Student-Professor Partnership in STEM: An Introduction to Office Hours

Amherst HSTEM 2021 Winter

By Aaron Rennert ’22

Introduction

This workshop is designed to introduce introductory STEM course students to office hours. Office hours are an important space for students to ask questions related to course material and to connect with professors in a smaller setting. Yet office hours attendance is often more reflective of a student’s “cultural capital”—the wealth of experiences and ways of being that are valued in a collegiate setting—than a student’s desire to learn course material effectively.

Students that enter college with knowledge of institutional norms may readily gravitate toward office hours, while other students may avoid office hours out of fear that the professor will not be attentive to their questions or may view these questions as a waste of time. This workshop seeks to break down the barriers to attending office hours by:

  1. Asking professors to share a story detailing their personal path through STEM education, to help students draw connections between their lived experience and that of their professor.
  2. Requiring students to attend an initial office hours meeting.

I hope that this initial meeting will convince students to utilize office hours as a resource for reviewing course material and more broadly for connecting with professors on a human level. Furthermore, students will complete a series of short writing assignments that will begin the conversation of how professors can create inclusive learning environments in the classroom and in office hours.

This workshop is specifically designed for introductory STEM courses because student experiences in these courses are often formative, helping to determine if students will continue to pursue an intended major in a STEM field. I hope that this workshop can help catalyze robust student-professor partnerships in learning that will encourage students to continue their STEM education at Amherst.

Motivations

This workshop is designed to introduce introductory STEM course students to office hours. Office hours are an important space for students to ask questions related to course material and to connect with professors in a smaller setting. Yet office hours attendance is often more reflective of a student’s “cultural capital”—the wealth of experiences and ways of being that are valued in a collegiate setting—than a student’s desire to learn course material effectively.

Students that enter college with knowledge of institutional norms may readily gravitate toward office hours, while other students may avoid office hours out of fear that the professor will not be attentive to their questions or may view these questions as a waste of time. This workshop seeks to break down the barriers to attending office hours by:

  1. Asking professors to share a story detailing their personal path through STEM education, to help students draw connections between their lived experience and that of their professor.
  2. Requiring students to attend an initial office hours meeting.

I hope that this initial meeting will convince students to utilize office hours as a resource for reviewing course material and more broadly for connecting with professors on a human level. Furthermore, students will complete a series of short writing assignments that will begin the conversation of how professors can create inclusive learning environments in the classroom and in office hours.

This workshop is specifically designed for introductory STEM courses because student experiences in these courses are often formative, helping to determine if students will continue to pursue an intended major in a STEM field. I hope that this workshop can help catalyze robust student-professor partnerships in learning that will encourage students to continue their STEM education at Amherst.

Goals

I. By asking professors to share their personal journey through STEM education, this workshop seeks to humanize professors in students’ minds. Once students can connect with their professors on a human level, I hope that students will view their professors as approachable partners in the learning process.

II. This workshop seeks to preempt course teaching feedback often solicited by professors in the middle of the semester. Gaining a greater sense of student goals and anxieties about the course through reviewing students’ pre- and post-meeting writing assignments, I hope that professors can refine lectures and office hours meetings to create an inclusive learning environment early in the semester.

III. I hope to break down the barrier that prevents many students from attending office hours. By attending an initial office hours meeting and engaging in a small-group discussion about the ways that the professor can best support students in the course, I hope that students will see office hours as a benefit to their own success in the course rather than a space where they are being assessed by professors. This workshop specifically targets office hours attendance in introductory STEM courses in pursuit of helping students build the habits of attending office hours and viewing their professors as partners in the learning process for the entirety of their college careers.

