Exploring Challenges and Opportunities in the AI-Driven Professional Development of Higher Education Faculty
Research Article
Open Access
CC BY

Exploring Challenges and Opportunities in the AI-Driven Professional Development of Higher Education Faculty

Shuchang Zhang 1*
1 Southwest Jiaotong University
*Corresponding author: shuchangzhang916@gmail.com
Published on 13 August 2025
Journal Cover
LNEP Vol.113
ISSN (Print): 2753-7056
ISSN (Online): 2753-7048
ISBN (Print): 978-1-80590-313-0
ISBN (Online): 978-1-80590-314-7
Download Cover

Abstract

With the rapid development of generative artificial intelligence (AI) technology, its impact on the professional competency of higher education teachers is receiving increasing attention. However, the current research mostly focuses on the application of technical tools and seldom systematically explores the multiple challenges and deep opportunities faced by teachers in remodeling and ability transformation. This article focuses on the ability reconstruction of college teachers in the dimensions of digital literacy, reflective practice, and lifelong learning in the context of the AI era. Combining literature and typical cases, this research reveals the challenges that AI brings to teachers, and also brings opportunities such as improved teaching efficiency and personalized development paths. Based on the above analysis, this paper puts forward three suggestions: improving the teacher AI training system and enhancing its technical adaptability; Promote the deep integration of AI and teaching, and realizing a new paradigm of human-machine collaborative education; Reconstruct the teacher evaluation mechanism and strengthening the process and collaborative evaluation.

Keywords:

Higher Education Teacher Competencies, Generative Artificial Intelligence, Pedagogical Transformation, Continuous Professional Development

View PDF
Zhang,S. (2025). Exploring Challenges and Opportunities in the AI-Driven Professional Development of Higher Education Faculty. Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media,113,22-29.

References

[1]. Viberg, O., Cukurova, M., Feldman-Maggor, Y., Alexandron, G., Shirai, S., Kanemune, S., & Kizilcec, R. F. (2024). What Explains Teachers' Trust in AI in Education Across Six Countries? International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education, 1-29.

[2]. Yan, Y., Sun, W., & Zhao, X. (2024). Metaphorical conceptualizations of generative artificial intelligence use by Chinese university EFL learners. In Frontiers in Education. Frontiers Media SA, 9, 1430494.

[3]. Kong, X., Fang, H., Chen, W. et al. Examining human–AI collaboration in hybrid intelligence learning environments: insight from the Synergy Degree Model. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 12, 821 (2025).

[4]. Olave Astorga, J. M., & González-Carrasco, F. (2025). Evaluative Judgment: A Validation Process to Measure Teachers' Professional Competencies in Learning Assessments. Education Sciences, 15(5), 624.

[5]. Li, X., & Hu, H. (2025). Understanding how social support influences university teachers' digital competence: The mediating role of psychological empowerment and technology acceptance. China Higher Education Research, (6), 50–57.

[6]. Lei, W. (2025). Strategies for promoting formative assessment in college foreign language teaching. Journal of Changchun University, (6), 100–103, 108.

[7]. Qian, Y., & Zhang, M. (2025). Opportunities and challenges of AI-enhanced anatomy education. Chinese Medical Education Technology, 1–9.

[8]. Niu, X., & Huang, D. (2025). Building harmonious teacher-student relationships in universities in the new era: A perspective from output-oriented and care theory. In Proceedings of the 2025 Academic Conference on Social Structural Transformation and Governance Innovation in the Digital Age. Guangxi University for Nationalities, 2, 437–440.

[9]. Yao, W., Sun, C., Chen, B., Miao, Y., Liang, D., Tan, H., & Zhang, Y. (2025). Practice and exploration of AI-driven safety education for postgraduates. University Chemistry, 1–6.

[10]. Kim, Y., & Thille, C. (2025). Personalized Learning Experiences with AI: An Overview for Decision-Makers and Practitioners.

[11]. Bo, N. S. W. (2025). OECD digital education outlook 2023: Towards an effective education ecosystem. Hungarian Educational Research Journal, 15(2), 284-289.

[12]. Yang, G., Wang, X., & Li, P. (2025). Reshaping teachers' roles in the digital transformation of education: Innovation in AI-based teaching models. Science, Education and Culture Digest, (11), 11–14.

[13]. Arslan, B., Lehman, B., Tenison, C., Sparks, J. R., López, A. A., Gu, L., & Zapata-Rivera, D. (2024). Opportunities and challenges of using generative AI to personalize educational assessment. Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence, 7, 1460651.

[14]. Su, F. (2025). Risks and governance of generative AI in the development of higher education from the perspective of complex systems. Research in Higher Engineering Education, 1–6.

[15]. Zhang, Y., & Xu, J. (2025). Exploring the pathways for empowering higher education through large AI models. Science, Education and Culture Digest, (12), 1–5.

[16]. Tan, X., Cheng, G., & Ling, M. H. (2025). Artificial intelligence in teaching and teacher professional development: A systematic review. Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence, 8, 100355.

[17]. Ren, C., Pardos, Z., & Li, Z. (2024). Human-AI collaboration increases skill tagging speed but degrades accuracy. arXiv preprint arXiv: 2403.02259.

Cite this article

Zhang,S. (2025). Exploring Challenges and Opportunities in the AI-Driven Professional Development of Higher Education Faculty. Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media,113,22-29.

Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.

About volume

Volume title: Proceedings of ICILLP 2025 Symposium: Psychological Perspectives on Teacher-Student Relationships in Educational Contexts

ISBN: 978-1-80590-313-0(Print) / 978-1-80590-314-7(Online)
Editor: Renuka Thakore, Abdullah Laghari
Conference date: 17 October 2025
Series: Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media
Volume number: Vol.113
ISSN: 2753-7048(Print) / 2753-7056(Online)