Challenges Faced by Students in Higher Education: A Reflective Essay

This reflective essay discusses the challenges faced by students in higher education, including distractions from technology and communication barriers with tutors. It also provides recommendations to overcome these challenges.

Running head : REFLECTIVE ESSAY
REFLECTIVE ESSAY
Name of the student
Name of the University
Author Note

1REFLECTIVE ESSAY
Learning is a method or a process by which a person or a community can acquire latest or
modifying existing knowledge, behavior, skills, values and preferences (Goodfellow, Bengio, &
Courville,2016). Learning abilities are observed to be present in humans, certain plants, animals
and machines and devices such as computers (Sluckin, 2018). For me, learning is the basic factor
in an individual that helps him/her to acquire knowledge of the world and develop
himself/herself completely. Learning is the most important intellectual exercise of a being that
helps it to grow and evolve throughout the generations.
In higher education settings, as an undergraduate student, I have happened to face certain
customary and secondary difficulties in case of learning in academic surroundings. Two main
challenges that I have faced in my academic life is distraction and uneven interaction with tutors.
As an undergraduate college student, I have been provided with certain technologies with high
internet speed such as i-phone, laptops and tablets which is actually an essential component for
academicians and students who are pursuing higher studies. However, in spite of having positive
effects of technology, there are certain negative effects of it as well which cannot and should not
be avoided (Goundar, 2014). I have been distracted by the technologies in the classrooms, library
and even at my residence. With the swift and high speed of internet and introduction of plethora
of junk, useless and spam websites including social media platforms, I have been subsequently
distracted from studies (Lawlis, Anson, & Greenfield, 2014). To avoid such pressing problem
that is common among the youth, I recommend a complete abstinence of students and
academicians from social media and unnecessary usage of internet.

2REFLECTIVE ESSAY
The second challenge that I have faced in pursuing higher education is communication
and interaction barrier among the students and the tutors and mentors. Even though this
particular barrier is not much dealt with or talked about, however, it is a reality. Being a shy and
a modestly timid undergraduate college student with low speaking skills and personality issues, I
have subsequently found it to be a little difficult while interacting freely and open-mindedly with
the mentors and teachers, describing them the problems which I am facing in learning process,
with the fear or getting ridiculed or laughed at by the peers and the classmates. It is a problem in
case of many students who are not well groomed, who find difficult to adjust with the peers and
smart classmates, therefore, tending to retire among themselves, interacting and communicating
less in the class or outside the class (Lawlis, Anson, & Greenfield, 2014). The basic and
customary way to deal with such problem, according to me, is by proper psychological
counseling of the respective student to enhance his/her psycho-social well being and giving
him/her personality enhancing lessons so that he/she can survive in inconvenient situations.
Apart from that, the teachers and mentors should also be given proper training and guidance to
help, support, assist and guide such students, create and maintain a friendly and amicable bond in
between them so that such problems can be avoided in future ( Yang, Becerik-Gerber, & Mino,
2013).

3REFLECTIVE ESSAY
References:
[1] Goodfellow, I., Bengio, Y., & Courville, A. (2016). Deep learning. MIT press.
[2] Lawlis, T. R., Anson, J., & Greenfield, D. (2014). Barriers and enablers that influence
sustainable interprofessional education: a literature review. Journal of interprofessional
care, 28(4), 305-310.
[3] Goundar, S. (2014). The distraction of technology in the classroom. Journal of Education &
Human Development, 3(1), 211-229.
[4] Yang, Z., Becerik-Gerber, B., & Mino, L. (2013). A study on student perceptions of higher
education classrooms: Impact of classroom attributes on student satisfaction and
performance. Building and Environment, 70, 171-188.
[5] Sluckin, W. (2018). Early learning in man and animal. Routledge.