Completing or choosing to do your higher-education in the UAE can be highly rewarding for its top-quality universities and institutes. But with its quality coursework and subjects comes the difficulty in mastering academic writing as a student. Although universities bring opportunities for new growth and learning, catering to the curriculum and managing research and academic writing is important for a student’s GPA. To help you find the right balance in your academics, we have listed top academic challenges faced by students to help them counter and resolve it for better academic success. Get a chance to improve your performance, refine your essays and academic work as we dive deep into the problems and possible solutions.
Top Academic Challenges Faced by Students in Dubai
The transition from school to university-level writing is a new challenge many students in UAE try to navigate. The tone, structure and research requirements that are needed are significantly different from the coursework required in high school. But to navigate the solutions, the problems need to be narrowed down first. Beyond academic writing, there can also be personal factors that contribute to academic struggles faced by students in UAE. So, let’s take a lot at some common challenges that are faced by them:
Time Management and Work-Life Balance
Since flexible student visas are offered in the UAE, students can legally work part-time for up to 20 hours. Students are now balancing part-time jobs, family commitments or internships alongside their academic coursework.
Since 15 to 20 hours need to be dedicated per week for studying and academic writing, there is an imbalance in time management. The inability to allocate sufficient time and hold appropriate work-life balance can lead to poor-quality submissions. It is therefore important for students to create a timetable to divide work and assignments to ensure adequate time is allotted for each task.
Unpreparedness for University-level Academic Work
The transition from schools to university a new chapter can be overwhelming to students. Especially as a first-year student, they are still learning how to find credible and peer-reviewed sources for their academic writing.
The reliance on basic search engine results or Wikipedia compared to specialised academic databases can result in a submission that lacks adequate research and depth. So, make sure to seek sources from public libraries to access books, peer-reviewed journals or through websites like Google Scholar.
Insufficient Knowledge About Referencing and Citation Style Guidelines
Once you are a university student, accuracy in citation and references is non-negotiable in your academic writing. Whether you are applying APA, MLA or Harvard style in your assignments, the format and guidelines must be strictly followed for in-text citations and bibliographies.
If the student is found to have accidentally plagiarised their content, it can be considered a breach of academic integrity under the UAE Ministry of Education and higher education regulations. This can result in course failure, penalties like mark deductions or written warnings kept as record in the students file.
When going through your work, make sure to proof read and edit areas in your writing that require paraphrasing or referencing to prevent penalties or loss in grades.
High Levels of Anxiety and Academic Stress
Due to Dubai’s competitive job market and academic expectations, the pressure to do well or succeed can lead to severe academic anxiety in students.
The level of stress faced by students can lead to procrastination due to fear of failure or the need to submit assignments of high-quality. This vicious cycle can cause rushed and last-minute writing, causing their performance to suffer.
Create a schedule that gives priority to the more difficult subjects and breaks the homework assignments down into smaller, more manageable pieces.
Also Read: The Importance of Structure in Essay Writing | 10 Common Essay Writing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
Final Thoughts
Academic challenges and trying to overcome them is a normal part of the university experience. But it should not define your educational journey and the changes you try to make as a student. As we identify the root causes that cause academic challenges, you can now strive to work on them and improve your performance in academic writing as a student in Dubai.
But if you feel lost or unable to overcome these challenges, as you try building on your skills, you are always welcome to reach out to Essaywriting.ae for support in your academic writing specially catered for your coursework.
