How to Make the Most of Office Hours

Going to your instructor's office hours is not just a great way to get help, it is also a good way to overcome the anonymity of the large lecture class.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Dictionaries
• Thesauri
• Printers
• Women's Watches
• Personal Organizers
• Printer Paper
• Spiral Notebooks

1. Be comfortable in approaching your instructor. Remember, he or she wants to help you.

2. Have a good reason for going to office hours. For example, you may want to make yourself known to the instructor because you will be asking for a letter of recommendation at the end of the term. Regardless, go armed with specific questions to make your visit worthwhile.

3. Study any assignments carefully before you go to office hours to ask questions about them.

4. Prepare at least some finished work that your instructor can review: an outline, a rough draft, a list of research sources.

5. Bring specific questions about your paper. Asking your instructor to "go over" your whole paper is unfair to those in line behind you - nor is it very productive.

6. Arrive at office hours on time; call your instructor's office extension (not home) if you will not be able to keep an appointment. Avoid making special appointments for unscheduled office hours unless it's absolutely necessary.

7. Introduce yourself clearly to your instructors; they may have anywhere from 25 to hundreds of students.

Tips & Warnings

• Make an appointment with your campus tutorial center if you need sentence-level editing, help with mechanical problems, or have a severe misunderstanding of the subject.
• Try to have as much of your work typed/printed out as possible.
• Discuss personal or medical problems that keep you from completing your work during office hours, not during class.
• Avoid interpreting your instructor's helpfulness as friendship. Getting a low final grade from someone you thought was a "friend" can be disappointing.
• Some instructors do like to hear themselves speak; be persistent but polite in getting your specific questions answered.

Who Can Help Sponsored

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