Crossed Wires-“Student Motivations and Barriers toward Online and In-Person Office Hours in STEM Courses”

Crossed Wires

Office hours are one of the most common forms of support available to help students in their courses. But they’re not always used to their full advantage.

One reason? Students and professors see the purpose and potential uses of office hours differently, according to a new paper published in the American Society for Cell Biology’s CBE-Life Sciences Education.

The paper, “Student Motivations and Barriers toward Online and In-Person Office Hours in STEM Courses,” is based on surveys of life-sciences students and their professors at Chapman University. They were conducted in the spring of 2021, just as the university was moving to optional in-person instruction. More than 500 students responded, capturing most life-sciences majors at the university. Almost two-thirds of full-time science instructors in the College of Science and Technology who were teaching undergraduates that semester responded.

“I expected some kind of difference between instructors and students,” says Jeremy L. Hsu, an assistant professor of biology-education research at Chapman and lead author of the paper. “I was still surprised at some of the results,” he adds, like how many professors had a “negative connotation” for why students did not attend office hours and that students did not perceive some of the benefits that professors identified.

More than a quarter of professors identified lack of effort as a reason why students did not attend office hours, a reason just six percent of students gave. Meanwhile, 40 percent of students cited a scheduling conflict, while just 16 percent of instructors did. Another common reason students gave was that they didn’t have a question, suggesting an understanding that it didn’t make sense to go to office hours without one. Students cited several other reasons for not going to office hours that instructors did not list at all: their overall busyness and logistical challenges, like not being able to find the location where the office hours were held.

While content clarification was the most common purpose both students and professors gave for office hours, there were differences on this point, too. For instance, about 11 percent of instructors described one benefit of office hours as discussing with students their career goals and opportunities that could support them, like internships and conducting research. None of the students provided that reason. And while about 20 percent of professors indicated one-on-one time or getting to know one another as a purpose of office hours, only about six percent of students did.

Based on the findings, the paper offers some suggestions for instructors:

• Explicitly discuss the norms of office hours, including the possible benefits of office hours.
• Explore ways to remove structural barriers for office hours.
• Provide structured opportunities for practice and feedback.
• Promote an inclusive environment in office hours.

Hsu and his co-authors are now investigating students’ early impressions and experiences of office hours.

I’m going to dig into this topic a bit more, and I’d love to hear from you. Does your course or department use office hours in a way you’re proud of? Have you found ways to encourage students to attend and make the most of this time, or do you struggle to get students to show up? Tell me what’s working well — and what isn’t — using this form, and I may follow up with you to hear more.