Carnegie Mellon University

Eberly Center

Teaching Excellence & Educational Innovation

Step 3: Explore Strategies

Explore potential strategies.

My students don’t seek help when they need it.

Students don’t know that resources are available.

There are multiple reasons why students don’t fully understand what resources are available to them. As first year undergraduates, students sometimes don’t understand the purpose of office hours or the role of the TA. Furthermore, because students are inundated with information, they sometimes don’t know about the existence of Student Academic Success Center (i.e., our academic support center).

Strategies

Clearly articulate the purpose of office hours.

You can do this in the syllabus and perhaps reinforce it before major assignments or exams, particularly in first year undergraduate courses.

Explain the roles of TAs in the course.

Again, this is especially important for first year students who never had TAs in high school. This is also important because the role of TAs varies across courses, and even within departments, e.g., some TAs only grade, some run recitations, some do review sessions, some hold office hours.

Explain the role of the Student Academic Success Center.

The Student Academic Success Center offers a wide variety of opportunities for students to deepen their understanding of who they are as learner, communicator and ultimately scholar.  The Student Academic Success Center supports student success by providing academic coaching, tutoring, supplemental instruction, accommodations and support for students with disabilities, language support for English language learners, workshops, and a diverse library of videos and printable handouts.

This site supplements our 1-on-1 teaching consultations.
CONTACT US to talk with an Eberly colleague in person!