Faculty Spotlight Event. Threshold Concepts and College Writing Instruction

On Friday, March 29, 2019 at 10:30 a.m., a group of faculty and students will present in the "Threshold Concepts and College Writing Instruction" Faculty Spotlight event. Please join us in East Hall 206 for the following presentations:

“Embracing Threshold Concepts in First-Year Writing: Challenges and Opportunities” (Dr. Kitty Burroughs and Dr. Cheryl Hoy)

• We discuss our process of re-framing our teaching approach and GSW course assignments/activities to enrich student experiences for acquiring threshold concepts. We will share our experiences, student feedback, and perceptions of student engagement with threshold concepts. For the question and answer portion of the presentation, we will facilitate an interactive dialogue about the implications surrounding the development and assessment of students and assignments/activities.

“Encountering Resistance to Revision as a Threshold Concept” (Dr. Heather Jordan)

• My presentation focuses on encountering resistance to the threshold concepts, specifically, that revision is central to developing writing. I share student projects and examples that demonstrate one of the primary elements: that these threshold concepts take time. A main takeaway: not all students will cross the threshold during our time together, but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t learning.

“Threshold Concepts throughout the Writing Process: Reflection, Revision, Metacognition” (Ran Meyer)

• My presentation focuses on reflection, revision, and metacognition—with an emphasis on metacognition occurring throughout the entire writing process.

“Where I Come From: Remembering That Where We've Been Affects Where We're Going” (Brandie Bohney)

• My presentation focuses on the threshold concept that writing is informed by prior experience. I discuss some of the constraints on secondary English educators in their teaching of writing as a means of understanding where FYC students are coming from in terms of their experiences with writing and writing instruction in high school.