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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]This might seem like a dumb question, but when should a student go to office hours vs. going to the tutoring center? Do you wish students went for tutoring before they come to office hours? Or do you prefer assessing where they’re at and then recommending tutoring where necessary?

Before reading these posts I might have discouraged going to office hours for help, but now I’m not so sure. [/quote]

At my university there is a limited list of classes that are supported by drop-in peer tutoring. These are the very large intro level classes like intro physics, biochemistry, orgo, etc. I think the younger students feel more comfortable asking for help from experienced undergrads than from graduate students or faculty, because they can ask "dumb questions" without feeling self-conscious. Also, it's been quite a while since I had to learn the intro material, so I don't always know how to advise them HOW to study. Their peers might be better at that. [b]But if they have conceptual questions[/b], I am happy to clarify in office hours. [/quote]

Yes, this is an important distinction to note.  If your large intro class has study sections/review sessions/peer tutoring that is where you go for the first line of support on the day to day work/quiz/test/project support.  Every student should use this liberally--it's one of your best resources even if you think you understand well enough.  Going will solidify your knowledge or make you realize that you don't now what you thought. Tutor quality may occasionally vary though so if something seems wrong or confusing, ask a different tutor or go to the office hours with your question.

But going to office hours with a bigger conceptual question, for instance about an idea that cuts across multiple tests or at least multiple sections on one test or dominates a project--can generate a great discussion and sometimes meaningfully further your understanding.  It's best not to come in with a broad  "What is x concept?" as in the time frame as a professor I can't really give you a much better answer than the textbook or a quick internet search. It's better to come in with "I've been wrestling with trying to understand x concept and these are my thoughts and questions."   Then I am much more likely to be able to use my expertise to 'diagnose' your understanding-- I often can see a pattern of both good insights and misconceptions built into students' current thinking and I can help them disentangle these.  This helps them understand the content and me know and understand them more as a student.  Many of my students have had "aha!" moments in these conversations that shifted their understanding in important ways. 
I also enjoy these conversations and they indicate to me that a student is engaging in mastering ideas rather than just trying to perform well on tests (not to mention that mastering ideas is what will help them perform well on tests more than anything else).

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