Meeting With the Instructor
Sometimes it’s hard to think of the prof as an ally, especially if we’re shy . . . if we’ve just got a poor grade back . . . if we can’t understand what they’re saying . . . if they won’t grant an extension . . . And sometimes, an instructor is a sadist who seeks to blame their lack of skill, preparation, or personal dissatisfaction on their students. [Note to self: Blog this topic!]
But the vast, vast majority of the time, from preschool through to graduate school, instructors want their students to do well. One of the key indicators that you have such an instructor is their invitation early in the year to connect, email, ask questions, and book appointments.
Let’s say you have such an instructor. How do you connect?
You connect by having a course-related reason to discuss: a question, problem, issue or interest related to the course, or to the instructor’s field of expertise. Some examples:
You want clarification about a major assignment.
You do not understand some of the material.
You understand and enjoy the material; you want to explore aspects not covered in class.
You are struggling with the assignments.
You are dissatisfied with a grade.
You would like a reference for a job or acceptance into a program.
You are going to be late handing in work.
Your group project is not going well.
Your life is falling apart.
Many of these issues are stressful to deal with even without the added stress of Going To Talk To The Prof. So you may put off going or end up not going at all. The rule of good studentship, however, is to approach your instructor sooner, rather than later. To gain the best benefit from your instructor and to build a positive relationship, start by clarifying in your own mind what your objective for the meeting is. Write down your purpose, and outline your statement and questions.
How does that play out in the above examples? Let’s break down the examples into material-related issues and process-related issues.
Covering the Material
If your issues are related to understanding the material, bring two or three examples of the type of question or an outline of the area giving you difficulty. Your instructor may refer you to peer tutoring or to online sources.
If this difficulty has resulted in an assignment or exam grade you are dissatisfied with, one approach is to challenge the grade. Most of the time, this simply doesn’t work. Asking how you can improve your grade will give you more insight into what the instructor is looking for, particularly in subjectively graded essays. The goal that both you and the prof will agree on is that you want the next assignments, quizzes and exams to be closer to the mark, and specific analysis of where you strayed from expectation is invaluable for the next work.
From a more positive perspective, ensuring that you are on the right track on a major assignment, such as a research proposal, a literature review, or designing a program, can benefit from running your ideas by the instructor long before you are writing up the final draft. Again, go in early. Go in with an agenda where you have clarified your proposal and done some preliminary research that you are ready to discuss. You might later run a draft of the assignment by the instructor and have a chance to add improvements or remedy faults you had missed. You might at some point have run into perspectives you are having a hard time reconciling and need advice on alternate resources.
You may be very keen on material not covered in the course, but related to it, and want advice on how to explore further, perhaps incorporating this exploration into your graded work.
Process-related Issues
Process-related issues cover everything that is involved in getting the work done on time. Even if you have scheduled well, life happens. And maybe you are not the best at scheduling, or following a schedule. You might need to ask for an extension. You or your family became ill. You lost your job, your roommates are defaulting on the rent, and your relationship is foundering. You procrastinated beyond the point of repair.
First, if you feel shaky about any of these issues, please book time with student counselling. Life does happen, and it can seem pretty overwhelming. You do not have to struggle on your own. And you are paying for this service, so make use of it.
Now. Back to the prof and the work that you fear is going to be late. It is ALWAYS better to let the prof know ahead of time, rather than to simply hand it in late. Handing it in late is, of course, still better than not handing it in at all.
Again, before your meeting or your email, write out your purpose and presentation to have them clearly organized beforehand. Your purpose is likely to inform the prof that you are having difficulty meeting the deadline, to ask for their advice, and either to ask for either an extension or present your apology with acknowledgement that being late is not desirable.
If your reasons fall within circumstances outside your control, state them, and ask for an extension. If your reasons fall within circumstances you could have controlled, you will gain more respect by simply stating that you underestimated the time that would be required, apologize for your lack of experience and foresight and let them know you are targeting to hand it in by a given date.
Building the Relationship
The degree of relationship that you build will vary from professor to professor. Ultimately there can be professors that become mentors, that you work with and that help you along your academic and post-academic careers.
It starts with you reaching out, approaching them with clear expectations, preparation, and respect–and the expectation of having your concerns and interests treated with respect.
Go in early. Go in prepared. And follow-up with thank-you emails and updates. Most instructors care and want you to succeed almost as much as you want to succeed!
Let me know what your experience has been in meeting with instructors. If you would like to discuss how to deal with an upcoming meeting, we can discuss. [email protected]