Workshop Procedure

  1. Pre-meeting written assignment: The professor will post this assignment to Moodle or the course 2U page. This will ask students to reflect on their experiences in STEM in prior educational contexts and will prime them to think about how course instructors can best partner with students to create a conducive learning environment throughout the semester. (See Writing Assignment section below.)
  2. Scheduling initial office hours meeting: The professor will provide a time-slot sign-up for the mandatory office hours meeting through a Doodle poll or Moodle poll. Meetings will be capped at five students. The course syllabus should reflect that attending one of these meetings is a requirement for the course.
  3. Professor’s personal STEM story: The professor will share their personal story through STEM with the students. This can occur during the first lecture, via Moodle or 2U, or another mode of distribution. (See Facilitator Sheet below.)
  4. Initial office hours meeting: Students will submit their pre-meeting written reflection on Moodle or 2U prior to attending their scheduled meeting. They will then attend the meeting facilitated by the professor. (See Facilitator Sheet below.)
  5. Post-meeting written assignment: After the meeting, students will complete and submit a post-meeting assignment, reflecting on how their own path through STEM connects to or diverges from that of their professor, their goals and anxieties about the course, and how they can use office hours as a resource to achieve these goals. (See Writing Assignment section below.)

Facilitator Sheet for Professors

Prior to Office Hour Meetings

  • Prepare a 3–5 minute story detailing your path through STEM. Touch on your undergraduate experience, the catalyst for attending graduate school, impactful mentors, and your motivation for teaching the course. Include personal, human moments where appropriate to help students connect with your story.
  • Share this story with students before the first office hours meeting, either during class, as a recording on Moodle or 2U, or through another mode of distribution.

First Office Hour Meetings (20 minutes)

Introduction (5 minutes):

  1. Have each student share their name, hometown, prior high school experience in related subjects, and one word to describe their initial feelings about the course.
  2. Allow students to ask questions about your story.

Research/Teaching Interests (5 minutes):

  1. Share a brief overview of your research and teaching interests, how your education led you to these topics, and opportunities for students in your lab/research cohort.

Supporting Students in the Classroom (5 minutes):

  1. Discuss how course instructors can best support students. Use student reflections from their pre-meeting assignment to guide the conversation. Possible questions include:
    • “Are there any teaching methods you found helpful in high school that I can emulate in this course?”
    • “Are you a visual or auditory learner? How can I better cater to your style?”

Supporting Students in Office Hours (5 minutes):

  1. Introduce the purpose of office hours for your course, e.g., problem set help, lab report guidance, or general course discussions. Encourage students to see this time as a resource rather than an evaluative space.
  2. Solicit student input on how to approach office hours effectively. Example questions include:
    • “Would you prefer structured or open-ended office hours?”
    • “What times or formats work best for you?”

Written Assignment Component

Pre-Meeting Assignment (Graded for Completion):

  1. Read the introduction (24 pages) and Chapter 2 (52 pages) of The Privileged Poor by Tony Jack.
  2. Review results from Jordan Andrews’s Spring 2020 survey of office hours at Amherst.
  3. Respond to prompts on both the readings and the course, e.g.,:
    • “Does Jack’s description of office hours connect to or differ from your expectations at Amherst?”
    • “How might differences in institutional knowledge affect office hours experiences in STEM?”

Post-Meeting Assignment (Graded for Completion):

  1. Reflect on the professor’s story and your own STEM journey.
  2. Articulate one goal and one worry about the course.
  3. Reflect on whether your perception of office hours has changed after the meeting.

Conclusion

The Interterm HSTEM course has illuminated the ways in which colleges provide students access to professors during office hours without ensuring all students feel a sense of belonging in these meetings. This issue is acute at Amherst, as Jordan Andrews’s survey data shows the strides STEM departments must make to create welcoming and inclusive office hours.

Promoting inclusion in introductory STEM courses is particularly important, as experiences in these courses often determine whether a student continues to pursue a STEM major. By reducing the barriers preventing students from attending office hours in introductory courses, this workshop aims to help students view professors as partners in the learning process throughout their college careers.

Office hours represent just one space for forming student-professor connections. However, I hope this workshop catalyzes broader conversations on fostering equitable and humanizing partnerships in academia.