Chemistry prof educates Twitch viewers with office hours stream

A chemistry professor at the University of North Florida decided to hold his online office hours on Twitch, and the results were overwhelmingly positive. 

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Profesor Melko originally posted a clip of his stream to Reddit’s r/chemistry section, asking for feedback and showing what his students thought of his Twitch idea. 

In the video, one student praised the concept, because they were able to watch it wherever they were. Others said it was super helpful, and they liked having videos they could go back and watch at any point. 

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The big benefit is the stream and office hours help out anyone who works a lot.

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“That’s what kinda initially got me into this,” Melko said of his stream. “A lot of students, especially at my university, work or they’re taking like, four other science classes.” 

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He went on to say that any other variables, such as family commitments or parenting duties, could make students’ lives busy, so giving them the ability to watch on their phone or check out VODs gives flexibility to their schedule.

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This was echoed in Melko’s Twitch ‘about me’ section, which states: “I was having trouble getting students to come to my office hours in person, so I started streaming on Twitch as a way to offer some of my office hours in a more accessible (and perhaps less intimidating) format to my students.”

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The praise grew on Reddit, too, where one redditor commented, “This is great! As a student I was and am never able to attend office hours because of classes, work, or homework. Wish I had you as a professor, haha.” 

Melko, not wanting to leave a student hanging, replied back: “You are always welcome to drop by the stream and ask away!” 

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With so much variety on Twitch with Just Chatting, video games, esports, and even poker, a stream where a university professor teaches chemistry could be a welcome change of pace.  The professor even attended TwitchCon 2019, proving he’s serious about the streaming platform.

At the time of this posting, Melko has nearly 1,200 followers and, according to the third party site TwitchMetrics, is the 81st most watched English Science & Technology channel.