In this age of information technology, e-mail and the Internet have made their way onto college campuses and class syllabi to change communication between professors and students.
That doesn’t mean e-mail has replaced office hours. E-mail enables students to get a quick question answered late at night, and many students are able to print notes off the Web. However, most people agree there is nothing quite like a face-to-face conversation.
Arthur Farley, a professor in the computer and information science department, said he uses the Internet to manage a class Web site and to post lecture notes online. He said he thinks e-mail is a useful tool to ask simple questions.
“It does provide another channel for interaction that wasn’t there before,” he said. “[But] it is not as full of a channel as when you’re talking to a student in person.”
Victor Bliss, an undeclared sophomore, agreed, saying that although he appreciates professors posting notes on the Web, he still likes to go to professors’ office hours when he has questions about a class.
“If I’ve ever e-mailed a GTF or a professor, it was to arrange a meeting,” Bliss said. “I’d rather get help in person.”
Despite the tools at hand, many professors would rather help a student in person as opposed to writing an impersonal, faceless e-mail.
“It’s so much easier to explain things when there’s a back and forth,” said Michael Kellman, a professor in the chemistry department. “A difficult technical or scientific course is very difficult to do over the web.”
That doesn’t mean Kellman doesn’t use the Internet at all. He said he maintains a class Web page to keep students updated on announcements, but makes it clear that they should only e-mail questions about homework or other course materials if they absolutely can’t make it to his office hours.
Senior psychology major Tammie Minnick agreed and said although class notes and announcements posted on the Internet have their perks, only personal interaction allows professors to be able to tell whether the students are hopelessly lost or following along.
“I prefer face-to-face [communication], although I do use e-mail,” she said.
Minnick said she thinks it’s important for students and professors to see each other’s facial expressions and to get an idea about whether both are on the same page.
That’s why Minnick’s first choice for getting help is going to her professors’ office hours. Her second option is the phone, and if all else fails, she resorts to e-mail.
For other students, however, e-mail is first choice, especially when they juggle classes, jobs and other obligations that overlap with faculty members’ office hours.
“When they need an answer isn’t always when I can be available for them,” said Larry Deck, an instructor in the accounting department. “The value [of e-mail] I think comes from being able to respond at those other times when they have a question.”
Deck is known among his students for responding to e-mails almost instantly, although he said he thinks that might be slightly exaggerated.
“I do make it a point to respond quickly,” he said.
Deck said students often get stuck while reading a chapter in a textbook or trying to understand a particular concept. He said getting an answer relatively quickly, even if it’s not face-to-face, often seems to be a lot more valuable than having a student come to his office hours with a week-long collection of questions without remembering what prompted them.
To get students’ questions answered quickly and to help them get back on track, Deck said he checks his e-mail several times a day.
That doesn’t necessarily mean e-mail and the Internet have increased his workload, he said.
“I don’t think it really has created more work,” he said. “I just have to be more flexible to meet their needs.”
Although Deck answers many questions via e-mail, he said that this form of communication doesn’t work for all students. Some prefer to talk in person, where Deck can use the whiteboard in his office to explain a problem with the help of a graph.
Joanne Hugi, director of the Computing Center and an avid e-mail and Internet user, said she doesn’t think the advancing technology has taken away from traditional office hours.
“I think the [professors] that have used it for awhile and are comfortable with it would probably tell you that they hear from students that they probably wouldn’t hear from otherwise,” Hugi said. “There’s far more opportunity to get to know a professor electronically than you would ever have in a class of 100.”
However, she said students need to realize they might not get a response at midnight and that there is a limit to how often most professors will check their inbox.
Although technology wizards are excited about the new and ever-developing tools professors and students have at their fingertips, few seem to be concerned that human interaction will ever become obsolete.
“The really worthwhile stuff is mostly done face-to-face,” Kellman said.