Office hours vs. trial and error

phobos
Wed, 09 May 2007 13:25:53 +0000

Homework is a judge of what material you know. When you go to office hours and ask about the homework the homework no longer measures that. It is now what the professor knows.

so? the professor may offer critical insight without which you may never have been able to finish your homework. so you want to internalize it? then take your professor’s insight, then go back and do problems that aren’t on the homework just for the purpose of understanding it. i still think a lot of not going is a matter of just getting over that bit of pride that’s keeping you from asking for help when you truly need it. i think citygirlsmom put it well…your professor’s there for a reason…not just their office hours, but the entire idea of a professor. despite how well you think you get the material, the fact of the matter is you’re a student while they’re an authority on it.

by all means work as hard as you can on a problem…believe me, i’ll fight to the last minute trying to figure things out. i’ve spent hours on just 1 or 2 physics problems, so i know what it’s like…but sometimes you really do just need a little extra help. it’s not cheating.