Some potential underlying threshold concepts in engineering dynamics

Engineering academics have a responsibility to continuously improve the educational experience of their students. One approach is to identify the critical thresholds that students need to pass through. As part of an international project, we are using threshold concept theory to improve engineering education. Threshold concepts are transformative in nature and open up pathways to future knowing, but they are potentially troublesome for students to master. By first identifying and investigating the first and second year engineering threshold concepts, we are designing our curriculum to optimise the transformative experiences that will help our students become engineers. This is the first global study of first and second year thresholds across all engineering disciplines. In this paper we discuss the process we have developed to identify threshold concepts using some examples. The process involved a Divergent Phase in which many potential threshold concepts were identified and an Integrating Phase in which underlying threshold concepts were identified. Underlying potential threshold concepts discussed are: conservation principle, vectors and vector calculus, system identification and definition, and temporal and spatial frames of reference. These are required for dynamics and also more generally in engineering. The findings support the significance of spatial visualisation and modelling. The inventory of threshold concepts continues to evolve as the concepts are negotiated across disciplines and universities.