University teaching involves inherent complexity and fluidity in interactions between professors and students. Traditional linear models fail to capture the dynamic nature of classroom dialogue because they usually treat discontinuity, ambivalence, and ambiguity as temporary disruptions that must be corrected (Calduch, 2022). Instead, the concept of liminality (Meyer and Land, 2003; Davies et al., 2024) offers a powerful heuristic that reconceptualizes these phenomena as intrinsic and productive conditions within the educational process.

Social anthropology introduces the notion of liminality to describe the transitional phase experienced during rites of passage (Van Gennep, 1909; Turner, 1967). In higher education, this transitional phase creates a threshold space—a liminal zone—where established structures of meaning ("no longer") give way to emerging interpretations ("not yet"). This space is not merely a gap or a pause but a fertile arena for conceptual re-coordination. Within this zone, students and professors negotiate meaning, challenge preexisting ideas, and collaboratively construct new knowledge. Rather than perceiving moments of uncertainty and disarray as failures, the liminal perspective highlights their essential role in triggering transformation.

In this dialogic environment, learning is an emergent process that is neither fixed nor strictly linear. The interplay between preexisting knowledge and emergent insights oscillates between certainty and doubt, defensiveness and reflexivity. Such ambivalence, often visible in both verbal and non-verbal communication, drives students to challenge and reconstruct their previous understanding.

The theoretical framework of liminality thus provides a robust model for understanding the complexities of educational interactions, emphasizing that knowledge evolves through both instability and eventual coherence. Advances in cognitive psychology and neuroscience further validate this perspective by demonstrating that the brain’s adaptive mechanisms are inherently non-linear and dynamic. Neural reconfiguration, observed during learning, underscores the importance of transitional states wherein established pathways are disrupted, allowing for the formation of new connections. The liminal approach not only enriches our conceptualization of learning but also aligns with empirical findings on cognitive processing, offering a comprehensive framework that accounts for the oscillatory and emergent nature of human thought.

This study employs a microanalytic and molecular approach to capture the real-time dynamics of liminal learning during debriefing sessions in university classrooms. The methodological framework analyzes discursive interactions in university clasrooms with high granularity, focusing on both verbal and non-verbal cues that signal shifts in meaning and cognitive re-coordination. This approach enables a deeper appreciation of the temporal and situational dynamics of intra- and intersubjective mental processes and their dialogic-relational coordination. A series of debriefing sessions from simulations, known for their dialogic and emergent nature, were selected and recorded audiovisually to capture every nuance of the interactions. The debriefing setting was chosen because it naturally encourages the active negotiation of ideas as students and professors transition from established knowledge to emerging understandings. As part of the study, students who participated in the recorded and analyzed debriefing sessions undergo recall-evocation interviews. In these interviews, episodic video fragments from the session are presented to prompt students to reflect on the learning process that was taking place, following a think-aloud approach. The interviews are conducted 30 minutes after the class to minimize memory loss and reduce retrospective reconstruction. After recording, the sessions and interviews were transcribed using parallel transcriptions (Weston & McAlpine, 2002) to ensure that every detail of the discourse was documented.

The in-depth analysis of discursive interactions during debriefing sessions reveals that learning in university settings is inherently a non-linear process. The findings clearly demonstrate that moments marked by ambiguity—evidenced through defensive and reflective responses—are not mere interruptions but pivotal phases in the process of conceptual re-coordination. In these transitional spaces, both professors and students actively dismantle and reconstruct conceptual frameworks, leading to the emergence of new meanings. A key discovery is that, despite apparent disorganization, participants progressively align their cognitive systems over time. This self-organizing capacity suggests that what might initially appear as chaos is, in fact, a fundamental mechanism for achieving deeper learning. Furthermore, the study identifies critical transitional moments between the pre-liminal and post-liminal stages that are imbued with emotional significance. These moments, although erratic, are essential for consolidating profound learning experiences. The evidence supports the view that embracing uncertainty and ambiguity could catalyze transformation, challenging the traditional notion that stability defines effective learning. In summary, this research affirms that oscillation is not a barrier to learning but a form of negotiation, re-coordination, and transformation inherent to the learning process. The insights gained call for educational methodologies that recognize and harness the value of these transitional processes. By fostering environments where ambiguity is seen as an opportunity rather than a setback, teachers can promote more meaningful student-teacher interactions.

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