I couldn’t agree more when you argue for the necessity of “creating educational structures” beyond teacher presentation. And those structures must necessarily recognise the ecology of learning as, “the contextual realities need to be taken in to consideration when researching adult learning” (Kop, 2010, p. 8). Instructional design covers aspects of teacher presentation as well as sets up spaces for both group interaction and individual working time (Branch, 2010).

With all due respect, there are two aspects in your post that are troubling. The first is that whereas Vygotsky’s ZDP and Lave & Wenger’s LPP do point to environmental influences in learning, and Bruner’s Spiral Curriculum shows the importance of sequencing and staging of curricular elements, however, these important aspects are not necessarily directly connected to threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge; they affect all concepts and knowledge. Secondly, your statement that “the best way … to understand … is … to be communicating with others” (emphasis added) is premature because given the state of research, there are too many researchers investigating purely cognitive aspects of learning, the role of habit formation (e.g our reading for week 4) in individual learning, and there is a serious argument to be made about the cultural notions in play considering Confucian heritage countries’ attitudes to learning. In other words, it is too early to make strong claims about the best method.

I would like to discuss with you and the other students here more about TCs and troublesome knowledge, but word limits inhibit my involvement.

Jim

Branch, R. M. (2010). Instructional design: The ADDIE approach. Instructional Design: The ADDIE Approach. New York: Springer. http://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-09506-6

Kop, R. (2010). Networked Connectivity and Adult Learning: Social Media, the Knowledgeable Other and Distance Education. Retrieved July 28, 2015, from https://www.scribd.com/doc/33459795/Rita-Kop-Thesis-May10