Embedding academic literacies in software architecture courses using threshold concepts and skills

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26473/ATLAANZ.2025.1/005

Keywords:

software architecture, threshold concepts, threshold skills, academic literacies

Abstract

The use of threshold concepts and skills within tertiary education courses holds promise for helping students develop disciplinary competencies and capabilities. This paper describes a collaborative partnership at Auckland University of Technology to develop learning materials and teaching strategies to support students in designing and documenting a blueprint for a software solution in a software architecture paper. Using specific threshold concepts and skills relating to architectural drivers and documentation of views, a face-to-face workshop incorporating related academic literacies was delivered. This initial exploration provides a catalyst for further study that intends to gather faculty and student perceptions of the impact and support that this targeted intervention provides.

Author Biographies

  • Vanessa van der Ham, AUT

    Learning Advisor

    Learning and Academic Engagement

    Te Mātāpuna Library and Learning Services

    Auckland University of Technology

  • Dr Andre Breedt, AUT

    Learning Advisor

    Learning and Academic Engagement

    Te Mātāpuna Library and Learning Services

    Auckland University of Technology

  • Dr Jing Ma, AUT

    Lecturer

    Information Technology and Software Engineering

    Auckland University of Technology

References

Auckland University of Technology. (2022). Course Descriptor. https://paperdescriptorreport.aut.ac.nz/PaperDescriptor/PaperDescriptor?courseCode=COMP806&date=2022-03-01&saveFormat=pdf

Bailie, C., Goodhew, P., & Skryabina, E. (2006). Threshold concepts in Engineering education. Exploring potential blocks in student understanding. International Journal of Engineering Education, 22(5). 955–962. http://www.ijee.ie/articles/Vol22-5/06_ijee1823.pdf

Boud, D. (2000). Sustainable assessment: Rethinking assessment for the learning society. Studies in Continuing Education, 22, (2), 151–167. https://doi.org/10.1080/713695728

Boud, D., & Soler, R. (2016). Sustainable assessment revisited. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 41(3), 400–403. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2015.1018133

Boustedt, J., Eckerdal, A., McCartney, R., Moström, J. E., Ratcliffe, M., Sanders, K, & Zander, C. (2007). Threshold concepts in computer science: Do they exist and are they useful? ACM SIGCSE Bulletin, 39(1) 504–508. https://doi.org/10.1145/1227504.1227482

Eckerdal, A., McCartney, R., Moström, J. E., Ratcliffe, M., Sanders, K., Zander, C. (2006). Putting threshold concepts into context in computer science education. In Proceedings of the 11th Annual SIGCSE Conference: Innovation & Technology in Computer Science Education (pp. 103–107). http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/1140123.1140154

Harlow, A., & Peter, M. (2014). Mastering threshold concepts in tertiary education: “I know exactly what you are saying and I can understand it but I’ve got nowhere to hook it.” Waikato Journal of Education Te Hautaka Mātauranga o Waikato, 19(2), 7–23. https://doi.org/10.15663/wje.v19i2.95

Harlow, A., Scott, J. Peter, M., & Cowie, B. (2011). ‘Getting stuck’ in analogue electronics: Threshold concepts as an explanatory model. European Journal for Engineering Education, 36(5), 435–447. https://doi.org/10.1080/03043797.2011.606500

Harran, M., & Theunissen, H. W. (2019). Navigating the engineering literacy divide: Design report collaboration practice realities. Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology, 17(1), 77‒101. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEDT-07-2018-0112

Jacobs, C. (2007). Towards a critical understanding of the teaching of discipline-specific academic literacies: Making the tacit explicit. Journal of Education, 41, 59–81, https://hdl.handle.net/10520/AJA0259479X_23

Kallia, M., & Sentence, S. (2021). Threshold concepts, conceptions and skills: Teachers’ experiences with students’ engagement in functions. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 37, 411–428. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcal.12498

Knight, D., Callaghan, D., Baldock, T., & Meyer, J. F. H. (2013). Identifying threshold concepts: Case study of an open catchment hydraulics course. European Journal of Engineering Education, 39(2). 125–142. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03043797.2013.833175

Lago, P., & Van Vliet, H. (2005). Teaching a course on software architecture. In Proceedings of the 18th Conference on Software Engineering Education & Training (CSEET’05) (pp. 35–42). https://doi.org/10.1109/CSEET.2005.33

Macnaught, L., Bassett, M., van der Ham, V., Milne, J., & Jenkins, C. (2022). Sustainable academic literacy development: The gradual handover of literacy teaching. Teaching in Higher Education, 27(2), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2022.2048369

Maldoni, A. M., & Lear, E. I. (2016). A decade of embedding: Where are we now? Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice, 13(3), 2–20. https://doi.org/10.53761/1.13.3.2

