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February 2026 Tuesday Tips
3rd February 2026
Tuesday Teaching Tip: Reframe Office Hours as Student Hours
There are lots of places outside the classroom where learning happens. Students may interact with each other on Canvas, study for an exam, or get help from the Student Learning Center. Office Hours are another space where we want learning to happen, but often we sit in an empty Zoom room or office. This week, we have compiled some best practices for encouraging students to utilize office hours and how to make use of the time.
- Reframe “Office Hours” as “Student Hours.”Survey data(opens in new window) indicate that the “office” framing is often unclear to students and that branding them as “student” focused makes visits more likely. At the most basic level, this communicates to students that the time is for them.
- Explain what happens. The purpose of office hours as space for individualized help, clarification, and lower-risk question asking is probably obvious to you, but much less so for students, especially first-gen students. Language like “this time is for you” or “no appointments are required” are ways to help students understand (PDF) you are there to help them during these windows.
- Make the most of the time. When students do come, make sure they feel welcomed. Ask how you can help and how they are experiencing the class. This is also a great opportunity to put a face to a name if you are anything like me and sometimes struggle to remember student names.
Got a best practice for office hours? Please send it to us so we can include it in future tips.
Zach Justus
Director of Faculty Development
Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences
Google Voice/Text: 530-487-4150
If you’d like to comment on this or any other Tuesday Tip, visit the FDEV Blog(opens in new window).
All past Tuesday Tips are curated on the FDEV website.
10th February 2026
Tuesday Teaching Tip: Push Them Just Enough
I have had a lot of practice with the “ zone of proximal development (PDF)” lately, not so much at work but at home where I cosplay as a STEM tutor for my 11-year-old daughter. She is working on multiplying and dividing decimals and my problem is–I love doing this kind of work, so it takes a ton of discipline not to do the homework. Instead, I help her get the problem set up and then walk away to pet the dog or fold laundry only to come back a few minutes later to help her if she is stuck. Keeping the learner in this zone where they are struggling just enough to develop, but not so much that they get frustrated and give up, is a lot easier one-on-one than in a class of 100+.
One strategy that scales is scaffolding. Having assignments that build on each other over time means that students start to understand a process, but also that they have different tasks with different difficulties along the way. As they build, they will likely have to expend a good deal of effort at some point. However, the scaffolding means they are less likely to feel overwhelmed by the larger task. Some discipline specific strategies are laid out in a teaching guide we have on Formative Assessment and you will find some additional value there.
If you are ready to take this kind of work even further, you should ask students to reflect on the most difficult parts of a project and what tools/strategies they used that were the most effective. This metacognitive practice can result in students surfacing useful strategies for themselves that they will use in the future and help them understand the value of this teaching practice.
Zach Justus
Director of Faculty Development
Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences
Google Voice/Text: 530-487-4150
If you’d like to comment on this or any other Tuesday Tip, visit the FDEV Blog(opens in new window).
All past Tuesday Tips are curated on the FDEV website.
17th February 2026
Most of us have had the experience as faculty and/or chair of an annual program review or a 5-year review, seeming like it is a surprise. You are at a department meeting mid-semester when you collectively realize one of the program SLOs has not been evaluated this century, and suddenly there is a scramble for some old data, a race to graft an additional survey instrument onto an existing course, or maybe just a hope no one notices. There is another way. Incorporating the elements of programmatic assessment into the normal course curriculum is the most natural way to set yourself up for the review cycle. However, it does require coordination across courses and sections as well as ample planning. We have two tips to get started in this work.
- Attend a workshop today! Ben Juliano and Megan Odom are collaborating to bring you “Assessment 101(opens in new window)” 11AM-12PM in Colusa 100B and on Zoom(opens in new window). Whether you are just getting started or want some best practices to refine your approach, they will have something for you.
- The AAC&U Value Rubrics(opens in new window) provide a common starting place for faculty. If you would like to do this work, but are not sure where to start, start there.
Zach Justus
Director of Faculty Development
Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences
Google Voice/Text: 530-487-4150
Director of Faculty Development
Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences
Google Voice/Text: 530-487-4150
If you’d like to comment on this or any other Tuesday Tip, visit the FDEV Blog(opens in new window).
All past Tuesday Tips are curated on the FDEV website(opens in new window).
All past Tuesday Tips are curated on the FDEV website(opens in new window).
24th February 2026
We have all had the experience of looking at student feedback after the semester and realizing there were problems we just did not know about. It might have been a lab where students work in small teams, and only after the semester do you learn about inappropriate behavior in a group. Perhaps a student needed course materials in a different format, and you didn’t find out about it until after the term. Student feedback on our teaching can be helpful, but it can also come too late.
Think about administering straightforward feedback before Spring Break. I like the simple Google form with two questions. Give students 5 minutes in class to fill it out anonymously or provide some strong encouragement online.
- What is one thing in this class that is helping you learn?
- What is one thing in this class making learning harder?
There are other mechanisms, and some are outlined in our Teaching Guide on the topic. This does not even need to be sophisticated; you can solicit feedback over email or in a live classroom–all approaches have different advantages. The important thing is to give yourself a chance to adjust small items in real time while you can still make a difference with your current group.
Zach Justus
Director of Faculty Development
Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences
Google Voice/Text: 530-487-4150
Director of Faculty Development
Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences
Google Voice/Text: 530-487-4150
If you’d like to comment on this or any other Tuesday Tip, visit the FDEV Blog(opens in new window).
All past Tuesday Tips are curated on the FDEV website(opens in new window).
All past Tuesday Tips are curated on the FDEV website(opens in new window).