Interview Articles about Undergraduate Seminar Courses
Vol. 2-1

INTERVIEW WITH

PROFESSOR LEE Geunhee
A Closer Look at Seminar Classes:
An in-depth conversation with Professor LEE

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 onseminars introduce two professors at APU (one APS professor andone 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 andcountry.

I am Professor LEE Geunhee, pronounced “iikuni.” I tell my students that I am from a great
country called South Korea. (“ii kuni” means“good country” in Japanese.)

2. What are your hobbies?

I like reading books, watching movies, andcollecting
collectibles
suchastoys.

3. What research themes does yourseminar cover?

My seminar class focuses on a modern-day
approach to consumer behavior which combines(1) Co-creation: how consumers share their ideas
with good/service providers to help them create
more value for customers and their organizations.

(2) Viral marketing: consumers develop opinions
that they share through reviews online after

consumption of some good or service, involving
interaction with other consumers online andhelping the service-providing company to improveits customer experience

4. How long have you been teaching yourseminar?

I have been teaching at APU for ten years and I
have been conducting research seminar classes
for nine and a half years.

its traditional concepts with the following two
concepts:

II. How students enter theseminar and the benefits
they receive
1.
Whataresomecommonmisconceptions about seminars?

I think that students come under the general
impression that seminar classes are only for those
who are interested in writing a research thesis.
However, in my seminar, I focus on the conceptsof co-creation and viral marketing and utilize myindustrial network to come up withorganization-related projects. For example, I am
currently in a partnership with Sanwa Shurui, thealcoholic beverage manufacturer, and the projects
we carry out in my seminar are focused on
developing marketing solutions for them.
Therefore, taking a seminar is a great way toexperience focused content and practicallearning, rather than merely a path to writing athesis. I understand that other professors whoteach seminar classes implement a similar
approach to teaching and developing classcontent as they would in their other classes.

2. What is the one thing students should
prepare for their interview with a seminar
professor?

I recommend that prospective seminar students
consult with my current seminar students who canbetter explain how they view the seminar, how
they manage the workload, and their personal
experience

A company visit group photo of Professor LEE’s students
featuring some of the staff.

I also hold in high regard students that reach out
to me for one-on-one consultation sessions
before applying. I go to great lengths to explain
activities and highlight the past industrial output of
our seminar such as the projects we have worked
on with Sanwa Shurui. Since there is a two-way
communication process, the student should also
explain why they are interested in my seminar andbe able to demonstrate knowledge about its
activities. Such actions will set them apart fromother potential students.

3. What is the difference between a thirdand fourth-year seminar? At the end ofeach year, what do you expect thestudent to have accomplished?

Third- and fourth-year students work separately.
When teaching third-year students, I focus on thebasics of viral marketing and co-creation byhaving collaborations with outside companies.

Fourth-year students, then, mainly spend their

4. In one-word answers, what are thethree benefits of taking a seminar?
1. Expertise – Students can gain field expertise in

specific topics related to marketing and consumer
behavior through my seminar.
2. Network – Over the years I have created aSeminar session including guests from one of the companies
the students work alongside.

database of previous seminar students thatdetails the companies they work for, their specificfield of work, and their contact details. This
database helps my current students to connect

time writing a quality research article.
Fourth-year seminar students also receive theprivilege of participating in the selection processof new third-year seminar students by joining theinterview panel. Based on the interviewees’responses, they observe and recommend
students that can merge into the team chemistry.
As the success of our seminar projects depends
on teamwork, placing those directly involved in
teamwork at the center of the recruitment process
helps reduce potential team conflicts.

III. Seminar Content
1. How is the seminar workload?

The workload is quite demanding and the style of
my class is also unique. My students work on
various marketing projects and give “progressreports.” For example, this semester our focus ison viral marketing, and the current project is titled“increased awareness of APU using YouTube.”
The challenge of this project and other past
projects is that I will not provide any additional
information or data to help the students complete
it. My role is limited to developing the project

theme, grading the rubric, and providing
feedback. Students must challenge themselves toapply their knowledge of marketing. Weekly classpresentations are followed by interactive feedback

sessions where I ask questions based on thepresentation and then provide recommendations.
I also encourage peer-to-peer feedback during
these sessions. This approach molds the desire tothink critically and individually for situations they
will be confronted with when they start working.

2. What has been one of the mostimpressive research topics from yourseminar students?

with their seniors and receive advice on resume
creation, industry-related interview etiquette, job

hunting, and before and during the job search
process.
3. Father (Mentorship) – In some ways, I perform afather-like role to both domestic and international
students who are living away from home as I
provide them with mentorship, emotional support,and academic and career advice.

which drew interest from the survey they
distributed, and as a solution, they installed red
and yellow tape to guide the queue at the waiting
areas. Over two months and using video
recordings, the students observed changes in thequeueing and boarding patterns. The results of
their findings were shared in a short movie via
Facebook to teach APU students the importanceof orderly queuing. This topic was impressive as it
led to the official development of bus waiting
areas and queueing lines, demonstrating thepower of viral marketing.

