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Teaching and learning tricky topics
Teaching and learning tricky topics

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Week 1 Tricky topics and threshold concepts

Introduction

Welcome to Week 1 of this badged open course. Each week builds on the understanding you have developed during the previous week’s study, and you should expect to spend 3 hours per week studying.

By the end of this week you should be able to:

  • understand what constitutes a threshold concept, and why this is a problem for both students and teachers
  • see how the term ‘tricky topics’ relates to threshold concepts
  • begin to consider tricky topics in your subject area.

You’ll start by thinking about threshold concepts.

The Open University would really appreciate a few minutes of your time to tell us about yourself and your expectations for the course before you begin, in our optional start-of-course survey [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] . Participation will be completely confidential and we will not pass on your details to others.