Spheres of Influence: Ventures and Visions in Educational Development*

3-6 July, 2002
The University of Western Australia
Perth, Western Australia

Abstract

Maximizing office-hour instruction: Workshops and techniques to help instructors influence learning outcomes

Miriam Diamond, Northeastern University, USA

Student-faculty interactions have been shown to influence student learning and persistence. However, instructors are not always aware of the range of options available to best assist students during these individual and small-group meetings. There are several workshop models that have been developed to increase the effectiveness of faculty and teaching assistants during office-hour instruction, tutorials and independent study supervision. In this session, participants will articulate the goals of this mode of instruction and challenges toward meeting those goals. We will explore a variety of exercises designed to help instructors meet these challenges while expanding their repertoire - including brainstorming and sharing, observation-feedback, role playing, and case studies. We will evaluate the various models, and address ways of integrating other campus resources (counseling centers, offices for students with disabilities, ombudspeople, international student offices) into the process. Implications for virtual/electronic office hours will be discussed. Finally, we will consider ways of developing conversations on campus about this important aspect of teaching.

Key words:
Faculty development; Office-hours

Objectives, outcomes and activities: In this workshop, participants will:

• Articulate reasons for and benefits of using office-hours as venues for teaching;
• Explore challenges to faculty and instructors in maximizing the effectiveness of office-hour teaching;
• Experience and evaluate several different workshop models designed to increase the awareness and skill level of faculty and teaching assistants of instructional methods for use during office-hours; and
• Brainstorm ways of increasing awareness of campus resources (counseling centers, offices for students with disabilities, ombudspeople) that can address office-hour concerns.

Activities

• Participants will discuss the goals and kinds of teaching that takes place during office-hours, as well as obstacles that instructors commonly face toward achieving those goals.
• They will experience portions of 3 to 4 workshop exercises - including brainstorming, role plays, case studies and observation-feedback - that have been used to broaden the awareness and repertoire of teaching staff about this educational venue.
• They will evaluate the different formats and discuss how they can present similar programs at their institutions.

Miriam Rosalyn Diamond has created programs in Faculty and Teaching Assistant development at Northeastern, MIT, Tufts, and Northwestern Universities. Her dissertation research demonstrated the influence of meaningful instructor-student interactions on student commitment toward degree completion. Her PhD. Is in Educational Processes, her MA in Counseling Psychology, and she has taught courses in both disciplines. Miriam's special interests include adult development and applications of improvisational acting games for training as well as teaching.

Contact: Miriam Diamond, email: M.Diamond@neu.edu