Threshold knowledge is a term in the study of higher education used to describe core concepts—or threshold concepts—which, once understood, transform perception of a given subject, phenomenon, or experience.
[1] The term was Introduced by Jan Meyer and Ray Land,[1][2][3][4] Meyer and Land also discuss the related idea of troublesome knowledge, ideas that appear alien or counter-intuitive.
[1][3][4] The theory holds that: ... there are certain concepts, or certain learning experiences, which resemble passing through a portal, from which a new perspective opens up, allowing things formerly not perceived to come into view.
Typical examples might be 'Personhood' in Philosophy; 'The Testable Hypothesis' in Biology; 'Gravity' in Physics; 'Reactive Power' in Electrical Engineering; 'Depreciation' in Accounting; 'Legal Narrative' in Law; 'Geologic Time' in Geology; 'Uncertainty' in Environmental Science; 'Deconstruction' in Literature; 'Limit' in Mathematics or 'Object-oriented Programming' in Computer Science.
[2]These ideas have been explored by several subsequent researchers in a variety of disciplinary contexts including: The theory has also been criticised.