{"id":10160,"date":"2023-06-22T18:14:14","date_gmt":"2023-06-22T22:14:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/?page_id=10160"},"modified":"2024-01-10T10:49:42","modified_gmt":"2024-01-10T15:49:42","slug":"student-hours-office-hours","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/pedagogical-strategies-that-support-learning\/connect-with-your-students\/student-hours-office-hours\/","title":{"rendered":"Student Hours (Office Hours)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><strong>Providing dedicated time each week during the semester for students to meet with you outside of class can help support student success.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Frequent student-faculty contact in and out of classes is the most important factor in student motivation and involvement. Faculty concern helps students get through rough times and keep on working. Knowing a few faculty members well enhances students&#8217; intellectual commitment and encourages them to think about their own values and future plans (Chickering and Gamson, 1986).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">But students often do not drop in during set office hours, undermining the usefulness of the allotted time. Oft-cited reasons for why students do not attend office hours include: scheduling conflicts and lack of time; finding other, more convenient ways of getting questions answered; and perceiving instructors as unfriendly or intimating (Abdul-Wahab, et al 2019).<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Strategies for making \u201coffice hours\u201d more appealing to students<\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Change the name:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u201cOffice hours\u201d may not connote to students what we as instructors intend: calling them \u201cStudent hours\u201d or \u201cDrop-in hours\u201d may help (Nusbaum 2019).<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Explain the purpose: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Offering unstructured time to \u201cdrop in\u201d may prove amorphous or intimidating to students. Some students may assume they have to have a question in order to visit or need to be struggling in the course (Smith et al 2017). Promote office hours by explicitly and clearly giving examples of what is possible: having informal conversations about how the course fits into the student\u2019s interests, discussing career plans and research opportunities, getting to know a student\u2019s goals to better write letters of recommendations, etc. Let students know that just stopping by to say \u201chello\u201d is a welcome option.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Reframe the purpose: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Designate the time as \u201ctutoring\u201d help (Joyce 2017) or \u201cspringboard sessions\u201d (Robertson and Smith 2020). Consider using the time as a \u201ccourse center,\u201d where students can show up to study in your presence. You\u2019ll be there to answer questions if they arise, but students don\u2019t have to come with prepared questions (Chung and Hsu 2006; Weimer 2019).\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Change the location: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Offering online opportunities via Zoom may help students who find it difficult to attend in person. In addition, meeting at a more informal and open location such as a campus cafe or study-lounge area may be more inviting to students, as some may find a professor\u2019s office awkward and intimidating (Cafferty 2021; Glynn-Adey 2020).<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Invite students: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">For a variety of reasons, students may not initiate contact with instructors, even if they know them to be approachable (Briody et al, 2019). Break the ice by scheduling one-on-one meetings with students. Create sign-ups for meetings through <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/calendar\/answer\/190998?hl=en&amp;co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Google Calendar<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> or <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/calendly.com\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Calendly<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, for example. Be intentional in framing student-instructor meetings invitations as positive and not punitive. Give students context for why you would like to meet with them, so they aren\u2019t nervous to meet with you (Harris 2019).<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Encourage with credit:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Make such interactions part of the course grade. If your time during office hours amounts to \u201c2,700 minutes\u201d spent per semester waiting for students to show up, why not specifically dedicate 10-20 minutes per student and make the minutes count? (Walsh 2021). Make the sessions part of course participation grades or an optional stand-alone assignment.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Pursue active inclusivity<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">: All students can benefit from conversations with their instructors, when there is an opportunity to address not only concerns in the course, but also educational, extra-curricular, and career opportunities. Recognize that first-generation students in particular may not be aware of this possibility, which is often considered part of the \u201chidden curriculum\u201d of university life (Venti 2016; Quintana 2019). Racial-identity differences between faculty and students may also contribute to a student\u2019s reluctance to initiate conversation with an instructor. Encourage students to meet with you to build upon strengths you observe in their learning and classroom engagement (Robertson and Smith 2020).<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Show empathy (and perhaps humor!):<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Acknowledge the power differential inherent in the professor-student dynamic, and remind students that you wish to share your knowledge and expertise with them to help them succeed in their studies. Meeting during office hours is an opportunity for you to provide students with more tailored feedback than is often possible during a class meeting, and you welcome the chance to do this. ASU created a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/145546541\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">parody video<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to address this fear, which you might wish to share with students (Arizona State University 2015).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Sample syllabus language<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cOffice hours are scheduled for [DAY \/ TIME] during the semester. I welcome and encourage you to drop in to ask questions about the class, to discuss career opportunities in the field, or simply to say hello. Office hours are a dedicated time during the week for us to meet outside of class and talk about anything related to the course. The time is tailored specifically to your educational and professional goals. If you prefer to schedule an appointment for an in-person or virtual meeting, please use my Google calendar to select a time.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cCome by during my scheduled office hours to talk about the class. I can help answer questions you might have about the material, talk about ways you might apply what we are learning about outside of class, or discuss career goals you have. I expect everyone to take advantage of an individual meeting at least once a semester. It helps me get to know you better and to support you and your learning. If you haven\u2019t stopped in by the end of the first month of the semester, don\u2019t be surprised if I reach out to you to schedule an appointment. I value the opportunity to meet with you, and I hope that you find it worthwhile, too!\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cI offer open drop-in hours for students twice a week throughout the semester. You are welcome to come and simply work on assignments in my presence (I\u2019ll be available to help if you need it!). We can chat about extra-curricular opportunities to learn more about the field and build your resume for your future career. Drop-in hours are informal; no appointment necessary. I will be available during the time to address anything related to the class.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><div class=\"prpl-drawer\"><div class=\"prpl-drawer-header\">Resources and References<\/div><div class=\"prpl-drawer-content\">\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Abdul-Wahab, S. A., Salem, N. M., Yetilmezsoy, K., Fadlallah, S. O. (2019). Students\u2019 reluctance to attend office hours: reasons and suggested solutions. