did you make an appointment? I thought that's why he posted office hours?

Office hours are for undergrads--I just harass my profs as needed.

 

As for me, I would say I am in my office or lab for 90% of my office hours.

Office hours are for undergrads kids--I just harass my profs as needed.

 

Same here and I are an undergrad

Dr. Flaxx's office hours are "By Appointment" and it says so right on the syllabus.

 

Problem solved.

I went to a small school where we had our prof's home phone numbers. It was a nice switch from what I heard lots of people had to deal with.

I provide my phone number as well, along with a warning not to call me after 10 pm. Email solves most things anyway, unless somebody is bringing in a 6-pack of Guinness as a bribe gift for the prof.

I provide my phone number as well, along with a warning not to call me after 10 pm. Email solves most things anyway, unless somebody is bringing in a 6-pack of Guinness as a bribe gift for the prof.

 

We got email when I was a freshman, but you had to go to a campus-wide computer lab to check it. My sophomore year we got an internet connection as a campus. Email wasn't used by too many people, let alone profs. I wish it had been, that would have been nice.

We got email when I was a freshman, but you had to go to a campus-wide computer lab to check it. My sophomore year we got an internet connection as a campus. Email wasn't used by too many people, let alone profs. I wish it had been, that would have been nice.

You old bastard. You went to college before emails.

You old bastard. You went to college before emails.

GET OFF OF MY LAWN YOU SUNOVA b****!!!

You old bastard. You went to college before emails.

 

No new-fangled music CDs either. Here's a vintage shot of SS pumping up the jams:

 

No new-fangled music CDs either. Here's a vintage shot of SS pumping up the jams:

 

 

 

ROCK and roll baby

I went to a small school where we had our prof's home phone numbers. It was a nice switch from what I heard lots of people had to deal with.

I went to Elmhurst and it was basically the same thing, it made life much easier.

I provide my phone number as well, along with a warning not to call me after 10 pm. Email solves most things anyway, unless somebody is bringing in a 6-pack of Guinness as a bribe gift for the prof.

Would I have to actually show up to take your class?

 

True story. I knew one of my professors before I was a student. We had a mutual friend and I would occasionally share some stories over some expensive sippin' tequila. When I finally had an opportunity to take one of his classes, I was 13 points short of an A on an 800 point scale. I needed 720 and came up with 707, the second highest score in the class. His reaction when I went to talk to him? Damn, that's too bad, I was really pulling for you. You going to be at the picnic Saturday? I had to love his honesty.

I don't go to office hours much, but every time I've gone they've been there, which is nice.

 

For you professors out there, does a student attending your office hours (e.g. showing they care enough to ask for extra help) give them any extra benefit when it comes to grading, etc?

I don't go to office hours much, but every time I've gone they've been there, which is nice.

 

For you professors out there, does a student attending your office hours (e.g. showing they care enough to ask for extra help) give them any extra benefit when it comes to grading, etc?

 

If they show up with the aforementioned Guinness, then yes absolutely.

 

Seriously, I'm more along the lines of Tex's prof - the grade you're going to get from me is the grade you earned. Percentage-wise, you've got to be within a percentage point of making a grade before I'll even consider a bump. And you're only going to get that bump if you haven't been a paon in my arse all semester.

 

I sound like a ton of fun, don't I?

If they show up with the aforementioned Guinness, then yes absolutely.

 

Seriously, I'm more along the lines of Tex's prof - the grade you're going to get from me is the grade you earned. Percentage-wise, you've got to be within a percentage point of making a grade before I'll even consider a bump. And you're only going to get that bump if you haven't been a paon in my arse all semester.

 

I sound like a ton of fun, don't I?

 

Do you ever look at the grade distribution in making that determination? What I thought was compelling, beyond the really good tequila, was I earned the second highest total out of 90 students that started. (He posted accumulative points via student ID.) I figured two students should have gotten A's, the rest deserved what they got

I am in my office for office hours probably 98% of the time. I try to make sure I never schedule anything to conflict with them. However, with email, few students take advantage of office hours.

 

If a student comes by, it can help them if they are borderline for a grade, but the "content" of the meeting (as well as the Guinness) certainly makes a difference. For example, if you come by my office and say "I haven't read the chapters yet, but can you explain them all to me?"...it's probably going to hurt your case rather than help (that happened to me this week). If you have legit, insightful questions (even "dumb" questions are ok) that are based on a misunderstanding of the material or not totally understanding the text and/or lecture, it definitely has a positive impact on my impression of the student. Coming to office hours to kiss-ass doesn't help, but legitimately wanting to learn does, if that makes sense....and, yes, I can usually tell the difference between ass-kissing and legitimate interest.

 

As for grading, my school recently switched to plus/minus grading which means that almost a third of my class every semester is "close" (within 1%) of the next highest grade. Generally, I don't bump anyone up unless there are pretty extreme circumstances. The grade distribution is a factor only if the assignments and exams are not fair, but my distributions tend to be rather consistent, especially if it is a class I've taught before.

If a student comes by, it can help them if they are borderline for a grade, but the "content" of the meeting (as well as the Guinness) certainly makes a difference. For example, if you come by my office and say "I haven't read the chapters yet, but can you explain them all to me?"...it's probably going to hurt your case rather than help (that happened to me this week). If you have legit, insightful questions (even "dumb" questions are ok) that are based on a misunderstanding of the material or not totally understanding the text and/or lecture, it definitely has a positive impact on my impression of the student. Coming to office hours to kiss-ass doesn't help, but legitimately wanting to learn does, if that makes sense....and, yes, I can usually tell the difference between ass-kissing and legitimate interest.

That's what I figured... thanks.

 

I've only been to my teachers' office hours a few times in my college career, but every time has been for legitimate questions. Like you said, email is normally good enough to get any questions answered, unless it's some in-depth stuff.