Professors have come up with a variety of ways of making their office hours more inviting, some of which I described in my story and in last week’s newsletter. One approach is giving students multiple ways of connecting with the professor. That comes through in the method outlined by Regan A.R. Gurung in my story, but I wanted to provide some additional examples — and the thinking behind them — here.
In the course of my reporting, I was reminded that Viji Sathy describes the menu of office hours options she gives her students in Inclusive Teaching: Strategies for Promoting Equity in the College Classroom, her book with Kelly A. Hogan.
Sathy, an associate dean and professor of the practice at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, offers three kinds of appointments: “We Greet,” a five-minute getting-to-know-you chat; “We Meet,” a more traditional appointment; and “We Work (with Treats!)” where students can get supported practice and a snack. Sathy also lets students know where each kind of meeting takes place and when in the semester it’s held, with greeting mostly at the top of the semester and working more at the end.
That approach appealed to Timothy J. Williamson as he was embarking on a new position as an assistant professor of psychological science at Loyola Marymount University. He was especially drawn to the way Sathy included a photo at the top, so students could visualize where they would meet with her, Williamson told me in an interview. When it was time to create his syllabi, Williamson adapted Sathy’s model, with options to meet individually in his office, informally with a group in a dining hall, or to work on problems alongside other students in a classroom stocked with computers. Like Sathy, Williamson set up a grid explaining the purpose of each type of meeting. He added a photo of each location, even setting his stuff down at one of the seats in the dining hall before taking the picture. He finished the menu off with bitmojis of himself that further illustrated what students could expect in each setting.
And not every conversation has to be a meeting, either, of course. Professors obviously respond to student questions via email and through the learning-management system. But some also meet students on the platforms they’re already using. I mention in my story that Gurung uses Instagram to connect with students, and he’s not the only one.
Natalie Czimskey, an assistant professor of instruction in speech, language, and hearing sciences at the University of Texas at Austin, serves as the point person on graduate-school admissions for the many students in her department who continue on in their studies. Czimskey uses Instagram to let students ask questions about the process — anonymously, if they like — and her responses are then available to the many other students who might also want this information. There are still occasions when the best move is for a student to visit her individually, Czimskey added — but when students have already had the chance to interact with her in this approachable way on social media, ”then I’m less scary.”
Plagiarism, contextualized
Recently, Chrisina Katopodis shared an exercise she uses to help students feel a personal stake in conducting themselves with academic integrity in a thread on X, formerly known as Twitter. Students answer a set of prompts about honesty and cultural context in blue books, and are encouraged to doodle and draw and have fun with it, too. “I did this because when we just rattle off rules and conditions, we don’t really explain why or how plagiarism policies came to be,” she wrote. “Without a deeper understanding, we neglect to connect to internal motivators for maintaining academic integrity.”
Have you tried anything like this with your students? If so, how did it work? Do you have a different strategy that seems to help students better understand the whys behind your expectations for how they do their work? Let me know at beckie.supiano@chronicle.com and your example may appear in a future newsletter.
Very online?
The future of hybrid and virtual learning is at a crossroads. The share of students enrolled only in online courses is growing, and many students have said they want more hybrid courses. But many colleges have opted to return to in-person teaching as much as possible. Some say the best way to serve their students is by focusing on in-person classes. And faculty members have complained that their workloads ballooned when they tried to teach in both traditional ways and online. So where do we go from here?
On September 20 at 2 p.m. ET, Beth will be exploring those issues with a panel of experts. You can register here to attend live, or watch the session on demand later.
And if you’ve got questions or ideas you want to share in advance, please write to her, at beth.mcmurtrie@chronicle.com.
Thanks for reading Teaching. If you have suggestions or ideas, please feel free to email us, at beckie.supiano@chronicle.com or beth.mcmurtrie@chronicle.com.
-Beckie
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