The Mandatory Student-Instructor Interview The interview discussed takes place in the office of the chemistry instructor. This consultation should be a rigidly timed period in which the instructor's undiuided attention is devoted t o a single student for a previously stated and commonly understood purpose. The interview should stress the unique problems, needs, desires or complaints of the student. The interviewer is most often the classroom instructor, hut in large classes may be the recitation or laboratory instructor. The time of the interview may be as short as five minutes or as long as an hour. The exact time of the interview is not as important as the focal point of the interview, which is the student, not the instructor, These interviews are not intended t o be or to substitute for friendly "hull sessions". A five-minute interview of this type could be more productive than an hour's exposition of the professor's views-more productive, that is, for the student who has pressing motivational, academic, or personal problems. The mandatory interviews should threaten grade lowering if the student fails to show and is on a grade borderline a t the end of the course. It is exceedingly helpful to have from the student some form of preliminary written communication which has allowed his or her thoughts to he expressed clearly on the subject of the interview. The interview initially focuses specifically on this communication. Five types of interviews are described: (1)The Intake Interuiew, based upon a background survey provided by the student, allows the instructor to discuss with the students their background in chemistry, intended major and career goals, acquaints the student with the instructor's office location, overcomes the usual activation energy barrier ta communication on a personal basis with the instruetor, alerts the instructor to "problem" students, and allows early remedial action. This inteniew is best held during the first week of classes The minimum time for this interview is ten minutes. Notes taken during this i n t e ~ e w may be used in subsequent interviews. (2) The Poor Grade Interuiew demonstrates early concern to the student over his or her poor showing, usually a D or F grade on a n examination. A special effort should be made to find out if there are problemsother than the usual ones of poor background, lackof quantitative skills,ete. (3) The Grode Degradation Interuiew results when there is a relatively sudden or steady degradation of test grades culminating in a strong written invitation t o visit the instructor'soffice when theinevitableDorFisfinallyreached. Frequently thestudenthas apersonal or family mals or academic maior. Remedial measures orohlem or a motivational orohlem associated with indecision about career " arp initiated hcfore the pmhlem leads t o fxlure in the coursr. ( 1 , The N q m t t r Fvedhork Inrrn,clr,, bowl "pun a mid. %emesterstudent course rvaluation. 1s mandatory only for those who have nrgntrw critic~amaand who r h w i c to idrntdy themselves so that a rational discussion of the course may take place. Often the interview revealsastudent problem rather than a fault of the course. ( 5 ) The Term Paper or SpecialProjeet Interuiew follows a series of written communications between student and instructor over an extended period of time during the planning stages of the projectlpaper (e.g., chwsing a topic, compiling a preliminary bibliography, outlining the paperlproject, etc.). At any stage the instructor may call for or lack of . perspective a personal conference with the student for a variety of reasons,ez.. . - . confusion regarding the assignment . or motivation. The interview oromam .. described above is time-consumine. Justification for this additional out-of-class time investment comesfrum i h resultsd ~ suchaprngr~m.Such inler~irwsareoneofthe reryfrw w a p in w h ~ r h t o w o c n m athe incr~nsing depersonali7nti,mufrd11ratit,n,t~pcr1ally in largerrlasies.'l'hr emphari. in these inttrvieus NWI ttw qunlity ot timespent rnther than quantity. lnstructurs vnlw very highly their right to teach unique r
