Here’s how the 2005-2007 Cal Poly Catalog describes English 310: "Instruction and practice in forms of communication characteristic of business and industry."

And here’s what you can actually expect to learn in the class:

• a fairly thorough understanding of business formats (letters, memos, electronic media, and reports),
• a grounding in the rhetorical principles used for business correspondence (which, after graduation, will significantly reduce the time you’ll need to learn how to turn out effective written communication at work),
• a better understanding of how and why social dynamics shape politics in the workplace,
• a clearer idea of how work sites differ -- one from another -- and how you can select the work environment where you will likely be most happy and most productive,
• insight into why and how, at work, some college graduates advance far more quickly than others,
• a stronger arsenal of job search tools and strategies.

How much value the class has for you depends not just on the text, the instructor, and what happens in class, but also on the attitude you bring to class. Your attitude is yours to control; you own your attitude!

If you will buy, read, and use What Color is Your Parachute? you will gain more value from the class. Using Parachute means more work for you, but more value as well. L.R.B.Y.G.

Any time you’ve learned a lot from a class, you learned only because you came to class to learn. Your first task in this (or any) class must be to determine whether the class offers value for you -- material that would be worth your effort to learn. Begin assessing the value of English 310 on the first day of the quarter.

It's remarkable to observe how students' attempts to evaluate the class can reflect directly on the final grades students receive at quarter's end. English 310 classes sometimes begin with most of the class asking questions the first day. Active class participation pays dividends. When the entire class gets involved right away, most students earn an A or B after 10 weeks of work. In those quarters when few students raise questions during the first week, end-of-quarter grades tend to average no higher than C. Odd… Bottom line? Assess what the class offers you and dedicate yourself to learning. Unless you come to class prepared to learn something, your chances for learning anything are nil.

Jim Howland, 2008