prepare-for-office-hours

name	prepare-for-office-hours
category	school
description	Prepare for academic office hours with a focused goal, attempted work, specific questions, and a follow-up record. Use when seeking help from an instructor, teaching assistant, adviser, or supervisor.

prepare-for-office-hours

Bring enough evidence for the instructor to see where your reasoning diverged.

When to use

• Use for course concepts, assignments, feedback, research direction, or academic planning.
• Do not ask an instructor to complete assessed work or bypass collaboration and academic-integrity rules.

Procedure

1. Check the office-hour time, location, access method, queue rules, and expected preparation.
2. Define one primary outcome and rank any additional questions.
3. Gather the relevant prompt, rubric, notes, reading, feedback, calculations, code, or draft.
4. Attempt the problem and mark the exact step where you became uncertain.
5. Write concise questions that expose the decision or concept rather than asking whether the whole work is correct.
6. Remove unnecessary private information and request accessibility support through the approved route if needed.
7. During the meeting, explain your attempt, listen, take notes, and confirm the next action in your own words.
8. Afterward, apply the guidance independently and record any remaining question.

Worked example

A student is confused by feedback on a proof. They bring the rubric and attempted derivation, highlight the first unsupported implication, and ask which theorem would justify it. After the meeting, they rewrite the proof and verify the same reasoning on a new exercise rather than asking the instructor for a finished answer.

Done

• A preparation note contains the goal, attempted work, exact questions, sources, and applicable course boundaries
• A follow-up record confirms the guidance was applied and the revised reasoning was checked on the original or a parallel problem