Office Hours FAQ

TAs ask a lot of good questions about office hours. This page answers the common ones in one place. Most answers come down to the same move: make the rule before the case arrives. Your instructor's rules for the course come first; where this page and your course differ, follow your course and ask.

Defaults that work. If you only take four things from this page:

Pick a queue rule and say it out loud at the start of the shift: arrival order, a time limit, or whatever fits your course.
Accommodations go through your instructor. Never negotiate one with a student.
Help on the clock, in shared places: office hours, section, the course forum.
Any rule can bend for a good reason, as long as you say why. A default is where you start, not a cage.

Getting students in the door

Nobody comes to my office hours. Should I advertise more, or is that just the course?

Empty office hours are common. Attendance tracks deadlines and graded work, so the first weeks and courses without graded homework run quiet. Things that help:

Invite people in section, specifically. "Bring the problem you are stuck on, half-finished is fine" works better than "come to office hours."
Put a block near a deadline. A tip from experienced TAs: hold office hours on or just before the day homework is due if you want people to come. Research in CS courses agrees: most office-hours visits come in the three days before a deadline.
Say that office hours are for being lost, not only for bugs. The students who need help most are often the least likely to ask.
Be the TA with good office hours. One TA found that showing up reliably and being helpful built a reputation, and attendance snowballed.
Say what office hours are for, and say it again before each big deadline. Many students think office hours are only for when something is broken, or that going means admitting they are behind. Name the other reasons to come: checking an approach, a concept question, feedback on graded work, advice about the field.
Offer what an AI tool can't. Students now ask AI first because it is convenient and nobody watches them be confused. Say what a person adds: a look at how they are approaching the problem, a judgment call, help reading the feedback on their last assignment.
Invite students in pairs or groups. "Bring a friend" lowers the barrier for the first visit.
Try an online slot. In one CS2 study, students with lower confidence in CS were more active in virtual office hours than in person. (Your instructor decides; see the next questions.)

If a block is still empty after a deadline week, tell your instructor and suggest moving it, or trying an online slot. Empty office hours are information, not failure.

What should I do with the time when nobody comes?

Stay for the whole block, where students can find you: it is paid time and someone may arrive late. Fill it with TA work you can drop the moment a student shows up, such as forum questions, previewing the next assignment or grading. Log it as office hours if you keep track of your hours.

Do my office hours have to be in person? Can I add online hours at odd times?

Your course decides, so ask your instructor before changing anything. An online slot later in the evening can reach students who work late or are remote, and it counts against your hours like any other block. Propose it as a trial, post the format and link in advance, and check after two weeks whether anyone came.

How much availability is reasonable? Does the forum count?

Your appointment and your duties agreement set it. Forum and email time is TA time: count it and log it. If the forum has turned into a 24/7 expectation, raise it with your instructor and agree on a response window, for example "within one business day," then post that window so students know what to expect.

During office hours

Should I teach the material, or focus on the homework?

Start with the homework, because that is what students bring, and use it to get at the idea underneath. Ask what the problem is asking and what they have tried, then teach the concept the problem depends on rather than the answer. If several students miss the same concept, tell your instructor: it is useful feedback on the lecture or the assignment.

How do I help without giving away the answer, especially with a line behind them?

Three moves that work:

Ask first. What did you expect, what happened, what have you tried?
Point, then answer. Show where to look (the error line, the definition, the lecture example) before saying anything more.
Leave with one next step. A specific action they can take without you, then move on and come back.

Letting students explain their reasoning to each other is fine, and it frees you for the next person, as long as it stays within the course's collaboration policy.

The student cannot say what their question is. Where do I start?

Ask them to explain the problem in their own words, or pose your own small question about it. Once the confusion has a shape, it is much easier to resolve.

The queue is long. How do I decide who is next, and for how long?

Decide before the night it happens, and say the rule out loud. Common rules:

Arrival order with a time box, say 10 minutes, then back of the line if more is needed.
Group the same question. If three or more people have the same bug, explain it once to all of them, at the board or on the forum.
Write the queue down (a list on the board or a queue tool) so nobody has to wave for attention.

Notice how you actually pick: arrival, whoever is nearest, whoever seems most upset, or whoever is easiest to talk to. The last one is where bias lives.

And when a student shows up late and very stuck, the usual reason is that they did not know they were stuck, or did not feel able to ask, not that they could not be bothered. Your rule should still give them a real turn.

One student is far ahead and one is far behind. Should they get the same time?

Equal time and fair time are not the same thing. Giving the student who is behind more time is defensible; so is a strict time box. What matters is choosing on purpose rather than drifting. Point the advanced student to a resource or a later slot, and keep your time box for everyone else.

What if I am asked something I do not know?

Do not bluff. "I am not sure, let's work it out" or "I will find out and post the answer tonight" are both good answers. Then follow up on the forum so everyone gets it. For anything about policy, grades or deadlines, never guess: check with your instructor first.

