Getting the most out of your professor
Professors dish on how students can learn more from them outside of the classroom
There is one person in your lecture theatre who is a little different from everyone else. No, I’m not talking about that guy who never bathes, who whispers to himself as he takes notes, and who seems completely unaware that his nose whistles every time he exhales.
I’m talking about the one standing up at the front of the room, talking; the one who everyone who isn’t playing with their computer or phone is watching: your prof.
I’m sure that your prof seems like a lofty intellectual who is much too clever, important and busy to want to talk to the likes of you, but I’ve got news for you: your prof is a human being, and it gets lonely up there at the front of the room when you’ve spent an hour talking and nobody has asked a single question or given any other indication they’ve understood a word you’ve said.
Educating you and making sure that you understand the course material is part of your prof’s job, and talking directly to your prof can make a world of difference to what you get out of a class. What you may find surprising is that your prof (probably) wants to talk to you. Don’t take our word for it; we surveyed an assortment of professors from across the country and two of the most common things we heard from them were that they enjoy talking to students, and that too few students take the time to talk to their professors outside of class.
Talking to students lets profs know that they’re actually getting through. “I love it when students come to me and ask questions,” wrote professor Carolyn Eyles of McMaster University. “It shows they are interested in the material and I’ll always spend time with them.”
The questions students ask provide professors with valuable feedback about their communication style, letting them know what is and what is not being understood by their classes. “I do learn a lot from student questions. I learn to communicate a lot better,” said Patangi Rangachari, also of McMaster.
But what can talking to your professors do for you? Lots. There are reasons why you go to campus every day, instead of just staying home and learning from a textbook.
The most obvious thing your professor can do is help you understand something from the lecture or the readings that you just can’t get. There is more than one way to skin a cat, and there is more than one way to approach whatever concept you’re having trouble with. “Explain to us where we came short in the lecture, and we will offer you another perspective on the issue so you can understand it better,” says Mercedes Rowinsky-Geurts of Wilfred Laurier University.
If you talk to them in person, many professors will give you a more detailed preview of what is going to be on an upcoming exam, to help you focus your studying. Some will even provide sample exam questions to practice on. Profs will discuss essay topics with students, and may be willing to go over an outline or even a complete draft of your essay with you.
page 1 page 2
i think a big reason talking to professors can be so intimidating is because we see them as being these extremely busy people with much more important things to do than answer questions. I also think sometimes that my question will be useless and i will instead be redirected to my TA. TA’s are much less intimidating. But i have made an appointment with one of my professors at u of t and although i didn’t have a specific question he didn’t mind just sitting and having a conversation with me which was great. this is a good article, i really recommend doing this.
as a Professor – I would prefer you did not come at the beginning of the semester to ask how to get a good grade…that is a very busy time of the semester and that question would seem rather frivolous…it is the in class participation, positive attitude, emails with inquiries and an appointment after the dust settles to ask or event asked at orientation prior to the program start…what they can do to get the most out of the program….
As an English professor in a business school in France, I am thrilled when my students come and ask for help in areas they are having trouble with. It gives me a chance to get to know them better, which is not often possible in a classroom situation, and to give them tips on how to make their English learning easier. I wish more of them would make an appointment and I hope some of them read this because I have recommended the Macleans website as good English reading and video watching! Thank you, Macleans!
Excellent advice especially for 1st year students.
Suggest you don’t ask the prof “what would you say is the most important advice you can give me to maximize my grade in this course?” Rather ask the prof how you can maximize your learning and understanding, and whether or not s/he is open to original, personally argued and presented (rather than researched) theories.
Get attention from your prof by submitting your ideas in a non-traditional manner … for instance, write a story that includes everything your essay topic requires in a different medium … rather than an essay.
I got top-of-the-line marks in both undergraduate and graduate courses by writing stories with dialogue between characters (taken from history, the Bible, Greek plays, whatever) and between time zones (Medea writing to Eloise about their problems with men, for instance).
Essays, even if required, are boring. Be creative.
Come up with your own ideas. Come up with your own formats. Make your solutions to the ‘essay challenge’ more interesting to your professor.
And more interesting and meaningful to yourself.