TBers,

You will notice that I put my name in the subject line.  This is a new
technique I am trying to help you know the email isn't SPAM.

Below is a nice piece on how to make more of your office hours with
students.  Reflecting back on my undergraduate experience, I remember more
office hour visits with professors than I do classroom lectures.

Reposted here with permission.

Mr. James B. Greenberg
Director Teaching, Learning and Technology Center
Milne Library
SUNY College at Oneonta
Oneonta, New York 13820

email: [log in to unmask]
phone: 607-436-2701

"Ignorance is curable, stupidity lasts forever"

              MAKING THE MOST OF OFFICE HOURS

Linda B. Nilson

When you think of your role as an instructor, you normally picture
yourself lecturing, facilitating discussion, answering questions, and
the like in front of a classroom or laboratory-in any case,
interacting with a group of students.  During office hours, however,
you interact with and tutor individual students as well.  This is a
golden teaching opportunity because one-on-one tutoring yields more
learning by far than does group instruction (Bloom, 1984).  Yet we
rarely discuss or conduct research on holding effective office hours.
Face-to-face in private, students share their confusions,
misunderstandings, and questions more candidly and completely than
they do in class, and you are in the best position to give them the
individual attention they need.  The problem is getting them in your
office.

Find out the number of office hours per week that your institution or
department requires or expects of instructors.  You may want to add
another hour when you have a relatively large class or an intensive
writing course, or if you are a professor without a TA.

Getting Students to See You

Students see TAs during their office hours with little hesitation.
But most of them, freshmen in particular, are intimidated by the
prospect of visiting even the kindest, most hospitable faculty
member.  If you're a TA who teaches your own course, you may be
mistaken for faculty and face the same problem. Spending your office
hours alone with your research and writing may seem attractive at
first, but it won't after you see those disappointing first papers,
lab reports, or quizzes.  So it is best to make efforts to induce the
students to see you.  These efforts include finding the right place,
setting the right times, and giving a lot of encouragement.

The right place.

Office hours need not always be in your office.  Howard Gogel (1985)
of the University of New Mexico School of Medicine conducted an
informal experiment that broadened the location possibilities. During
a three-year observation period, he scheduled his office hours in a
remote office building for the first and third years and in a common
study area in the medical library the second year.  In the first and
third years, only one student showed up each year, predictably just
prior to an exam.  In the second year, however, a full 20 percent of
his students paid him visits at various times during the semester to
discuss the material and to ask questions.     Could it be that
students are more intimidated by your office than by you?  Or perhaps
the issue is the convenience of your office location.  Does this mean
you should move your office hours out of your office?  If your office
is out of the way for your students, the idea is worth considering,
especially before exams and paper deadlines.  You might even split
your office hours between two locations-some in your office and some
in the student union or an appropriate library.

The right times.

Be careful and considerate in scheduling your office hours.  If you
are available only briefly during prime class time-that is, when
students are attending their other classes-then you immediately
reduce your students' ability to see you.  If you teach a discussion,
recitation, or laboratory section, make sure that your office hours
do not overlap with the lecture portion of the course.  If there
aren't enough hours in the day, consider scheduling an early evening
office our, perhaps in the student union, an appropriate library, or
another student-friendly location. During the term, remind your
classes periodically that you also meet by appointment.

The right encouragement.

Start out by publicizing your office hours, first in your syllabus,
then on the board during the first day of class, and intermittently
during the term before "high traffic" weeks, such as before exams and
paper deadlines.  You might have your students write your office
hours and location(s) on the front of their course notebooks.  In
addition, post your hours prominently outside your office door.

It also helps to establish a friendly classroom atmosphere on the
first day of class by having students fill out index cards on
themselves, by conducting ice-breaker activities, and by sharing
highlights of your own background (see Chapter 7).  On that day and
throughout the term, warmly invite students to stop by your office to
talk about the course as well as the material. But even the warmest
series of invitations may not provide enough encouragement.  You may
have to require the pleasure of their company.  Here are several
acceptable ways:

* Make it a regular course requirement for each student to schedule a
time to meet with you as early in the term as possible.  The first
meeting will pave the way for future voluntary visits.

* Have students schedule individual meetings while they are writing
the first paper.  You can use this opportunity to review their first
draft and to clarify your expectations for the paper.

* Have students turn in papers, problem sets, lab reports, extra
credit work, etc. not in class but in your office during certain
hours of a non-class day.

* Have students schedule meetings with you to get their grades on
their papers or written assignments.  You can return their marked
papers or assignments in class for them to review before meeting with
you, but hold the grades "hostage."

* If you divide your class into cooperative learning groups or assign
group projects, you might have each group schedule at least one
appointment with you to give a progress report. When students arrive,
especially the first time, try to make them feel welcome and at ease.
After all, they're on your turf, and it takes courage for them to be
there.  You might spend the first minute or two finding out how they
are, how the course is going for them, and what they think of their
college experience in general.

