Prepositional phrase - In a two-year course designed

[Sputnik]

In a two-year course designed for undergraduate students , the professor

Just wanted to clarify a small thing...
When we start a sentence with a prepositional phrase - like the one above....

What does it mean logically and when do we prefer using such construction

Could you please explain...

Thanks

[RonPurewal]

What does it mean logically and when do we prefer using such construction

i'm not sure what you mean by 'what does it mean logically'.
i'll take a shot at it: the prepositional phrase means, logically, whatever it would mean in any other context. in other words, being placed at the beginning of a sentence doesn't confer any special meaning on prepositional phrases.

generally, this construction is preferred if the prepositional phrase applies to the entire action in the clause that follows.