Threshold Crossings in Data Science and Cybersecurity Professional Development: A Six Week Research Experience for STEM High School Teachers

This paper explores the experiences of 11 high school STEM teachers learning cybersecurity concepts during a six-week summer Research Experience for Teachers (RET) program. We applied the threshold concept lens to make meaning of the troublesome knowledge that teachers found difficult and how they overcame those difficulties during the data science and cybersecurity professional development. Thresholds are core concepts considered troublesome in learning that, once understood, have a significant impact on the learner’s mastery of a discipline. The threshold concept theory offers a potential lens on teachers’ learning, focusing on concepts that are troublesome and transformative. The study involved 11 high school teachers—six men and five women—teaching mathematics, chemistry, and physics in grades 9-12. We used naturalistic observation to record teachers’ behavior during their liminal and transformative stages. We found evidence that after the RET program the teachers’ level of interest, perception, confidence, and motivation improved. This was an indicator of a quality transformation, a key concept in threshold crossing.