Transition with Purpose: Pathways from English Language to Academic Study

124 ACTIVITY 12: GETTING INVOLVED IN PSU: OBSERVE A CLASS IN UNIVERSITY STUDIES OBJECTIVES: RAISE AWARENESS OF DIFFERENT THEMES AND STRUCTURES IN UNIVERSITY STUDIES (UNST). PRACTICE MULTI-STEP ASSIGNMENT AND TIME- MANAGEMENT. TASK: OBSERVE A UNST CLASS. The general education department at Portland State University practices an interdisciplinary approach to general education. The courses offered through UNST were created to be reading and writing intensive to prepare students not only for classes in their major, but also for degree requirements outside of their major. The following activity is based upon the class observation assignment used in LING 147: Understanding Academic Lectures. INSTRUCTIONS: Each of the following steps requires you to communicate in a formal and professional manner. 1. Select a UNST class that you would like to observe. The class you choose should be based on your admission category, i.e., freshman, sophomore, junior or senior. 2. Write a formal email to a professor and request to observe a UNST class. Include your name, the title, course number, and day/time of the class you’d like to observe. 3. Include your Pathways instructor as a CC on the request email. 4. After receiving permission from the course instructor, attend the class. 5. While observing the class, take notes on the information you will include in your presentation 6. After observing the class, write a formal thank you email to the professor. Remember to thank the professor for letting you observe the class, and write one detail that you learned in the class. You must CC your thank you email to your Pathways instructor. 7. Create a PowerPoint based on your observation. 8. Present your PowerPoint in class. Part 1: OBSERVATION PREPARATION. Decide which class you would like to observe. Use one of the following methods: 1. Accompany a friend or classmate who is currently enrolled in a UNST class. In this case, you must still email the professor to ask if you can observe the class. 2. Look at the online Class Schedule in Banweb to decide which classes would fit your schedule. Time management is very important in completing this task. You can prioritize first by theme and then by time. You can also consult th e UNST website for additional information about themes and classes.