3. What is the prerequisite knowledge toattend your seminar?

Students that join my seminar class do not needto have any prerequisite knowledge. All new
concepts will be taught during the course.
However, I seek students that are motivated tolearn, improve themselves, and interact withothers. One way a student can demonstrate thismotivation is by showing a clear understanding ofwhat our seminar focuses on during the interview
stage. This gives me the impression that thestudent researched the seminar and connected its
content to their research interests.

One of the most impressive outcomes was asolution to: Find a problem that we have at APU

and solve it using the power of viral marketing. Tenyears ago, the bus waiting system at APU wasunclear and the boarding process was chaotic
during busy hours. This issue occurred acrossmultiple bus stops in Beppu city. Images ofstudents pushing, and shoving gave locals a bad
impression of APU. My seminar students wereinterested in solving these bus queuing issues

Professor LEE’s seminar students follow a corporate presentation

IV. Teaching methods
1. Is your seminar conducted in thein-person, online, or hybrid format? Whyis it conducted this way?

My seminar is currently being conducted in thehybrid format in case there are some students
who are unable to join the class in person due tomany reasons including the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, almost everyone joins the class inperson, because they understand the joy of directcommunication. While I appreciate the safety andconvenience that comes with online learning, I still
prefer in-person teaching as I can get to know mystudents better through the extensive
conversations that we can hold outside of class. I
can also bond with my students, observe, andassimilate into the team chemistry of my seminarclass better in person.

Professor LEE’s seminar students carry out a company site visit

2. How do you help students to decide on
a research topic?
To help students match my output expectations, I
hold "progress check" consultations with themonce every two weeks. During these sessions, I
request that my students provide me with updates
on their research and I provide them withfeedback.

3. How do you design the seminar
curriculum?
I studied for my master's degree at a Japanese
university with a seminar system, so I use both myindependent knowledge and expertise plus theobservations I made during my master's seminardays to develop my seminar curriculum.
Some of the products that Professor LEE’s seminar students
get to work with

V. Future direction and advice

VI. Conclusion

1. What specific topics do you intend toinvestigate more in your future research?

What is your advice for students whointend to take your seminar class in thefuture?

Currently, I am interested in researching how
companies can effectively use social media
networks to market their products and services. I
discovered that most companies these days arepracticing social media marketing but not all ofthem have been effective. I want to investigate
why a company’s social media marketing iseffective or not and provide practical implications.
Similarly, I hope to see my seminar students
observe current social marketing trends anddeploy their knowledge of viral marketing,co-creation, and consumer behavior to close thegaps and problems that companies currently face.

2. Do you require students to write athesis if they join your seminar class?

Authoring a research paper or thesis is not arequirement for my seminar students. Uponcompleting the seminar, I hope that my students
have developed new knowledge and expertisethat they can share with other students and apply
to their own future careers.

I encourage all students to join my seminar if theywant to develop expert knowledge in viralmarketing and co-creation, concepts which areboth applicable at the corporate level and inbuilding a digital brand. If students are interested
in learning about content creation on YouTube,
Facebook, and other social media platforms, myseminar will be useful. Our projects with Sanwa
Shurui involve a back-and-forth process in which
students pitch marketing ideas and then receive
feedback to tailor these solutions to meet thecompany’s needs. This kind of interaction helps
students put the viral marketing and co-creation
concepts they learned into practice by responding
to industrial needs. Moreover, joining my seminaris an opportunity to receive academic mentorshipand build a network of friends, both current andformer APU students, that can provide help
throughout life at APU and during the transition
into the global job market.

A group photo of Professor LEE’s seminar students

AUTHOR’S IMPRESSION
Professor LEE Geunhee takes a solutions-based approach to his seminar. This approach isdemonstrated right from his first seminar project of helping APU develop a bus queuingsystem utilizing viral marketing and co-creation techniques. I also observed that Professor
LEE Geunhee utilizes his industrial network to help develop seminar projects to seek
answers to industrial problems. His projects involving viral marketing and co-creation toaddress brand-related problems that the Sanwa Shurui company faces are challenging butoffer students a unique opportunity to apply the skills they gained in the seminar and relatedclasses. I believe that students who join Professor Lee’s seminar will ultimately develop
in-depth skills to use viral marketing and co-creation as tools to solve individual andcorporate marketing problems in a new and transformative way.

INTERVIEWER and AUTHOR
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.

INTERVIEWER
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 express
themselves and reach their full potential.

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.