Instructors at Augustana, as well as at other universities, are required to have office hours to meet with students. Some institutions require that these meetings be in-person, but professors should provide virtual office hour options as well.
There are many reasons why students might need to attend office hours: low grades, misunderstanding of content or just wanting some extra help. In-person office hours may conflict with students’ schedules, meaning they can only find a time that accommodates their schedule through scheduling an appointment.
This may be difficult as it requires that the instructor and the student be available to meet in-person at a time that does not conflict with either’s schedule.
On Augustana’s website, there is no easy access to find the required amount of office hours for instructors to provide for students.
Some professors only offer in-person options once or twice a week, which does not give students enough options. One of my professors only offers one hour per week of in-person office hours, relying on that time to work for students or for them to reach out for an appointment.
Another professor of mine does not provide a set time for office hours, telling students to reach out if they would like to meet. This tactic of trying to be available when needed by a student and working with their schedules, rather than making a student accommodate to set office hours is a better option.
Over the past few years we have seen online options grow in popularity. COVID-19 led to a rise in popularity with platforms such as Google Meet and Zoom. Remote working became the norm, especially among instructors.
Fast forward a couple of years, and Augustana no longer offers a virtual option
for classes. However, if professors are sick or need to work from home, they may still host class over Google Meet or Zoom. This practice has crossed over into providing virtual office hours as well.
Why not offer virtual office hours all the time?
Students who miss class because they are sick could benefit from a virtual meeting with their professor. They might not want to get behind in class, but are unable to go to an in-person meeting.
My experience with virtual learning is limited. I have attended virtual classes when professors have been sick or even when a class got switched to online because of how many students were sick.
The virtual classes often had the lowest attendance, which makes no sense since students do not have to leave their rooms. This could be a downside to offering virtual office hours.
Professors could be set up for an hour or two per week online, and never have a single student show up. A benefit to offering virtual office hours might be increased flexibility for the instructors because these could be offered from home on a day when they do not have classes to teach.
If there is often a lack of student attendance during virtual office hours, it is understandable that professors have stopped offering them regularly.
Some students may take advantage of a professor’s willingness to work with them when a student supposedly cannot go to the provided office hours even if they actually can.
Many factors can play into the pros and cons of virtual office hours, but it overall seems to be something that should be provided to students, even if it is just upon request.