How do I debug code I have never seen while other people wait?

Have the student walk you through what the code should do, read the error message together, and shrink the problem to the smallest case that fails. Time box it. If it is not solved, leave them with a next step and come back after the next person.

A student's setup is broken: SSH, VS Code, Python, the build. How do I help fast?

Setup problems eat office hours early in the term. Some habits that help:

Ask for the exact command, the full error text and the operating system. "It doesn't work" can't be fixed.
Check the basics first: which folder they are in, which Python or compiler is running, and whether the right environment is active.
Let them type, even when you're sharing a screen, so they can do it next time.
Keep a setup FAQ of common errors and fixes, post it before the first assignment, and add to it every time a fix works.
Have a fallback, like a lab machine or a cloud environment, so a broken laptop doesn't stop the assignment.
Suggest a standard environment to your instructor (a container or a cloud workspace). It removes most "works on my machine" problems.

Students missing basic tool skills can work through MIT's The Missing Semester of Your CS Education. VS Code has guides to remote development over SSH and Python environments.

How do I prepare for office hours without it eating my week?

Work the assignment yourself or skim the solution, and list the two or three spots where students will get stuck (setup steps and the first part of a project are common). Keep short notes on the questions you get. They make the next shift faster, and a summary is useful feedback for your instructor.

The same student keeps coming back and is still lost. When do I involve the instructor?

Early, and as information rather than giving up. Tell your instructor what you are seeing ("this student has come to every office hours for three weeks and is still stuck on the basics") so they can decide whether more is needed. You can also point the student to campus support such as the Learning Resource Center. Keep helping them within your usual time limit in the meantime.

Can I ask students to send their questions before office hours?

Yes, as an option. It helps you prepare and gives better answers. Do not make it a gate, though: a student who did not send anything ahead still gets help, because the students who most need it are often the least likely to write in first.

Fairness and boundaries

A student messages me directly, or knocks on my door, outside office hours.

Help on the clock and in shared places: office hours, section, the course forum. A student who can reach you privately has an advantage the others do not. The whole script: "Sorry, as a TA I can only help during office hours or on the forum."

Students email questions that are already answered on the course page.

Reply kindly with the link rather than the answer, so checking the course page becomes the habit. If the same question keeps coming, ask your instructor to post an announcement or pin it on the forum.

A few things make the redirect land well:

Thank them for asking first. A cold reply teaches students to stop asking people, and to ask an AI tool instead.
Link the exact spot and say how to find it: "It's under Modules, Week 6, Project 2." Next time they will know where to look.
Leave the door open: "If that page doesn't answer it, reply here or come to office hours."
Turn repeated questions into a pinned FAQ, and link to it. Some instructors also use a short syllabus quiz in week one.

Two replies you can adapt:

"Hi Sam, good question. The due date and late policy are on the Project 2 page (Canvas, Modules, Week 6, Project 2). That page is always current, so it's the quickest place to check. If something there is unclear, reply here or stop by Wednesday 2 to 3. ~ ___"
"Hi Priya, thanks for asking. A few people asked the same thing, so I added it to the FAQ pinned on Piazza: [link]. Check there first next time, and if it's not covered, ask away. ~ ___"

A student mentions an accommodation during office hours.

Accommodation letters go to your instructor, not to you. Your job is to carry out what the letter says and to ask your instructor when it is unclear. Never negotiate an accommodation with a student, never ask why they have one, and never apply a late penalty to someone with a pending request without checking first. Students can find information at Disability Services.

Should I ask the room before a quiz whether anyone has an accommodation?

Better not to ask in front of the class: it puts pressure on students to disclose something private. Get the list of arrangements that apply to your section from your instructor beforehand. If you want to say something to the room, keep it general: "If you have arrangements for this quiz, come and talk to me privately."

A friend (or someone I do not get along with) is in my course.

Tell your instructor and follow what they decide, for example someone else grading that student's work. Declaring it protects you as much as the student.

A student gets upset or cries in office hours.

It happens, and it is hard. Stay calm, give them a moment, and offer to step somewhere quieter if that helps. You are not their counselor, and you do not have to fix it. Point them to the Center for Counseling and Psychological Health or the Dean of Students Office, and let your instructor know there is a concern. If anyone is in immediate danger, call 911. Afterward, look after yourself: as Johanna said, this is real emotional labor.

A student asks whether they can use AI.

Answer from your course's AI policy in the syllabus, word for word if you can. If the policy does not cover their case, say you will check and ask your instructor.

I suspect the code in front of me was written by AI or copied.

Do not accuse anyone in office hours, and do not grade on a hunch: AI detection by feel is unreliable. Focus on what the student understands by asking them to explain their code. If you have a real concern, tell your instructor and follow the course's process.

Logistics

Where do I hold office hours, and how do I get a room?

See the CICS wiki page on TA office hours space (you may need to be on the campus network or VPN). Booking and access codes can take a week, so start early.