December 2009 – Page 9 – Silence and Voice

Jeffrey’s Twitter Updates for 2009-12-03

Off to my tarot class at the NY Open Center. #
Going out to get a latte. #
New comment on "Mathemagenic" http://bt.io/BJSl #
2 new comments on "Mathemagenic" and more http://bt.io/BJQu #
Think I did enough work for this evening. Perhaps now I will try to catch up on some of my reading. Night, Twitter colleagues and friends. #

Threshold Concepts Symposium in 2010

As I am beginning to look at Ray Land’s work in Threshold Concepts and Troublesome Knowledge (which I first became aware of last year, though I went in a different direction then) as an element of the research design I am working on, I just became aware of the 3rd Biennial Threshold Concepts Symposium in July of 2010 in Australia. The conference site is here, and while the airfair from the East Coast in the US is astronomical at that time of the year, perhaps others may find this useful.

Now, to try to distinguish this from Jack Mezirow’s Transformative Learning theory. Anybody see anything that tries to show the similarities and differences?

Jeffrey’s Twitter Updates for 2009-12-02

I have been looking for a time tracking program, and have been happy with the one I finally found — Klok – http://bit.ly/4tXY0N #
RT @kathyschrock: Tweeting from the Chumby One…fun times! #
Hope to get home before it rains. #
Just bought 2 graphic novels at Jim Hanley's Universe. Big sale, and my first graphic novels. #

Jeffrey’s Twitter Updates for 2009-12-02

I have been looking for a time tracking program, and have been happy with the one I finally found — Klok – http://bit.ly/4tXY0N #
RT @kathyschrock: Tweeting from the Chumby One…fun times! #
Hope to get home before it rains. #
Just bought 2 graphic novels at Jim Hanley's Universe. Big sale, and my first graphic novels. #

Beginning my next Research Design / Project

It is now time for me to begin formulating my reserach idea for my Module 3 research project at Lancaster University. I so appreciate the feedback I received on my previous projects, and hope to receive some of the same support with this project as well.

I have been thinking a lot about this, though find that I really organize it and learn about it (and myself) when I begin to write it out (cf. Richardson, Writing: A method of inquiry, 2000), as the notion of writing as a form of inquiry is valuable for me. I learn as I write, and then the feedback along the way from my distributed community is invaluable.

To this end, I am beginning to look at the concept of Threshold Concepts and Troublesome Knowledge, as it seems related to the concept of transformational learning (something that I think may be related to autoethnographic inquiry). Lots of relationships here. A lot to process, though I just accessed these two articles and a book section that my faculty tutor suggested I read for some ideas. This is now my reading for the remainder of the week.

Meyer, J. H. F., & Land, R. (2005). Threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge (2): Epistemological considerations and a conceptual framewok for teaching and learning. Higher Education, 49(3), 378-388.

Marshall, J. (1999). Living life as inquiry. Systemic Practice and Action Research, 12(2), 155-171.

Perkins, D. (2008). Beyond understanding. In R. Land, J. H. F. Meyer & J. Smith (Eds.), Threshold concepts within the disciplines. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.

I will begin tracking and developing my research idea here, and look forward to some feedback along the way. Any suggestions to help me process this are most appreciated!