General Instructions:
Answer all questions, using the guidelines at
http://www.marthabianco.com/Courses/Cities/RAID.html.
Be prepared to be randomly selected to lead and/or actively
participate in discussion about any one of the questions during your
mentor session. If you are a leader, you will be graded on how
prepared you were to lead the discussion, how well you succinctly
presented your responses and arguments, how professionally you handled
the process of facilitating group discussion, and your overall response
to the question. If you are a participant, you will be graded on how
attentive and responsible you were during the leader's initial
presentation, how well (extent of preparedness, ability to respond,
etc.) you engaged in dialogue about the topic after the leader
finished, how professionally you participated in discussion (not taking
up too much time or interrupting), and your overall grasp of the
subject matter. Each student will also be graded on the written RAID
response: format, content, thoughtfulness, professionalism, etc.
Please
include each question (you can just copy and paste from here) or a
short (paraphrased) version. Your discussion points for each question
should not exceed half a page or so.
Special Information:
Because you are also working on a "practice RAID question" for your
second Short Write, I will not be giving you typical RAID questions
from the readings for this first discussion. Instead, this RAID
will focus on the University Studies program and goals. The
purpose of this exercise is to help all students understand the
University Studies model and approach and how this course fits in that
model.
I. Review the program overview at
http://www.pdx.edu/unst/overview.html and then look at the program map at
http://www.pdx.edu/unst/program_map.html.
If you have had (or are currently taking) a freshman inquiry or
transfer transition course, describe your understanding of the role of
that course. If you did not take any freshman inquiry or transfer
transition courses, describe the purpose you think they were meant to
serve.
II. Look up our sophomore inquiry at
http://www.pdx.edu/unst/sinq_communitystudies.html.
How do you interpret the description of our course, UNST 220?
When you look through the other courses that make up the
Community Studies cluster, do any of them interest you? If so,
which ones and why?
III. Read about the role of the mentor in sophomore inquiry courses at
http://www.pdx.edu/unst/sinq_mentors.html (for more information, also see
http://www.pdx.edu/unst/mentor_impact.html).
From what you have heard, experienced, or read, what are your
impressions of the mentor program? Do you think it is valuable, a
waste of time, better if optional, great as is, or what? Explain.
IV. Read through the brief summary statements of the four University Studies goals at
http://www.pdx.edu/unst/goals.html.
In addition, examine the specific rubrics for each (listed within
each box in bold, with a link to a Word and pdf version; the
Communication goal has two rubrics: one for writing and one for
quantitative literacy). Knowing that sophomore inquiry faculty
are expected to integrate these goals into the theme of their course --
that is, that the subject matter of the course (in our case,
understanding communities) provides a basic scaffolding for further
mastery of the four goals, what are some ways in which you foresee
those goals being addressed in this class (you may want to revisit the
syllabus to review the projects we will be doing)?