Sample Issue Essays for AWA - 12 | Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA) for GRE PDF Download

"In order to improve the quality of instruction at the college and university level, all faculty should be required to spend time working outside the academic world in professions relevant to the courses they teach."

Sample Answer:

• Education prepares us for life by enlightening us with knowledge. Though knowledge is present all around us, it is an educator who imparts knowledge to us. Educational institutes serve as platforms for the interaction between the learner and learned and their faculty enables one to independently face the world. In other words, the quality of education at university and college levels plays a vital role in giving economic independence to an individual.
• The faculty of an educational institute primarily consists of lecturers, professors, lab attendants and activity in-charges. In spite of plenty of books and internet information available, an educator plays a significant role in giving instructions such that a complex topic is comprehended easily by his students.
• To train an individual such that he does well in a chosen profession, it is not necessary that the faculties should practice that particular profession. The strength of an educator lies in his communication skills and ability to transform topics from complex to easy. For instance, a language teacher should be able to develop an understanding of his subject. He should be capable of explaining difficult comprehensions and poems with ease and develop the skill of critical analysis in the students along with a liking for his subject. For all this he need not be an author or poet himself. Likewise, a mathematics professor need not be a mathematician who develops different techniques to approach a problem, invents new formulae and theories, unless compelled by his own choice. He is to explain different topics in an easy way, and develop problem solving skills and prepare a sound base for the future mathematicians. Even in science subjects, the faculty need not transform into scientists. Good explanation of scientific terms and theories along with the relevant practical work in the laboratories would suffice for the ones preparing to go into research work.
• In addition to this, the trainers and passed out trainees pursuing the same profession may create awkwardness, as working on the same platform may create ego hassles and diminish the much deserved respect for the faculty amidst their ex-students. Further, frequent shifting from educational institutions to the outside workplace may disturb the curriculum and concentration of the students as well as the teachers.
• However, there are a few areas where the quality of education can improve drastically if the faculty members have some experience of working in outside world in professions relevant to the courses they teach. For example, the research guides at the university level can give more useful input to their students aspiring for research work in scientific laboratories. Similarly, all faculties of professional institutions like business management, teachers training, training for doctors, etc can enhance the quality of teaching by supplementing it with their first hand experience in the respective professions. Apart from theoretical knowledge, it creates awareness about the actual environment and challenges to be faced in future.
• Thus, the role of faculties in colleges and universities is to prepare, guide and motivate the students in recognizing their aptitude so that they choose an appropriate profession. Barring few courses, the faculties can conveniently do justice to their teaching without working outside in professions related to their subjects.