Comments on: Empowering Students to use Office Hours

By: Bryan

Bryan — Tue, 04 Oct 2022 05:03:57 +0000

Depending on the course, I like to be a bit more proactive about who comes to a timeslot and when they come. I like to see everyone during the term, but sometimes I like to prioritize who comes when. With WR122, where students tend to be very far on their PCC journey, I would be more inclined to follow Ron and Rondi’s “empower the student” model, but for WR115, my focus is on retaining the student not just in the course, but also in PCC generally. (It’s a “Gateway” course.) There I want to connect with those most likely to drift asap. (I can’t always tell who is most at risk, but frequently I can.)

By: Laura Sanders

Laura Sanders — Fri, 30 Sep 2022 22:54:30 +0000

@Cindy — Rondi has added a useful link in her original post. Essentially, you take the same steps you would to create an event on your Google calendar, but instead of “event,” you select “appointment slots” and select the time frame and the length of each meeting (15 minutes, 20 minutes). You can then email your students the link (or post the link in your D2L Brightspace course shell). When students click the link, they are taken to the appointment calendar.

It took a few times for me to figure it out, but I think it’s a great system that saves everyone time.

By: Cindy Francois

Cindy Francois — Wed, 28 Sep 2022 17:05:19 +0000

I love this idea!! Very rarely does anyone actually show up at my weekly office hours. So how does this work in D2L? You set it up in Google Calendar but do I just share the link with students? I’m not familiar with this. :)

By: Ron Bekey

Ron Bekey — Wed, 28 Sep 2022 04:12:21 +0000

Hi Peter, yes, Calendly has a scheduling buffer, but it is a trade-off, because if you set it for two hours, no one can book a time closer than two hours before or after an existing appointment. You might be able to find a sweet spot that works for you. And no, I don’t work for Calendly ;-)

By: Laura Sanders

Laura Sanders — Wed, 28 Sep 2022 00:29:03 +0000

Thanks for this great post, Rondi! I have been using Google Calendar Appointment Slots for the past year to great success.

To maximize flexibility and accommodate a range of student schedules, I like to offer slots at different times on different days each week. I typically send out a class email with the appointment calendar link. I try to include a mix of day and evening slots, and I have even offered Saturday slots for papers due the next day.

This method also works well when I am trying to offer appointments to students from different course sections and even different colleges — a great feature for the many PT instructors who are juggling multiple courses at multiple institutions.

I find that students do arrive prepared with their own goals for the session, and this option seems to make them more confident, knowing that they can schedule these meetings when needed.

By: Peter Seaman

Peter Seaman — Tue, 27 Sep 2022 15:58:34 +0000

Thanks, Rondi (and Ron), for your great advice about scheduling. One perennial problem I have is not with the calendaring tools but with people’s last-minute scheduling habits – where someone will go into my calendar ten minutes before an appointment slot and try to book an appointment. Do any of these tools have a scheduling buffer? – say, a student needs to provide a two-hour or four-hour or even 24-hour buffer between booking time and appointment time? Unless I’m sitting at my desk at all times, I’m afraid I’ll miss a last-minute booking. Thanks.

By: Ron Bekey

Ron Bekey — Tue, 27 Sep 2022 06:01:48 +0000

Thanks for sharing how you do this, Rondi! I have had similar experiences and successes with Calendly. It links nicely PCC’s Google Calendar, and the basic version is free. It also allows students to book appointments on their own. The best thing for me is that I am avoiding multiple back-and-forth emails when setting Zoom appointments. Many students were taking a day or more to reply, and it was very difficult to book appointments. Now when I make a comment in the grade book or by email about an assignment and it seems the student could benefit from meeting with me, I point them to my Calendly page and encourage them to book an appointment with me. I also have a ‘Book an appointment with your instructor’ link at the top of the Home Page in each of my classes. I experimented with Appointment Slots also, but I find Calendly is easier for me as my schedule varies, and Calendly allows people to book whenever there is free space on my PCC calendar within my designated working hours. When I need to block off some time with no appointments, I simply make an appointment with myself during those hours. The only thing that isn’t as convenient as Appointment Slots is that I need to set up Zoom appointments manually. The pay version can do that automatically.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Mon, 26 Sep 2022 20:05:23 +0000

Thank you for your candid and helpful blog! -Sarah