Office Hours: An Old Tool for New Challenges

One day, a seemingly mundane email made me realize that I could do much more with my office hours. Lisa—a student in my introductory biology course who had been struggling in the class—emailed me to ask if she could come “late” to office hours because she had to work. She apologized for the inconvenience and asked if it would be OK for her to ask questions about problems from the past exam.

This email made me recognize that I had never explained to my students how office hours work or even their purpose, and that this was likely contributing to students like Lisa never coming.

I immediately responded and spent time the next class explaining more about office hours, what they are and their norms and benefits. The transformation was astonishing: Not only did Lisa come to the next office hours, but so did several other students who had never been before. Lisa soon became a regular at office hours, and her performance and self-confidence soared.

This one email sparked a renewed commitment to improving office hours, and at the Schmid College of Science and Technology at Chapman University, we’ve worked to transform office hours over the past few years. Walk through our science building and you’ll likely see multiple office hours ongoing in conference rooms, offices and lounges, each buzzing with vibrant conversations among students and the instructor.

Indeed, our research has found that about two-thirds of Chapman STEM students attend at least one of their STEM courses’ office hours in any given semester, and that nearly 80 percent of STEM students do so in their first semester. These office hours have a large impact: Our surveys indicate that 90 percent of students who attended left feeling more confident about their abilities to succeed in STEM. Students cited not only increased knowledge of course concepts but also how they felt more supported and connected to the instructor and classmates.

My own experiences as an instructor support this data, and my experiences with Lisa demonstrate how small changes in how we promote and structure office hours can have large impacts for students.

So what have we learned, and how can we translate these successes to other institutions? Our work has found that students are more likely to come to and remain engaged in office hours if instructors communicate proactively about office hours, structure them in a manner that promotes community and utilize office hours as a space for students to reflect on their own learning. For instance, instructors can:

• Provide frequent reminders of office hours and communicate norms. Many students conveyed that they felt more comfortable with instructors who frequently reminded them of office hours in class, highlighting how they perceived that these instructors were more welcoming at office hours than those who rarely mentioned them. Other students, like Lisa, reported not being familiar with the norms of office hours (e.g., when students can come; the steps they need to take, if any, prior to attending; what they are allowed to discuss, etc.). Students only felt more comfortable attending after instructors took time to explain these norms.
• Convey how office hours are designed to support students holistically. Past research has found that messages promoting a growth mindset and conveying that instructors offer office hours because they care about students improved students’ academic performances and decreased performance differences among students with different identities. For instance, I spend time emphasizing how office hours provide an opportunity for me to check in with students about how they are doing in all aspects of their lives, and also highlight how I am happy to chat about their interests and careers, finding internships and research opportunities, and more.
• Encourage students to attend office hours with their friends and peers in the course. If larger spaces are available for office hours (e.g., conference rooms or classrooms), instructors can let students know that they are welcome and encouraged to come with their friends. Doing so may lower the pressure and anxiety of attendance. We have heard from many students about the resulting camaraderie they feel when attending office hours with their classmates.

• Promote collaboration inside and outside office hours. Instructors can also leverage having multiple students attend office hours by fostering collaboration among the students, both in and beyond office hours. For instance, instructors can introduce students to each other during office hours and encourage them to form study groups. Similarly, if a student poses a question to the instructor relating to course content, instructors can solicit ideas from the students attending office hours, or even implement an impromptu think-pair-share or problem-solving activity. Doing so with the instructor guiding the process can promote peer learning and reinforce community in the class.
• Prompt reflections on learning. One of the biggest barriers we hear from students about going to office hours is that they do not have a specific question to ask. For instance, some students have expressed being so confused by a concept that they do not know where to begin and are not sure how to formulate a question. Yet they do not attend office hours because they are afraid of being judged by the instructor and their peers. Other students, in contrast, think that they have fully mastered the course concepts and learning objectives. These students also do not have any questions and likely do not think they would benefit from attending office hours. However, past research has found that students are often not able to accurately estimate their level of understanding. Instead, students benefit when given opportunities to self-evaluate their learning and can better identify gaps in knowledge (and formulate subsequent questions) when prompted to reflect on their own learning. Instructors can promote office hours attendance for students in both these categories by emphasizing to students that no question is ever needed to attend office hours. Instead, students can attend simply to review concepts with the instructor, or, if the space permits, to listen to other students’ questions and study. Doing so lowers the perceived cost of going to office hours and creates an opportunity for students to gauge their learning. Instructors can also promote this metacognition by checking in with students who come to office hours without specific queries and asking questions that spark reflection.

While there are likely different challenges and resources for instructors across institutions, we encourage instructors to work toward office hours as vibrant spaces for collaborative learning, where students come frequently to share ideas with each other, reflect on their own learning and discuss concepts and problems with the instructor.

This data—and my experiences with Lisa and countless other students—shows that even small changes in how we communicate, discuss and structure office hours can have major impacts on how students feel about office hours. Our work suggests that such changes can reduce opportunity gaps and increase learning, self-confidence and community for all students. Thus, let’s work together to make office hours more than a box checked off on a syllabus and transform them into vibrant spaces that support community.