Abstract

The notion of threshold concepts has become quite a ‘buzz’ word in education since it was introduced by Meyer and Land (2003) and applied to economics by Davies (2003) the same year. They offer a viable method for describing different levels of understanding a subject that has now been adopted across a variety of disciplinary areas. Threshold concepts according to Kiley & Wisker (2009), assists towards identifying core learning outcomes that represent seeing things in a new or transformed way. The five characteristics of threshold concepts put forward by Meyer and Land (2003) included that they are transformative, irreversible, integrative, bounded and counter-intuitive. Perkins (2006) later added that threshold concepts were also ‘troublesome’. The principles of threshold concepts will be discussed from two perspectives: firstly, in the teaching of design history whereby design prototypes are used to assist novices in the cognitively difficult task of recognising a designer’s work. Secondly, the principles of threshold concepts will be discussed within the context of colour theory where logic and ontological examination provide novices with new insight into an old construct.