Jack’s (2019, p. 83) study observes, “When professors mention office hours, often only on the first day of classes, they tell students when office hours are. They almost never say what they are.” Likewise, a study of over 600 undergraduates at one mid-Atlantic university found that when asked, “What would make you more likely to use office hours?” the most frequent suggestion (57%) is to indicate how, why, and when they should use the resource (Smith et al., 2017).

Organizing office hours around specific themes, including but not limited to assigned readings, exam preparation, project guidance, or test corrections, helps students understand what they can expect to cover and discuss upon attendance. This encourages participation throughout the semester, and in addition, it ensures large groups of students can still achieve their goal and have their questions answered due to the focused nature of the meeting. Sometimes, open discussion office hours will be the way to go, but other times, especially when students may be faced with a challenging task, setting a theme or focus of the session and making it known beforehand presents a streamlined and time-considerate approach.

Office hours can be more inclusive by adding structure and being intentional with your design. Here's an example of office hours that accounts for different formats at different times of the semester as well as different locations. All of these help to remove some of the barriers to participation and hopefully, broaden engagement with students.

This isn't the first time I've heard this, of course. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, I knew instructors who were often disappointed at the crickets they heard and tumbleweeds they saw during their office hours. But I think I hear this even more now, post-pandemic (well, post that pandemic). Instructors who would really like to connect with their students and help their students through office hours often report students not taking advantage of this instructional service.

Surveys administered by the Associated Students of Stanford University (AASU) and Institutional Research & Decision Support (IR&DS) during the remote learning period have identified that “inaccessibility of Office Hours was a common point of feedback.” The strategies below can help you to adapt your office hours to a virtual space.