In this piece published by Inside Higher Ed, faculty member Zachary Nowak explains why he requires office hours for his students. The policy has significant benefits for both the instructor and the students, who appreciate being incentivized to do something that actually helps them.
Zachary explains, “In fall 2018, I asked assessment experts at Harvard University’s Derek Bok Center to survey my students about my pedagogical approach. As many as 90 of those students found my office hours either very or extremely useful. On evaluations in other semesters, students said they liked that office hours counted for credit, as it made it easier to connect with the teaching staff. One student said that the teaching staff “demonstrated that they really care about their students as people and life-long learners (they made us attend office hours in an attempt to establish personal relationships with us)…
“You get to know many more of your students than you would have had you simply encouraged them to come see you. The chats humanize you to your students. You give them individualized help and can send them good sources of information after brainstorming with them. Requiring office hours also seems to have the beneficial spillover effects of lowering the barrier for them to offer an opinion in your class, as well as making them more likely to attend office hours for other courses.”
