Portland State University
Independent Study at Portland State University: Spanning the Globe to Bring the Best of Portland to Your Personal Classroom
Available at www.istudy.pdx.edu/link
One's work may be finished some day, but one's education never.—Alexander Dumas (French author, 1802-1870)
As the world grows ever smaller—through a globalized economy and exponentially expanding technology—less traditional educational opportunities continue to increase and be embraced by educators and learners alike. Whether you live in Istanbul, Turkey, or Chicago, Illinois, the ability to be a global student has never been easier.
The Independent Study Program at Portland State University—located in the internationally recognized urban center of Portland, Oregon—has been increasing such opportunities for over 100 years. It is without question the region’s oldest and most recognized program offering distance learning for high school and college students alike. Students from around the Pacific Northwest—and the world—have been taking exceptional courses and earning their secondary and undergraduate degrees from Independent Study since 1907.
“At the Independent Study Program, we pride ourselves on serving students through convenient, efficient, flexible, self-paced, and instructor-guided courses,” says Alba Scholz, the program manager at Independent Study. “Students enjoy e-learning from the comfort of their home or office, avoid a campus commute and classroom time, start anytime from any zip code, take up to 12 months to complete a course, and always have their award-winning instructors available for timely feedback.”
Independent Study courses are offered at the high school and college levels, or both through the “dual-credit” option. High school subject matter courses span the academic curricula from mathematics, science, and the social sciences to English and business. College-level courses expand even further to include chemistry and nutrition, criminology and criminal justice, geology, history, psychology, sociology, and statistics.
While all Independent Study courses are taught as online or correspondence education, Independent Study instructors closely monitor student progress and remain highly engaged in the process. Winnie Miller is one such instructor. Ms. Miller has been working with the Independent Study program since 2006 and was recommended by the Oregon Department of Education Math specialist as one of Oregon's exemplary math instructors. She recently retired from a career as a high school math instructor and department chairperson in the Portland metropolitan area. She continues to act as a math consultant to local school districts. Ms. Miller received her BS and MS degrees in secondary education (mathematics) from Western Oregon University, and she has served on state and national math councils, advisory boards, and expert review panels. She was the State Math Problem Solving Assessment Scoring Director for two educational service districts in the Portland area and has also been given several state awards for excellence in math instruction.
At the college level, Dr. Ann Weikel is another example of the exceptional instructor pool from which students draw inspiration. Dr. Weikel has taught history courses for PSU Independent Study since 2000. As a Professor Emerita of history at Portland State University, she received her PhD from Yale University. Her field of research is sixteenth century England, but she has taught the English history survey, women's history, Irish history and western civilization. Dr. Weikel was also part of the inaugural group teaching Freshman Inquiry at Portland State University.
These are just two examples of the quality instructors included at Independent Study—and just a few details of the overall program. The tools and imagination of Portland State’s Independent Study program are available to independent learners from around the region, and the globe!
Educational partners include Portland State University itself, the School of Extended Studies at PSU, and the Cyber Oregon Online program, or “COOLSchool.”
All high school courses are fully accredited by the Northwest Association of Accredited Schools (NAAS), and all college courses are fully accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NCCU).
To learn more and review program offerings, visit www.istudy.pdx.edu/link or contact the Independent Study office at istudy@pdx.edu or call 1-800-547-8887 and ask for extension 5-4866.
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