Join us on November 4th at noon for a talk on redesigning office hours by Design Professor James Housefield (Zoom)
Dear Faculty Colleagues,
Midway through the fall quarter, we have all been learning lessons about how to inspire and connect with our students. For this Friday’s DOLCE, we will hear from one of the most popular professors in Design, and, prompted by his presentation, converse together about the best ways to define and make use of our office hours. Please plan to join us via Zoom on Friday, November 4th at noon for a meeting of DOLCE: Discussing Online Learning and Collaborative Education.
James Housefield received the UC Davis ASUCD Excellence in Education award for the Division of Humanities, Arts, and Cultural Studies in 2011, and the Phi Beta Kappa Teaching Excellence Award in 2019. His prior recognitions include the National Endowment for the Humanities Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Humanities (2006-2009), Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching, and the Faculty Senate Teaching Excellence Award at Texas State University, San Marcos. Housefield was also named a Piper Professor, the most competitive teaching award in the state of Texas.
Professor Housefield has named his talk “Redesigning Office Hours as an Accessible Learning Environment.” Here is his abstract:
“In 2016 a graduating senior revealed that, despite their successes in my courses and our Department, they remained intimidated to come to office hours.
This stuck with me. My research focuses on how we design experiences, and how we can redesign to improve upon these. I vowed to redesign the experience of office hours to eliminate barriers to entry and increase possibilities for connection.
In this talk I discuss ‘BYOM: Bring Your Own Mug Open-to-All Office Hours,’ the prompts that start conversations there, students who join us, and former students (including alumni) who return to give back to BYOM. I consider how our students and I use BYOM as an opportunity to build intellectual, creative, and social communities that persist outside of office hours. I examine the possibility of accessibility for all, and how this model might be adapted for other faculty's needs.”
Following Professor Housefield’s prepared remarks, we will discuss the topics raised by his talk, and share some of the strategies we use to make our office hours more useful for our students, and better attended. I can think of four practices that I use, and I bet you also have some tricks (or treats).
Please register here for this special DOLCE, and plan to join us on Friday, November 4th, at noon.
In addition to joining us on Friday, you may be interested in another upcoming event on the topic of Gradescope. If you have been searching for a tool to streamline your evaluation of paper-based or electronic assignments and quizzes, or if you’d like to work with other faculty or TAs to create and modify grading rubrics or review student work, then Gradescope will likely meet your needs.
Coordinating with staff at Academic Technology Services, trainers from Gradescope will be hosting “Gradescope for New Users” on November 14, 2022, from 10-11 am. In this 60-minute webinar, you will learn about the core features of Gradescope, including steps for scanning, organizing, and offering feedback on student submissions using tools such as AI-assisted sorting and collaborative rubrics. This webinar will only be held if eight or more attendees register interest, so sign up now to ensure your spot.
Meanwhile, we hope to see you Friday at noon for James Housefield on Redesigning Office Hours!
Best,
Andy Jones
Academic Associate Director, Academic Technology Services
Host, DOLCEs and Faculty Forums
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“Redesigning Office Hours as an Accessible Learning Environment”
Professor James Housefield, Design
Friday, November 4th at Noon via Zoom
Image by vincenzo adragna from Pixabay