Beyond Reluctance: Promoting Learning through an Unconventional Approach to Office Hours

Abstract

Student engagement can be encouraged through individual interaction with the instructor. Unfortunately many students do not take advantage of such opportunities. An unconventional approach to office hours is introduced in which students meet the professor for a required one-on-one problem session in a computer programming and numerical methods course. In this instructional approach that combines verbal, written, and hands-on learning, students work on a problem, answer questions, and write a computer program with the professor. They receive feedback in real time and receive a grade at the end of the session.

Here, we determine the factors that positively influence student perceptions of their learning ability during these one-on-one sessions, compare test scores to see if attending one-on-one sessions during scheduled office visits with a professor positively influences student learning, and consider how these sessions influence student perceptions of the instructor’s attitude toward student achievement and of this course.