[ARCHIVED] Weekly hours or open office hours your thoughts?

[apageor2]

What is better a scheduled hour during the week for office hours or leaving the office door open for discussion? I am looking at the pros and cons on this matter and would like to hear thoughts on both sides from faculty. 

[kona]

 @apageor2 , I like a combination of both. It's nice if students know for sure the exact time/day you'll for sure be in your office, but it's also nice to know that if you're around you don't mind answering questions/chatting with students. What I tell students is that I pretty much live at work so there's a good chance that if they need something I'm in my office. Yet, if they know that they need something I tell them that it's better to contact me ahead of time to schedule something so that way they know for sure that I'll be there and have time to work with them. This seems to work and students appreciate my willingness to meet them beyond the normal "office hours."

[apageor2]

Kona Jones wrote:

Sue, I like a combination of both. It's nice if students know for sure the exact time/day you'll for sure be in your office, but it's also nice to know that if you're around you don't mind answering questions/chatting with students. What I tell students is that I pretty much live at work so there's a good chance that if they need something I'm in my office. Yet, if they know that they need something I tell them that it's better to contact me ahead of time to schedule something so that way they know for sure that I'll be there and have time to work with them. This seems to work and students appreciate my willingness to meet them beyond the normal "office hours."

I'm looking at doing specific office hours and thinking of a Wednesday and maybe late afternoon or early evening as it's perfect timing. Students can discuss what has been going on at the beginning of the week plus what is happening later in the week and include their questions for both so it's a win-win situation. I thought the middle of the week is great because it will be a great time as I can remember as a student I didn't know what was going on until Tuesday at minimum and when Friday rolled around all I wanted to do was rest my brain from studying. 

Great point of view  @kona , thank you so much for providing your input on #highereducation

Regards,

Sue

[kenneth_rogers]

Following along with this one...

Although I'm not a faculty member, nor do I have office hours, I support faculty who use Bb Collaborate. With the Collaborate Ultra LTI instructors can create scheduled meetings (for courses or office hours) but they also have the option to have an always-on course room (we have this on by default). This room has multiple purposes, but I tell faculty members they can "hang out" in there if they want and tell students they can see if they are in there. Yes, I know this can create issues and be somewhat confusing, but hey, if it works for them, it works for me.

So, even if this conversation is centered around face-to-face interaction, it'll totally help me out as I have discussions with some of my online faculty, or faculty who want to use Collaborate for office hours.

[apageor2]

I will further look into this. I do appreciate it being mentioned and will research to see if it is going to be of my benefit. Thanks!