Understanding the Learner Experience: Threshold Concepts and Curriculum Mapping, Char Booth and Brian Mathews

In order to improve library instruction, we need to develop a richer understanding of the holistic learning and teaching experience of our institutions. Threshold concepts are core ideas in a particular area or discipline that, once understood, transform perceptions of that subject. Curriculum mapping is a method of visualizing insight into the courses, requirements, and progressions a learner negotiates as they pass through a particular department or degree. When understood and applied in tandem, these strategies provide a powerful means of developing actionable insight into the learner and faculty perspective, and highlight pivotal points at which to provide library instruction, resources, and research support. This presentation will explore theoretical and applied applications of of threshold concepts and curriculum mapping, as well as feature an interactive portion devoted to collaborative mapping of threshold concepts key to teaching and learning in libraries.