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Journal of Educational and Psychological Studies, 13<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">(4)<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">715-732. DOI: <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.24200\/jeps.vol13iss4pp715-732\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.24200\/jeps.vol13iss4pp715-732<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Arizona State University [ASU Unscripted]. (2015, November 12). <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/145546541\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Introducing FOH: faculty office hours.<\/span><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> vimeo.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Briody, E.K., Wirtz, E., Goldenstein, A., Berger, E.J. (2019). Breaking the tyranny of office hours: Overcoming professor avoidance. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">European Journal of Engineering Education, <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">44:5, 666-687, DOI:<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1080\/03043797.2019.1592116\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">10.1080\/03043797.2019.1592116<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Cafferty, P. (2021). Taking the office hour out of the office. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Journal of College Science Teaching, <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">50, 3-7.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Chickering, A. W., &amp; Gamson, Z. F. (1987). Seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">AAHE Bulletin<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, 3\u20137.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Chung, C., &amp; Hsu, L. (2006). Encouraging students to seek help: supplementing office hours with a course center. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">College Teaching<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, 54<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">(3), 253\u2013258.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Glynn-Adey, P. (2021). Public space office hours. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">College Teaching, <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">69 (3), 180-181. DOI: 10.1080\/87567555.2020.1845599<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Griffin, W., Cohen, S. D., Berndtson, R. Burson, K. M., Camper, K. M, Chen, Y. &amp; Smith, M. A.. (2014). Starting the conversation: an exploratory study of factors that influence student office hour use. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">College Teaching<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. 62 (3): 94\u20139.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Harris, D. (2019). <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/dsc.duq.edu\/dlr\/vol57\/iss1\/5\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Office hours are not obsolete: fostering learning through one-on-one student meetings<\/span><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Duquesne Law Review<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. 57 (1): 43-72.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Joyce, A. (2017). Framing office hours as tutoring. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">College Teaching, <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">65<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">(2), 92-93. <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/dxdoi.org\/10.1080\/87567555.2016.1189393\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">http:\/\/dxdoi.org\/10.1080\/87567555.2016.1189393<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Nusbaum, A. [@amy_nusbaum]. (2019, February 26). <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/amy_nusbaum\/status\/1100440431500775424\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is why I also call them &#8220;student hours&#8221; on my syllabus.<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> [Tweet]. Twitter.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Quintana, C. (2019, February 15). <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chronicle.com\/article\/can-this-man-change-how-elite-colleges-treat-low-income-students\/?cid2=gen_login_refresh&amp;cid=gen_sign_in\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Can this man change how elite colleges treat low-income students?<\/span><\/a> <i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Chronicle of Higher Education<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Robertson, K., Smith, T. (2020). <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facultyfocus.com\/articles\/equality-inclusion-and-diversity\/for-those-who-need-it-most-using-active-inclusivity-to-increase-office-hour-attendance-and-extracurricular-activities\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">For those who need it most: using active inclusivity to increase office hour attendance and extracurricular activities<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Faculty Focus<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Magna Publications.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u200b\u200bSmith, M., Chen Y., Berndtson, R., Burson, K.M., and Griffin, W. (2017). \u201cOffice hours are kind of weird\u201d: reclaiming a resource to foster student-faculty interaction. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">InSight<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, 12 (1), 14\u201329.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Walsh, M. (2021). <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.teachingprofessor.com\/topics\/teaching-strategies\/making-the-most-of-2700-minutes\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Making the most of 2,700 minutes<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Teaching Professor. <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Magna Publications.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Weimer, M. (2019). <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facultyfocus.com\/articles\/teaching-and-learning\/office-hours-alternative-resonates-students\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Office hours alternative resonates with students<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Faculty Focus<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Magna Publications.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Venti, E.<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/eab.com\/insights\/blogs\/student-success\/two-ways-to-help-first-generation-students-navigate-your-colleges-hidden-curriculum\/\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cTwo ways to help first-generation students navigate your college\u2019s \u2018hidden curriculum.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> EAB, 2016.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<hr \/>\n<p>For more information or help, please <a href=\"mailto:faculty@montclair.edu\">email<\/a>\u00a0the Office for Faculty Excellence or\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/montclair-faculty-excellence.libcal.com\/appointments\/\">make an appointment<\/a>\u00a0with a consultant.<\/p>\n<p><em>Last Modified: Wednesday, January 10, 2024 10:49 am<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"license\" href=\"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/195\/2022\/08\/CC.png\" alt=\"Creative Commons License\" width=\"80\" height=\"15\" \/><\/a><br \/>\nTeaching Resources by\u00a0<a rel=\"cc:attributionURL\" href=\"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/\">ÌÇÐÄvlog Office for Faculty Excellence<\/a>\u00a0is licensed under a\u00a0<a rel=\"license\" href=\"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Third-party content is not covered under the Creative Commons license and may be subject to additional intellectual property notices, information, or restrictions. You are solely responsible for obtaining permission to use third party content or determining whether your use is fair use and for responding to any claims that may arise.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/\">Creative Commons CC BY-NC-4.0<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Providing dedicated time each week during the semester for students to meet with you outside of class can help support student success.\u00a0 Frequent student-faculty contact in and out of classes is the most important factor in student motivation and involvement. Faculty concern helps students get through rough times and keep on working. Knowing a few [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":328,"featured_media":10163,"parent":7707,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-10160","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/328"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10160"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10160\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11367,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10160\/revisions\/11367"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7707"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/faculty-excellence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}