Modern definition of academic rigor
The proverb “If it’s easy, it’s not worth doing” has long been used to promote patience through hard work and fatigue. But the modern outcome – “It’s only valuable when it’s difficult” – encapsulates the idea that drives today’s debate about academic rigor.
With advances in technology, education is more accessible, and tasks such as sending assignments and shooting exams have been streamlined through online platforms. Logically, this should reduce stress for both students and faculty. But the opposition was often true. What once required long, long allocations was replaced by an overwhelming amount of content covered within the same time frame, leading to increased stress and pressure on students.
Changes in academic stress
The basic question is, “Is it good to be stiff?” Though the stress at a university is as old as the university itself, the changing reasons behind that stress should raise concerns. Previously, stress was attributed to chasing deadlines, taking class tests and facing surprising quizzes. Stress is now rooted in the vast amount of material packed into the curriculum. Some universities and courses measure rigour by the amount of content and the strength of their workload, and take pride in how difficult they are.
Overcoming something difficult is a sense of accomplishment, but that feeling must be rooted in a true stake. Due to difficulties, there is not a much higher interest. We take pride in climbing high mountains, but does a sense of accomplishment increase if we insist on climbing it using only our hands?
A blow to learning and happiness
This change in the definition of rigor can burden not only the student’s well-being, but also the quality of the learning experience. When students are flooded with excess material to remember and grasp within a compressed time frame, the focus often shifts from deep understanding to mere survival. Rather than developing a true grasp of the concept, students can rely on memorization and superficial learning to simply meet the requirements of the course. This undermines the very purpose of education in order to promote critical thinking, creativity and passion for knowledge.
A study highlighted in the Washington Post reveals that students view academic workloads as a major challenge on campus, and many express the overwhelming amount of material and pressure to implement. Similarly, higher education records report that professors observe a record number of students who are freed, stressed and uncertain about their future, resulting in overwhelming academic demands.
Furthermore, traditional, rigid concepts such as strict attendance policies and inflexible deadlines disproportionately affect students with disabilities, making educational experience unnecessary difficult.
Mental health and a strict education system
In response, some institutions are considering policies to support students’ mental health by allowing breaks from classes. However, implementing such accommodation requires instructors to adjust traditional standards, highlighting the tensions of maintaining academic rigor and dealing with student well-being.
For example, the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill introduced facility-wide mental health breaks in fall 2020, which became permanent in fall 2020. These breaks are scheduled throughout the school year, allowing students to pause and focus on their health without the pressure of academic commitment that day (in Higher Ed, 2024).
Additionally, some universities encourage faculty to include mental health day policies in their silavi. A 2024 survey found that one in five students believe such policies will help promote their well-being. Teachers are advised to provide one permitted absence for mental health during the semester. This causes students to later miss work but do not require attendance that day (Higher Ed, 2024).
These initiatives represent a shift towards recognizing the importance of mental health in the academic setting. However, they also require faculty to adapt traditional approaches to attendance and assessment, balancing the need for academic rigor with student well-being.
More and more universities are adopting feedback-based grading systems. Here, students can correct their work after receiving feedback, learn from the mistakes, and gradually improve their understanding. These systems are designed to not only reduce stress, but also emphasize the learning process itself, making it less meaningful to achieve a more meaningful score.
The opposite effect of excess area
Moreover, an overly rigorous approach can inadvertently discourage students from engaging in coursework in a meaningful way. When academic achievement is identified with enduring intense pressure, students may develop a mindset that values “overcoming” the work rather than genuinely learning or enjoying the process. This is not only counterproductive, but also harmful to long-term academic and personal growth.
Redefine academic rigor: Calls for meaningful assignments
So, an alternative to the rigour of mindlessness is to rethink what really means in an academic setting. True rigor requires students to think critically, solve problems creatively, and develop transferable skills. It is to foster an environment where students are encouraged to be deeply involved in the material, build connections between disciplines, and apply what they have learned to real-world situations.
Conclusion: Changing the focus from “hard” to “smart”
It is part of university experience that our ears crammed up answers and equations until they flow out, but there must be a solid reason behind it. The very institutions that are to reward merit must produce real merits and do not perpetuate the hustle and stolen behavior inherent in our current approach to rigor.
Ultimately, it is not the difficulty of the task to define its value. It is an opportunity for growth that comes with it. If we really want to prepare students for our future, we must turn our focus from simply being “difficult” to “smart” to being “smart” to being from overwhelming workloads to thoughtful and structured tasks that prioritize understanding and acquisition over surface-level outcomes.
Points of action to rethink the rigor in higher education
1. Adopts feedback-driven grading
We shift focus from traditional grading to the system, emphasizing feedback and iterative improvements. It allows students to modify their work based on feedback, providing greater understanding and reducing the stress of one-off assessments.
2. Redefine your success metrics
It moves beyond grades and exams as the only measure of success. It incorporates project-based learning, peer collaboration, and real-world problem solving to assess students’ true learning and creativity.
3. Introducing flexible deadlines
Implement a more flexible timeline and pacing to reduce pressure and allow students to engage more deeply with the material. This helps to promote learning rather than memorization.
4. Prioritize mental health support
It provides resources such as counseling and stress management workshops. Creating open mental health dialogues can help reduce stress and ensure a healthier academic environment.
5. Reevaluate curriculum design
Evaluate the curriculum to ensure that the content is balanced with the student’s cognitive load. Focus on depth of width, allowing students to fully engage with the concept of the core without being overwhelmed.
6. Innovation based on AI technology
There are many tools and options to help students study smarter, such as an AI-based learning platform. Academic approval of such tools can go a long way in reducing performance rigour and burnout.
