Interview Articles about Undergraduate Seminar Courses
Vol. 2-2

INTERVIEW WITH
PROFESSOR LEE’ S STUDENTARJUN SHARMAHow Professor Lee's class has supported my learning.

We Q Team members have observed that after the shift fromin-person to online classes during the COVID-19 pandemic, it has
been very difficult for 2nd-year and 3rd-year students who areplanning to take seminars to choose their seminar professor and for
professors to connect with their students. This project focuses onboth the seminar professor and student point of view to relay theelements and dynamics of seminars. Our interview articles on
seminars introduce two professors at APU (one APS professor and
one APM professor) and their seminars, alongside a spotlight on oneof their seminar students. Through the student point-of-view focus,
we hope that in addition to conveying successful seminar methods
to other APU professors that they can incorporate into their own
seminars, we can have them discover successful teaching methods
through the student perspective as well.

I. GENERAL INFORMATION
1. Please introduce your name, country,
college, and major.

My name is Arjun Sharma. I was born in India andraised in Japan. I am majoring in Marketing in theCollege of International Management (APM).

2. How long have you been takingseminars?
I have been taking Professor Lee’s seminars forthree semesters now.

II. BEFORE ENTERING THE
SEMINAR
3. How did you choose Professor Lee as
your seminar professor?
During the covid pandemic, I took a bunch ofProfessor Lee’s classes and his energy always got

to me and made my day a little better, so it wasalmost a “no-brainer” for me to take his seminar.
Plus, the fact that my interest always lied inmarketing made it an easy decision for me.

4. What is one thing students should
prepare for their interview with a seminar
professor?
As Professor Lee allows his senior seminar
students to be actively involved in the selection
process of third year students, I noticed throughmy experience that he prioritizes motivation firstand foremost. Students do not need to be“smart,” but willing to work hard.
When helping Professor Lee to conduct interviews
and select new seminar students, I look for thestudent’s energy to take initiative and their ability

to organize, focus, and take part in teamwork,including their communication and informationdelivery skills.

5. What are the sources you usually use tofind recommendations about seminars?

I consulted my senpais about which seminar I
should join and they gave me a pretty good idea
about the seminar landscape of APU. Other thanthat, I also looked at the syllabus posted online forthe seminar.

Professor Lee and his seminar students in SP2022

III. SEMINAR CONTENT

which involves launching a social media channel

6. What has been the most interesting
aspect of Professor Lee’s seminar so far?

I would have to say that the most interesting
aspect was the company collaboration. In ourcase, we work with the beverage company Sanwa
Shurui. They asked us how we think they shouldmarket their products. We then created marketingthrough YouTube, Facebook, or TikTok to promote
something, recommending marketing strategies
to an actual company we are collaborating with,and finally, the thesis for those who are writingone.

8. How do you decide on a research
topic?

strategies and gave presentations as a group tothe company every two weeks. That experience ofactually working with a company was something I

I always kind of knew what I wanted to write

the experience went beyond the classroom andtaught me what kinds of problems company
workers actually struggle with.

encourages us to go with our preferences. This
style is also something I really respect about our

7. What do you think about the seminarworkload?

9. What are the three benefits of taking aseminar class in single-word answers?

had not done before and I was able to see what it
looked like inside a real company. In other words,

The workload is okay: a lot of it is group work, butrather than being intimidating, it is engaging andenjoyable as the seminar’s content allows us touse our marketing knowledge in a practicalcontext. To break it down, the three main
assignments in this seminar are the mini-project

about, so it was not really a tough choice for me.
In our seminar, everyone generally has a topic ofinterest and knows what they want to do.
Professor Lee is always available for help, but heprofessor.

The benefits of my seminar are: (1) the hands-onexperience working with an actual company, (2)the engaging environment as Professor Lee

always encourages us to participate in thediscussions, and (3) the sense of independence I
can develop through the work.

10. Complete this sentence: I choose myseminar because …
Ilove

Professor

Lee’steachingstyleofapproachability, active learning assignments, andenergy.

11. What do you do in your daily life that
relates to your seminar research?
As my thesis topic is about cryptocurrency, which
is a new and quite niche topic, I started to listen topodcasts about cryptocurrency every morning.
I also run a small company in Oita which involves

Professor Lee’ s seminar students on a field trip toobserve the product manufacturing process.

a lot of advertising work. Studying in Professor
Lee’s seminar really helped me in terms of working
and communicating with people, as well asbuilding the basic foundation for professional
work, especially in Marketing.

