Alright,
I've had one political science class, and we went over the syllabus and discussed an assignment that is due October 6th. At that time, the prof didn't have TA's yet, and tutorals don't start until the 29th.

I have no idea what is really expected on this assignment. I don't know whether we're going to discuss it in class again, or whether on the 6th we're just going to hand it in.

I've already done the assignment to what I THINK is supposed to be done. Would it be too keen, or annoying, of me to go visit him in his office hours tonight and see what is supposed to be done? Would he be likely to say 'We're discussing this in class today' or 'This is what should be discussed with your TA's!' or something? Should I wait at least until after class today, or wait for tutorials and discuss it with the TA's? Email him?

This is probably a really dumb question, but I'd hate to start the year by annoying the prof!

I would probably send him an e-mail instead of visiting during his office hours. Unless he specifically says that he hates e-mails (some profs do).

Professors generally enjoy talking to students, and I suspect that your professor will be impressed with your apparent interest in learning the material.

I forsee no problem with going to your professor... I always recommend that students talk to their profs and get to know them.

Originally Posted by Taunton

Professors generally enjoy talking to students, and I suspect that your professor will be impressed with your apparent interest in learning the material.

I forsee no problem with going to your professor... I always recommend that students talk to their profs and get to know them.

It depends on the prof. Some are incredibly busy with their research and don't like to be bothered with in person with questions that can be answered through e-mail. Professor Quinn was like that. He hated administrative questions, but enjoyed talking about his own research.

Regardless of whether they hate it or not, it's the professor's job to teach you and deal with such issues.

If you want to be safe just go in to the office hours, and there's no need to feel aprehensive about being a good student.

maybe email your prof and explain the situation a little then ask if there's a time when you can meet with him and talk about it or if it is going to be discussed in class.

Originally Posted by Flag

Alright,
I've had one political science class, and we went over the syllabus and discussed an assignment that is due October 6th. At that time, the prof didn't have TA's yet, and tutorals don't start until the 29th.

I have no idea what is really expected on this assignment. I don't know whether we're going to discuss it in class again, or whether on the 6th we're just going to hand it in.

I've already done the assignment to what I THINK is supposed to be done. Would it be too keen, or annoying, of me to go visit him in his office hours tonight and see what is supposed to be done? Would he be likely to say 'We're discussing this in class today' or 'This is what should be discussed with your TA's!' or something? Should I wait at least until after class today, or wait for tutorials and discuss it with the TA's? Email him?

This is probably a really dumb question, but I'd hate to start the year by annoying the prof!

Profs and/or TAs do not need to give you explanation for an assignments until about two weeks before the deadline (sometimes more, sometimes less depending on the nature of the assignment). That being said however you can email your prof or your TA for clarification.

all of my profs seem to encourage/urge students to visit during office hours.. but they are science so maybe the other profs dont like it so much?

Originally Posted by giftedchick

all of my profs seem to encourage/urge students to visit during office hours.. but they are science so maybe the other profs dont like it so much?

I've never heard of a professor who doesn't like students coming out to office hours, especially professors who teach first-year classes. Those professors tend to be more teaching-oriented anyways.

Being a keener is never a bad thing. All my profs uptill now love keeners !

So just be urself and prof love it when students take interest in their course. =)

It really depends on what you're asking them for.

The "polite" thing to do, if you want to talk to you prof is e-mail them and see if they're available during their office hour. Even professors like Dr. Ullal, who loves talking to his students, asks that students e-mail him to remind him that they will be coming at X time so that he will be in in his office.

DEFINITELY talk to your prof and if he's annoyed, who cares? you need to know how to do your assignment...and good thing you got your assignment done and out of the way. in university, its never too early to finish an assignment, only too late.

My profs and TAs usually encourage us to come visit them in their office hours b/c they're bored and just end up sitting around b/c no one ever comes.

Most profs would probably like students who did this unless they're a big ego maniac who as mentioned previously only cares about their own research and not students.

Thank you, you've all been very helpful I didn't know about office hours etiquitte.

Turns out it wasn't just me- he forgot to post the rubric online, and everyone was confused.