13 Reasons Why you Should Attend Office Hours

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Many students are intimidated by office hours or just don’t know if they are a good use of time. However, office hours are a key opportunity to engage with the professor and course material in a more personalized way that will improve your learning experience. No matter if you are attending class in person or online, attending your professor’s office hours will help you learn.

What are the Office Hours?

Office hours (OH) are an unstructured or lightly structured time with your professor where you and your peers can discuss topics of your choosing. They are often focused on the course but can also be a space to discuss your learning more generally or simply discuss the interests of you and your professor.

Things you can do in Office Hours

1. Discuss class content in more depth.
2. Talk more about the concepts or topics that you find the most confusing or interesting.
3. Learn from questions asked by your peers.
4. Clarify assignment instructions prior to starting to write it.
5. Discuss your assignment process to make sure your progress is in the right direction.
6. Receive direct verbal feedback on your performance in the class.
7. Ask for clarifications on the written feedback you’ve received on assignments, exams, or classes.
8. Get insights and tips on how to improve your HC applications.
9. Ask the professor for subject-specific study tips.
10. Get to know your professor. In addition to all the benefits mentioned in the section below, you can also ask for advice on your academic and career path if your professor’s experience aligns with your interests.
11. Let the professor get to know you. This improves your experience in class and also opens the door to ask for a recommendation letter you may need someday.
12. Overcome your superstitions surrounding the “Office Hours” image. You aren’t expected to know everything before coming to OH, just have some idea of what your confusion or goal is. Office hours are not graded!
13. Gain confidence in class! Going to OH will improve your ability to be engaged in the classroom.

Who is my Professor?

A course is not just what has been planned in the syllabus and shown during lessons. A course is also a social environment with discussions often influenced by the students’ and directed by the professor’s prior experience, goals, passions, and, at times, improvisation. Therefore, it is in your interest to get to know your professor. This will give you a better idea of what the professor may choose to highlight from readings or in exams or what field(s) they may decide to draw examples from.

• Ask about your professor’s background, interests, and passions.
• Ask about your professor’s expectations both in class and for assignments.

Bonus tip: Pay attention to cues during your first few classes, these may allow you to predict what your professor may focus on or how they could respond.

Your professor is learning the social environment of the classroom too. Many Professors will be actively trying to gauge how to best interact with the group and each individual student to enhance student learning and inclusion in the classroom. Why not do the same to improve your learning?

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