The idea of Threshold Concepts has been widely discussed in higher education for more than a decade. As defined by Jan H.F. Meyer and Ray Land, a threshold concept “can be considered as akin to a portal, opening up a new and previously inaccessible way of thinking about something. It represents a transformed way of understanding, or interpreting, or viewing something without which the learner cannot progress”.  (Meyer, J., & Land, R. (2003). Put another way, threshold concepts are the core ideas and principles in any discipline that often become second nature to experts, but may be completely foreign to the novice. And yet, without an understanding of these core concepts, learners cannot progress in further learning in any given subject area. As with all academic disciplines, threshold concepts exist in the area of Information Literacy; grasping information literacy threshold concepts is essential for students to become effective researchers.In 2015, the American Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) replaced their Information Literacy Competency Standards, with a “Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education”. The Framework is organized into six Frames, each anchored by an information literacy threshold concept and supported by a set of knowledge practices and dispositions. These six information literacy threshold concepts include:Authority is Constructed and ContextualInformation Creation is a ProcessInformation Has ValueResearch as InquiryScholarship as ConversationSearching as Strategic ExplorationBased on the research studies and experiences of academic instruction librarians who see first-hand the challenges students experience when conducting college-level research, the new Framework was developed to support information literacy instruction in the digital age. The literature suggests that most students entering college are unprepared for the rigors of academic research. (Head, A. J. (2013). If students can gain an understanding of these six threshold concepts, they will likely be better researchers and generally more successful in their academic work.What are the implications of this huge paradigm shift in college-level research instruction for school librarians? Simply put, school librarians have a wonderful opportunity to prepare students for college level research by systematically teaching information literacy threshold concepts in grades K-12. A scaffolded information literacy instruction program focused on threshold concepts along with standards and skills could help pave the way for students to be effective college researchers. With an estimated 30% of US college and university students dropping out after their first year, preparing research savvy students for the demands of college assignments could have a significant impact on student success and ultimately on college graduation rates.  Instructional ObjectivesBy the completion of Module 1, students will be able to identify a threshold concept from their field or discipline and design a learning activity that could be used to teach this concept.By the completion of Module 2, students will be able to identify one or more stumbling blocks that students encounter when conducting academic research, and describe how a better grasp of one of the six ACRL Information Literacy threshold concepts could help overcome this research barrier.By the completion of Module 3, students will be able to create a lesson plan for a K-12 classroom which teaches or reinforces the threshold concept “Research as Inquiry”. 

This seventh grade annotated inquiry provides students with an opportunity to explore how words affect public opinion through an examination of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Students will investigate historical sources related to the novel and reactions in the North and South in order to address the compelling question, “Can words lead to war?” This query takes advantage of the mixed messages students often receive about the power of words. Students’ understanding about how words can make a difference is often grounded in discussions of words used to bully, instead of the power of words to encourage reform. This is an ANNOTATED inquiry with additional information on the questions, tasks, and sources within.

This guided inquiry learning activity is designed to be used in a large introductory chemistry course. By working in small groups to discuss the presented information and question prompts, students will engage in cycles of exploring and analyzing data, inventing new conceptual understandings, and applying those concepts. Students should be tasked with working together to complete the prompts in each section by a set time limit. After each section is completed, the entire class can share their answers via a personal response system, and the instructor can review and explain the correct responses, using the accompanying slide deck, which translates the problems into multiple-choice prompts.Instructional resources include 1) the learning activity (.docx and .pdf) 2) the learning objects (.docx and .pdf) and 3) the slide deck (.pptx).- Atomic Orbitals- Chemical Fuels- Gas Laws- Intermolecular Forces- pKa Trends- VSEPR

This free, standards-based website developed for elementary teachers provides hand-picked, reviewed, on-line resources to enhance teacher content knowledge regarding reasons for the seasons.

This article highlights activities for elementary students that model icebergs and develop an informal understanding of the concepts of buoyancy and density. Suggestions for inquiry-based activities are included.

The Washington C3 Hub is designed to support teachers with high-quality instructional materials aligned to our state learning standards and reflective of the C3 Framework. Here you will find inquiries developed by teachers in districts around the state as well as other helpful materials to help embed proven social studies instructional practices into K-12 classes.

Individual resources from this site can be found in the grade band subfolders. You may also view other states' sites on the main C3 State Hub site located at: http://www.c3teachers.org/state-hubs/

This article highlights hands-on and inquiry-based science lessons that teach about the water cycle and provides lessons that integrate literacy skills with the science investigations.

This lesson address the questions:
1. What did the Republic of Korea mean to the US during the US occupation?
2. How did the relationship between the US and the Republic of Korea change during the Korean conflict?
3. What has the Republic of Korea meant to the US since the Korean conflict?