Male, S. A. (2012a). Engineering thresholds: An approach to curriculum renewal final report. Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching. https://ltr.edu.au/resources/PP10_1607_Baillie_Report_2012.pdf

Male, S. A. (2012b). Integrated Engineering foundation threshold concept inventory. Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching, Sydney. https://ltr.edu.au/resources/PP10_1607_Baillie_Threshold_concept_2012.pdf

Male, S. A., & Bennett, D. (2015). Threshold concepts in undergraduate engineering: Exploring engineering roles and value of learning. Australasian Journal of Engineering Education, 20(1), 59-69. https://doi.org/10.7158/D14-006.2015.20.1

McWilliams, R., & Allan, Q. (2014). Embedding academic literacy skills: Towards a best practice model. Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice, 11(3). https://doi.org/10.53761/1.11.3.8

Mendieta, J., Chidlow, R., Han, D., Bingham, T., Lin, S., Hardley, L., & Lin, L. (2019). Integrating academic literacy support into the curriculum. University of Auckland, Library and Learning Services. https://doi.org/10.17608/k6.auckland.16831210.v2

Meyer. J. H. F., & Land, R. (2003). Threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge: Linkages to ways of thinking and practicing within the disciplines. In C. Rust (Ed.), Improving student learning: Improving student learning theory and practice – ten years on (pp. 312–424). Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development.

Meyer, J. H. F., & Land, R. (2005). Threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge (2): Epistemological considerations and a conceptual framework for teaching and learning, Higher Education, 49(3), pp. 373–388. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-004-6779-5

Meyer, J. H. F., & Land, R. (2006). Overcoming barriers to student understanding: Threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge. Routledge.

Nasir, U., & Laiq, M. (2022). Threshold concepts and skills in Software Architecture: Instructor’s perspectives. In Proceedings of the 29th Asia-Pacific Software Engineering Conference. (ASPEC) (pp. 547–553). http://doi.org/10.1109/APSEC57359.2022.00076

Nicola-Richmond, K., Geneviève, P., Larkin, H., & Taylor, C. (2018). Threshold concepts in higher education: A synthesis of the literature relating to measurement of threshold crossing. Higher Education Research and Development, 37(1), 101–114. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2017.1339181

Olaniyi, N. E. E. (2020). Threshold concepts: Designing a format for the flipped classroom as an active technique for crossing the threshold. Research and Practice in Technology Enhanced Learning, 15(2) 1−15. https://doi.org/10.1186/s41039-020-0122-3

Peter, M., Harlow, A., Scott, J. B., McKie, D. Johnson, E. M., Moffat, K., & McKim, A. M. (2014). Threshold concepts: Impacts on teaching and learning at tertiary level. University of Waikato, Commission Report for Teaching and Learning Research Initiative. https://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/handle/10289/9058

Sanders, K., Bostedt, J., Eckerdal, A. McCartney, R., Moström, J. E., Thomas, L., & Zander, C. (2012) Threshold concepts and threshold skills in computing. In Proceedings of Nineth Annual International Conference on International Computing Education Research (pp. 23–30). https://doi.org/10.1145/2361276.2361283

Skinner, I., & Mort, P. (2009), Embedding academic literacy support within the Electrical Engineering curriculum: A case study. IEEE Transactions on Education, 52(4), 547–555. http://doi.org/10.1109/TE.2008.930795

Thomas, L., Boustedt, J., Eckerdal, A., McCartney, R., Moström, J. E., Sanders, K., & Zander, C. (2012). A broader threshold: Including skills as well as concepts in computing education. In Threshold concepts: From personal practice to communities of practice. Proceedings of the National Academy’s Sixth Annual Conference and Fourth Biennial Threshold Concepts Conference (pp. 27–29). Trinity College.

Thomas, L., Boustedt, J., Eckerdal, A., McCartney, A., Moström, J. E., Sanders, K., & Zander, C. (2017). In the liminal space: Software design as a threshold skill. Practice and Evidence of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 12(2), 331–351. https://doi.org/10.1080/00048623.2015.1062260

Wei, L., & Zhao, Q. (2023). Teaching reform and practice of software architecture for postgraduates in universities. In L. F. Fing et al. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Education, Language and Art (ICELA, 2022) (pp. 468–473). https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-004-6_58

Wilkes, J., Godwin, J., & Gurney, L. J. (2015). Developing information literacy and academic writing skills through the collaborative design of an assessment task for first year engineering students. Australian Academic and Research Libraries, 46(3), 164–175. https://doi.org/10.1080/00048623.2015.1062260

Wingate, U. (2012). Using academic literacies and genre-based models for academic writing instruction: A literacy journey. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 11, 26–37. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2011.11.006

Wingate, U. (2018). Academic literacy across the curriculum: Towards a collaborative instructional approach. Language Teaching, 51(3), 349–364. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0261444816000264

Downloads

Published

11/19/2025