

The present study builds on earlier work by Meyer and Land (2003) which introduced the generative notion of "threshold concepts" within (and across) disciplines, in the sense of transforming the internal view of subject matter or part thereof. In this earlier work such concepts were further linked to forms of knowledge that are "troublesome", after the work of Perkins (1999). It was argued that these twinned sets of ideas may define critical moments of irreversible conceptual transformation in the educational experiences of learners, and their teachers. The present study aims (a) to examine the extent to which such phenomena can be located within personal understandings of discipline-specific epistemological discourses, (b) to develop more extensively notions of "liminality" within learning that were raised in the first paper, and (c) to propose a conceptual framework within which teachers may advance their own reflective practice.

The Reflections on Learning Inventory (RoLI) is an instrument designed to capture variation in students' engagement of learning--typically in a given disciplinary context or topic-specific 'episode'. Although the RoLI has been employed as a research instrument in a number of published studies on the modelling of student learning in higher education, there has been an important thrust in the development of the RoLI in terms of an instrument that can be used as a basis for developing the critical first stage of metalearning capacity in students; making students aware of their learning via the process of representing responses to the RoLI as a graphic personal learning 'profile'. Sections within this article include: Introduction; The Development of the RoLI; Internal Structure; The Domain of the RoLI; and Availability of the RoLI.

Congruent with the University of South Australia's mission to widen access, first-year students of business studies enter the university with a wide range of educational backgrounds and experiences. Previous work (Meyer & Shanahan, 1999) has revealed that such students vary considerably in their views about what learning is, and how they engage in learning. Complementary to these insights, and intimately connected to issues of learning, the same research has revealed the diversity of views held by entering students about economic phenomena (what economics is, what economists do, mechanisms of price determination, and so on). Entering students whose conceptions of learning are at odds with the demands of the institution, or whose conceptions of their academic discipline (in this case economics) are incongruent with fundamental conceptions associated with the discipline (e.g. they hold misconceptions of economics) face difficulties even before they commence their university studies. Within this disciplinary and institutional context, the present study reports on the development and integration of processes to assist students in developing their metalearning capacity. These processes include designing a discipline-sensitive learning inventory, developing a Web-based platform for administering the inventory, using resultant data to inform students on an individual basis about themselves as learners in context, and using (variation in) inventory data to inform the course curriculum, the design of course materials and academic staff development.

The present study is concerned with how educators might support students in developing a better awareness and understanding of themselves as learners. The context for the paper is widening participation within higher education and the growth of first-year 'introductory' modules, which are taught to large numbers of students, including both specialists and non-specialists. Such large, heterogeneous student cohorts present particular challenges to educators. The paper describes how the Reflections on Learning Inventory (RoLI) may be used, in conjunction with a subject-specific inventory, to identify the ways in which variations in student preconceptions about the subject are related to different types of learning processes. The paper then discusses the implications of the findings for pedagogic development. In particular, it proposes that course design should involve the development of student awareness and understanding about motivations and beliefs about the subject.

The field trialling of inventory scales reflecting variation in students' mathematics study and learning processes is described. These scales predict learning outcomes (final marks), but with differentiated patterns of relationship to those outcomes. In combination, the scales also detect cohorts of students at risk of study failure. The work reported is in the broader context of developing an individual-differences-based model of student learning. Although this model is sited specifically within mathematics learning, the methodology of its development is transferable to other discipline contexts. The trialled scales complement others already developed that reflect affective variation in students' mathematics study.

Examines the phenomenon of dissonant forms of memorizing and repetition from both location and structural perspectives. Attention is drawn to clear evidence that supports, in particular, an argument in favor of gender-response differences in both location and structural dissonance. Also illustrates how the isolation of dissonant response patterns may be approached analytically. (Author/EV)

Presents the initial development of a student learning inventory (SLI) that is specific to economics. Argues that continued development of an economic-specific SLI may result in better understanding of students' learning engagement with economics, assist instructors' understanding of student learning difficulties, and increase student success in first-year economics. (RLH)

Presents a study that focuses on atypical patterns of contextualized learning engagement that are often difficult to interpret because they exhibit varying degrees of conceptual dissonance. Addresses how the question of how dissonance can be interpreted and modeled. Provides an example of an observed interference model of student learning. (CMK)

Examined students' conceptualizations of learning with 519 Australian, Indonesian, and South African undergraduate and graduate students using the Reflections on Learning Inventory. Analysis did not support a single, clearly defined empirical model of conceptions of learning and associated constructs. Instead, there was consistent evidence that underlying empirical structures appear to be sensitive to the response context and other factors. (Author/DB)

An African program for high-risk college students focusing on aspects of the learning context, including the student-teacher relationship, perceptions of textbooks and notes, and the nature and role of tests, resulted in improvements in student attitudes, quality of learning, and academic performance. Implications for college teaching are discussed. (Author/MSE)

An introduction to the journal is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including role of threshold concepts (TCs) in theological education, constructive methods for helping students to accept critical study of the Biblical texts via use of the Hebrew Bible's own teaching, and ideas linked to TCs and the experience of people living with a disability.

Initial insights derived from modelling aspects of learning outcomes in the first year study of economics are presented. Of particular interest are three forms of entering students' prior knowledge: (a) subject-specific prior knowledge; (b) conceptions of learning, and (c) learning history. Part 1 compares the analyses of variance of inventory responses of the 1998 first year cohorts of the Universities of Adelaide and South Australia. Results across the two universities are consistent in confirming the significant effects of having studied economics at school, having English as a second language, and holding economic misconceptions, on (end of semester one) learning outcomes. Part 2 models learning outcomes using three approaches: (a) a single dimension of variation (selected from a more complex common factor model) which is then used to inform; (b) a k-means cluster analysis; and (c) a non-linear regression analysis. This "triangulation" of approaches produces different but complementary insights into the underlying relationships being modelled and improves our understanding of the learning engagement processes of entering first year economics students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors present the initial development of a student learning inventory (SLI) that is specific to economics. This approach, which is based on the student experience of learning (SEL) literature, emphasizes aspects of prior knowledge in the learning history of entering first-year students. Preliminary insights from a first SLI suggest that on entry to university, students show considerable variation in their perceptions of what economics is and what economists do. From the SEL perspective, such variation affects student learning. It is argued that continued development of an economic-specific SLI may result in a better understanding of students' learning engagement with economics and ultimately assist instructors in better understanding student learning difficulties and increase student success in first-year economics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]