DS is about to head off to college, to a private university with opportunities for interaction with professors. I plan to advise him to make this a priority, but I am wondering how best to accomplish it. I’ll tell him to take advantage of office hours to ask questions about material he doesn’t understand or wants to know more about (after trying his best to learn it on his own, of course), but not to take too much of the professors’ time. What is the best way to accomplish this in person?
If he gets the courses he wants, he will have three large intro courses taught by professors who are very popular, and who are considered extremely effective teachers. I imagine that for those courses, he will probably not interact directly with the professors, but with TAs? For one of the courses, the professor is his freshman advisor and that will be an exception. That professor has been exchanging emails with DS since shortly after his acceptance as a prospective major in that department. The fourth course will be a small freshman seminar.
I know you are trying to help…but I think your son can figure this out.
But one tip…if the professor has study groups…go to them.
If your son has difficulty or needs additional,explanation in a class…go to faculty office hours.
Attend EVERY class, and participate in the discussions, if it’s that kind of class.
Your student is not going to have a “relationship” with all of his college professors…and likely wouldn’t want to do that anyway. But he might find a mentor in a field of study of his interest. That will lead to relationship development.
Professors often identify students who interest them, because of their strengths and weaknesses. Most often the relationships arise organically, based on chance as much as effort. That said, turning up to class, office hours, and study groups all increase the chance of a relationship.
Here are two examples of how relationships happen:
(1) I had an undergraduate class with two outstanding students in it; I referred them on to a class that prepared them for tutoring on campus. We kept in touch due to their work on campus. One day I was meeting another faculty member for coffee to discuss a mutual project. One of the students hesitantly approached me. Since I was early and had time, we talked over coffee, and it turned out she could help with the research project. Now that student has two faculty members sharing a project with her. As well I will have her in as a speaker to one of my classes this Fall.
(2) I had a plagiarist whom I call to my office. Often plagiarists are weak students on the edge of failure. I was trying not to be overly sympathetic–after all he did plagiarize–but the kid had a very good story. He was on a death spiral from a height. I connected him with student services, and they had a program for such students. He wound up graduating with a decent GPA. Furthermore, through a program in student services, he found friends and study groups. Even though I failed him on a paper and he didn’t ace my course, we had a good working relationship. Bad things can turn out okay.
The vast majority of faculty like students, want to teach, and set aside appropriate time for helping students reach their potential. It will take time to build relationships, but I am optimistic your son will find mentors.
I agree with the advice to go to faculty office hours. I was in a HUGE course at UT-Austin, American History. I thought the professor was brilliant, though, and loved his lectures. I went to his office hours several times. He was always available. He tried to get me to switch majors from engineering to history. Uh, no.
I had the same luck with engineering profs. Even at a huge school, it’s possible to develop strong relationships with teachers.
As a faculty spouse, agree with the above. Show up for class. Do the work. When possible participate in class. If there are review sessions/study groups, go to them. If you get stuck on a topic, absolutely take advantage of office hours.
From that, it’s likely some connections will form. It won’t be with every professor. But really all you need is one or two faculty who can mentor and guide you. Don’t hang around faculty just to be visible - but if there are ways you can help out, offer.
Talk to the professors, ask interesting questions, do well in their classes, maybe even ask about their research. After building up a connection he can ask them if they have any research opportunities. If they say they have none at the moment, keep in touch and then ask later.
The note of caution is not to be annoying. It doesn’t help to be that kid who asks ridiculous questions just to hold up the class and attract attention, or who hogs up all of the office hour space just to be a kiss up.
All great advice… I must applaud you, OP, for addressing this early. We like to think our kids will figure it out, but it’s pretty overwhelming starting off as a freshman in college, and some kids just need a lot more push to seek out their professors, whether it be for office hours or study sessions. I speak from experience! Especially those who didn’t really need to engage their high school teachers for extra help for 4 years.
If it’s a large class, sit in the front row and come to every class. In a sea of faces, the professor will most likely make face recognition with those up front.
Follow up with a visit to office hours. If there is a topic that interests you, ask the professor for a suggestion about something additional you could read (but only if you intend to follow through and read it!) Chances are the professor will then ask you what you thought of it, and further conversations will ensue.
In the beginning of the semester, before he even has any questions,
Go to Professor’s office hours and Ask this question: “I know this is a really difficult class-- what are some of the common mistakes students make and how can I avoid them?”
In addition to office hours, brief chats before and after class starts can make a surprising difference. Also, last semester I did my studying in an academic building that was near my professor’s office, and I got her to notice me that way.
I remember very well being told one should go to office hours, but I never felt I had anything to say. So while, I might still give that advice, I think you might want to think about other methods as well. If the school offers freshman seminars take one - even if the subject seems a little outlandish. Maybe especially! You should try not to have a schedule made solely of lecture courses. Some professors are better than others - I took multiple lecture classes wit a prof who asked us to discuss paper topics with him. I got to know him, and eventually did my thesis research with him. I also ended up in a major with mostly small classes. Even those lecture classes were relatively small - probably 60 students max.