Teaching is a Humanitarian, Complex, and Multi-faceted Profession
Teaching encompasses a wide range of student diversity in terms of age, learning abilities, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds, giving rise to various contextual options. I am particularly interested in university teaching, which involves working with more academically proficient students.
I would like to discuss: What are the biggest challenges of academic teaching?
Academic challenges can be different from person to person according to his qualifications and teaching experiences. They are also related to the level of students, teaching environment (rural or urban areas), teaching skill (listening and speaking, reading, writing or other English subjects of literature and linguistics) as well as the available facilities for teachers and students. You can find a better response from the faculty members if you further narrow down you question/area of teaching.
I have recently been confronted with a sad fact: many students can no longer read cursive writing. Below is a quotation I found disheartening. It made me wonder whether the extensive comments, suggestions, and criticisms I used to write on students' essays in the last few years before my retirement were all for naught.
"I continued questioning: Didn’t professors make handwritten comments on their papers and exams? Many of the students found these illegible. Sometimes they would ask a teacher to decipher the comments; more often they just ignored them. Most faculty, especially after the remote instruction of the pandemic, now grade online. But I wondered how many of my colleagues have been dutifully offering handwritten observations without any clue that they would never be read." -- Drew Gilpin Faust, https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theatlantic.com%2Fmagazine%2Farchive%2F2022%2F10%2Fgen-z-handwriting-teaching-cursive-history%2F671246%2F?_tp=eyJjb250ZXh0Ijp7ImZpcnN0UGFnZSI6InByb2ZpbGUiLCJwYWdlIjoicXVlc3Rpb24iLCJwb3NpdGlvbiI6InBhZ2VDb250ZW50In19
Dear Professor Karl Pfeifer, thank you for your response. I think both traditional and innovative teaching methods, as well as student-centered instruction play a crucial role in academic environments.
These days,
the biggest challenge is keeping students away from AI and getting genuine answers.
Last night, for the first time, I had to remove all technology from the classroom. It’s the only way to truly assess what they know—or if they know anything at all.
Sorel edwin Suarez
Thank you for your response. Yes, although AI is the result of great technological advancements, it brings some challenges and teaching concerns. Nevertheless, if students are diligent enough, the AI may be used within the boundaries of academic honesty and professional integrity.
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