In this day and age, however, too warm an approach can be
misunderstood.  If you are meeting in your office, close the door for
privacy but leave it slightly ajar.  Also maintain a respectable
seating distance.

Should an emergency or illness prevent you from making your office
hours, leave a note, or ask your department staff to leave a note,
apologizing for your unavoidable absence.

Making the Time Productive

Most students who come to your office hours do so with a definite
purpose in mind, often one that you have defined in class.  So it is
worth a little class time, if not a section in your syllabus, to
advise students on how to prepare for meetings with you.  You cannot
be expected to read their minds.

For instance, you might instruct them to come with appropriate
materials: their journals and/or lecture notes, their lab books,
their homework problems, drafts of their papers, and/or the readings
with troublesome passages marked.  You might even tell them to write
out their questions or points of confusion as clearly as they can. If
the issue is a homework problem, insist that they work it out as far
as they can, even if they know their approach is faulty.  If the
issue is a grade, tell them to bring in a written justification-with
citations to the readings, lectures, discussions, labs, etc.-for
changing their grade.

Reserve the right to terminate and reschedule a meeting if a student
is not adequately prepared.  Why waste both your time?  In addition,
counsel students that they are not to use your office hours to get a
condensed version of the classes they've missed nor to get you to
write their papers or do their homework problems for them.  See
Chapter 8 for suggestions on handling problematic student demand and
questions.

When a student does come properly prepared, try to give her your
undivided attention.  If you cannot prevent intrusive phone calls, do
keep them brief.  If other students are waiting outside your door,
work efficiently without letting their presence distract you.

Student-Active Tutoring

To maximize the value of your consultation, make it as student-active
as possible.  Refer to Chapter 13 on the discovery method, especially
the section on the Socratic method, and Chapter 16 on questioning
techniques for recommendations on how to help students work through
their confusions as much on their own as possible.  While some
students resent this strategy, you can often be most helpful by
respond to their questions that will lead them to answers.  After
all, they won't really lean what you tell them-only what they
themselves realize (Bonwell and Eison, 1991).

Usually, the single most informative (to you) and helpful (to them)
question that you can pose to students you are tutoring is why they
chose the answer or problem-solving approach that they did
(especially if it's an incorrect one), why they came to the
conclusion they did (have them reason it through), or why they
stopped solving the problem, researching, reasoning, writing, etc.,
where they did.  This question should lead both of you to the key
misconception, misunderstanding, missing step, or error in reasoning.
Sometimes students want to see you to give them a sense of security.
For instance, they have revised their paper according to your or
their peer group's specifications, but they lack confidence in their
writing.  Or they have done their homework problems, but they want
you to check them over.  Rather than giving just perfunctory
affirmations, you can help them acquire their own sense of security
by having them explain and justify to you their revisions or problem
solutions.  If they can "teach" their rationales, they've earned the
right to feel confident.

Identifying student errors calls for extra gentleness.  Students who
come to for extra help are probably feeling somewhat insecure and
self-conscious.  So it is a good idea to praise their smallest
breakthroughs generously, and let them know you appreciate their
coming to see you.  You want them to feel welcome to come back.

If a student fails to show up on time for an appointment, call to
remind her and reschedule if necessary.  If she simply forgot,
counsel her that your time is too valuable a commodity to be
forgotten.

Students in Academic or Emotional Trouble

Dealing with students in serious trouble is beyond the scope of an
instructor's responsibility.  Students who seem overwhelmed by the
material who lack basic writing, reasoning, and mathematical skills
should be referred the learning skills or academic assistance center
on your campus.  As described in Chapter 1, a unit of this type
usually offers individual tutoring and workshops on a range of
academic skills, such as textbook reading, writing, studying, problem
solving, note-taking, critical thinking, test preparation, and
general learning. Emotionally distressed students usually need
professional help.  For your own peace of mind, it is important to
remember that you are neither the cause of nor the solution to their
problems, even if they try to attribute them to a grade you've
assigned.  You can be most helpful by knowing how to identify such
students, promptly referring them to your institution's psychological
or counseling center, and informing the center about the encounter.
Here are some warning signs:

* angry challenges to your authority
* physical aggression, either real or threatened
* complaints of rejection or persecution
* distorted perceptions of reality
* unjustified demands on your time
* expressions of hopelessness or extreme isolation
* apparent drug or alcohol abuse
* dramatic mood swings or erratic behavioral changes
* continual depression or listlessness

The most immediate proper responses to aggressive behaviors are
simple and easy to remember: When dealing with verbal aggression,
make arrangements to meet with the student later in a private place
to allow the emotions to defuse (verbal, private).  If you sense the
situation may elevate to physical abuse, move yourself and the
student into a public area (physical, public).

It is impossible to anticipate all the different kinds of help that
your students may need.  Chapter 1 will help you refer them to the
right office.