A Way Through … Troublesome Knowledge: Student Research as Threshold Concept Practice

Abstract

While the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education has prompted important new scholarship, Jan Meyer and Ray Land's related theoretical work has received less attention from librarians. The study described in this article is based upon 20 in-depth interviews with undergraduates about their experiences with research assignments. These students' accounts of their research offer insights into Meyer and Land's foundational ideas about troublesome knowledge and threshold concepts. Based upon the interviews, the authors suggest that research assignments might be viewed as a kind of threshold concept practice, where students grapple with not knowing and finding their way through the difficulties of research.

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