12. What is one method you use to expand
your major knowledge?

One method I use to expand my knowledge isreading thesis papers. I’m still in the learning
process, so it took me a while to understand thestructure of a thesis paper and the way the author
tries to convince their audience. I tend to use
Google Scholar a lot and the books in the APU
Library as well.

13. What is the most memorable
experience that you have gained fromstudying in seminars?

The most memorable experience that I havegained from this seminar was when we worked
with Sanwa Shuri. We created marketing strategies
for them by listening to their problems, went totheir factories to better understand the company,and drank their alcohol. It was fun, and it helped us
understand what we were working with. Throughthis experience, I was able to learn how toeffectively communicate and how to understandproblems which cannot be found on a service
level.

Professor Lee’ s seminar students on a company
conference.

IV. INTERACTION IN THE
SMINAR
14. During your seminar, do you work
individually or as a group?
In the third-year seminar we worked as a group,

had discussions, and had the final decisions
summarized by a leader, while in the fourth-year
seminar, students started working on their thesis
papers individually.

15. How would you describe theatmosphere of your seminar in one
sentence?

The atmosphere of the seminar feels structured interms of work and the seminar is a psychologicallysafe space where people can share their opinions

Professor Lee and seminar students having dinner outsideclass hours.

and ideas.

V. ADVICE TO PROSPECTSTUDENTS
16. What is your advice for students who
intend to take a seminar class thissemester?
I recommend taking Professor Lee’s classbeforehand based on all the reasons I provided
above - you will not regret making this decision!

17. Do you recommend joining a seminarin third or fourth year?

I recommend joining in third year. The earlier
students start a seminar, the better the experience
will be. In the third year there is more time to enjoy
the seminar content such as studying viralmarketing.

18.
What
are
some
commonmisconceptions about seminars?

The most common misconception that students
usually have is that in seminar classes they will be
expected to do a lot of work given by theProfessor. In fact, students are encouraged tochoose the work that we want to do, such as ourmini-project in third year or our thesis topic. InProfessor Lee’s class, students are always
encouraged to raise their voice, involve
themselves in the discussions, and figure out what
they want to study, so students themselves play amajor role in designing their seminar experience.

19. Using some keywords, how would you
describeyouroverallseminarexperience?

The keywords that describe my experience are:Environment (engaging and interactive), Freedomand Individuality (we are always encouraged toput ourselves in our work), Energy (throughProfessorLee),
Personal
Growth,andManagement (learning to be organized).

AUTHOR’S IMPRESSION
Through the interview with Arjun, I became impressed by Professor's Lee support toward hisseminar students. Not only does he create an active learning environment for students tostrive in, but he also gives students a great network and resources for them to develop to
their fullest. I also like his teaching style in which he allows students the flexibility to choose
what they want to learn and shows his utmost support for the students' decisions. There is
no doubt that his seminar should be highly recommended to any Marketing student.

INTERVIEWER and AUTHOR
Name: NGUYEN Kieu Chi
College: APM, Accounting & FinanceCountry: Vietnam
Message: Greetings! I'm Chi, an APM second-year
student majoring in Accounting and Finance. I'm
thrilled to have fruitful discussions with Professors
and like-minded peers at APU. I hope someone
somewhere can get inspired by my writing andmake a positive change in their life. Through Project
Q, I'm eager to make APU a better academic
environment where students are free to expressthemselves and reach their full potential.

INTERVIEWER
Name: MUROMBA Pascal SimbarasheCollege: APM (International Management)
Country: Zimbabwe
Message: I love reading books. Two of my favorite
books are Educated by Tara Westover and The Endof History and the Last Man by Francis Fukuyama.
Politics and sustainability are some of my favorite
topics. I am currently learning martial arts and I findit very interesting.

What is [Q]?

At APU there are many professors who put together wonderful classes, and if we could get toknow how these classes are planned, it would contribute to the improvement of otherprofessors’ classes. For that purpose, we have begun doing interviews in order to learn aboutclass planning. These articles have been entitled [Q], comprising a variety of meanings such as:increasing the [Q]uality of classes, answering [Q]uestions to increase quality, and forming a[Q]ueue, or line, of class improvements. We would be very happy if these articles could
contribute to the [Q]uest of APU professors’ class quality improvement.