Asking a professor for materials before the course

Question

Next semester I will be at another university taking several subjects. I want to ask the professors there for the materials they use in class before my arrival, so that I can study them before the start of the course, or at least have a general idea of everything they are going to give.

Is it appropriate to ask them about their entire course's materials? Might it come across as pretentious or irritating? (Especially considering they don't know me or even have ever seen me at that university.)

Is there a concrete way to do it politely? Am I just exaggerating and there is nothing to fear? For example, I wonder what to do if they don't answer and whether it's appropriate to ask them again.

Answer 1

I would treat such a request as appropriate and might be able to send you or point you to some things. Others might not respond at all, so don't be disappointed.

Make your note short, less than a page, with a brief explanation, a request for anything available, and a thanks for any response.

A follow up could start to be irritating, and it might take a while to respond, depending on too many things to list here. So, be patient, at least.

And, this is a situation in which it might be deemed more appropriate not to share things, depending on the course and how it is to be managed. And, such things might not be available for distribution and might not even exist early on.

Answer 2

Before the semester, I would send you (1) the syllabus and (2) the name of the textbook. R1NaNo's answer prompted me to say that I've mostly taught major classes on the smaller side, so my answer is about those, not large lectures, and I agree you'd be more likely to get them in that context.

I would not send you my presentations, which it sounds like what you're asking for. Why?

1. They're not done (I'm early career, and your mileage may vary with other instructors).
2. I want the ability to modify them without confusing/upsetting you.
3. When I teach a course, the materials are designed to go together. My slides are not designed to be learned from without me talking and without asking questions, so that is not a product I necessarily want to "publish" or share.
4. They build on one another in an intentional way. If you're really excited about Unit 4, I don't necessarily want you skipping Units 1-3.

Furthermore, many professors do not supply their slide decks at all (for various reasons, including pedagogical ones that I'm not sure I disagree with). In short, I would find a request for all of my materials entitled and a little inappropriate.

Start with the syllabus - although if it's only a few days before the semester starts, I wouldn't bother.

Answer 3

Dear Prof. X,

[introduce yourself briefly.]

I was wondering if you had any materials related to the course (such as slides or notes) that you might be willing to share before the course starts. This would be very helpful to me in getting a head start, but of course I fully understand that you might not be able to share course materials in advance.

Thank you, IAG

I do not recommend asking for "their entire course materials", this indeed sounds a bit entitled to me.

Whether they "have seen you at that university", on the other hand, is most likely going to be entirely irrelevant to the professor, as is your concern about sounding "pretentious".

Answer 4

I think it's fair enough to ask.

Depending on which class, my response would vary.

General service class I have to teach every few semesters? Sure knock yourself out. I'll even given you the suggested reading and problem sets. It's a class of 400 and historically 250 show up at best anyway (ironically that's not far off from the typical pass rate).

Advanced or graduate class? The answer is no. The slides are subject to change up to 10 minutes before the class. Why? Because I am actively thinking about it, constantly updating it, and responding to prior performance on quizzes. What I can offer you is some suggested general reading.

Answer 5

Most colleges and universities in the US use Learning Management Systems (LMSes—these are systems like Moodle, Canvas, BlackBoard, etc.). When I teach a class, I upload any course materials intended for students to whatever LMS my institution uses. If your institution uses an LMS, I would suggest that your first stop should be there—log into the the LMS, and see if your instructor has posted anything.

After you have checked the LMS, then it is reasonable and appropriate to email the instructor if there is some material which you think might be missing. Send the email from an institutional email address—many universities and colleges have pretty aggressive spam filtering, and messages sent from outside of the institution might be "quarantined" or never delivered. Keep it short, don't make demands, leave out irrelevant details, and be specific:

Dr Henderson,

I am enrolled in [Course Number and Section]. I have checked the LMS and see that you have posted [a syllabus | notes | whatever] and that the text book for the class is [whatever]. Are there any other materials that I need or that you can provide to me before the semester starts, such as lecture slides or homework assignments?

Thanks much,
[Student Name]

Note that the response is very likely to be "It is all on the LMS" or "It will be on the LMS shortly". Note also that some instructors will be happy to share additional materials with you, and others will not. Some instructors have slide-decks or written notes that are prepped and ready to go long before the semester begins; while other instructors (like myself) tend to leave preparation until not long before the class actually meets, in order make changes in response to class performance and needs.

I would also be slow to follow up. The beginning of the semester is often a rough time—classes are being moved around and reassigned to different instructors in order to meet student demand, instructors are prepping for the first day of class and are very likely overwhelmed with requests from students, administrators, advisors, and other parties. My own institution has a policy of requiring that emails be answered within two business days, so following up on the third day is not unreasonable, but it is also worth it to give your instructors grace and understanding—they are probably almost as stressed out as you are right now.

Answer 6

The only potential faux pas here is acting entitled to the course materials in advance. The exact rules will vary from institution to institution but generally speaking you should expect to receive the course syllabus on the first day of class, the assignment details on the day they are assigned, and the course notes/slides (if offered at all) after the corresponding lecture.

Some professors may have materials on hand in advance and be happy to share them with you, so it doesn't hurt to ask politely. You should not expect such materials to be available for the same reason I do not expect students to turn in their homework weeks in advance.