Vol. 1

Seung Ho YOUN, Associate Professor

Q. So far, what steps have yousleepy. In addition, each semester wetaken to improve the quality ofcorrect the size of the text on slides, theyour classes?

speed of the class, ambiguity of

A. The improvements that I haveassignments, and parts in which students

implemented are based on the “classhave "sleepy" and "bored" expressions

evaluation” and “class response” received

which are easy to see in face-to-facefrom the students.

classes. Regarding course assignments, aUntil 2017 I was teaching students onesyllabus explaining the contents andway, but in recent years, I have been using

assignments in detail is presented in theJapanese vellum paper or white boards andfirst class, separate from the syllabus

actively incorporating group work into thedescribed before Course Registration.

courses, and these methods have improved

With that in mind, students can decide

the classes as students tend to get lesswhether to take the course or not, and they

are much less likely to ask questions lateris also motivating for me to support myon about the course.

students' studies and see their feedback.

Introduction to Tourism and Hospitality, Resort Management, Hospitality Management

Summary of Tips:① Do not do the same class more than once always strive to keep on improving!

② Determine the level of the class with“knowledge” multiplied by “interest” of the students.

③ The keywords for group work are “relationship,”“independence,” and “competitiveness.”④ Use a lot of photos and images in the slides andminimize the use of characters and words.

Even within the same class, there is a big
difference in assignments and grades

Q. How do you conduct regulardepending on whether or not the student isgroup work?

motivated, so I always makeA. The keywords are "relationship,improvements while thinking about "howindependence, and competitiveness.”to create a situation in which students canFrom the second lecture to the end of the

motivate themselves." I also consider

course, students will be involved in thestudents as "customers of educationalsame group consistently, so theirservices" and consider "how to achieve

relationships with their peers will greatly

student satisfaction." It is very easy for aaffect their grades. By providing many

professor to speak in one way, but it

opportunities to make decisions andchoices, such as deciding the name of theThis year, we are conducting classes

the content is too difficult it makes

serves as an answer through group work,group, setting roles in areas which

online, but the content is largely

students feel anxious and burdened. An

the students' interest in tourism increases,

members can contribute to, and selecting

unchanged, and group work andimportant indicator of the level of theand this increase leads to an improvement

research areas on their own, the students’presentations are done using Zoom

student is not only "knowledge" but also

in motivation, inevitably producing a

relationships as well as their independence

functions.

"interest.” In order to encourage students

positive effect on the tasks and grades.

who are not very interested in the contents

Even if students lack knowledge initiallyis improved. By providing opportunities topresent before the class every time group

Q. How do you determine the levelof the class to actively participate, I

but are interested and motivated, they tend

activities are summarized, competitiveof classes?

incorporate quizzes which can be enjoyed

to follow even slightly difficult content, sospirits with other groups are also

A. I first raise the interest of the students

without requiring specialized knowledge

a good quality class can be developed.

developed.

and then I raise the class level.

such as "Do Japanese people prefer theSharing opinions within the group,

While there are various kinds of students,

window or aisle side when boarding an

Q: What do you do to motivate

working together, and competing with

if the content is too simple it makes them

airplane?" By creating and understanding

students other than quizzes?

other groups results in better group work.

think that the class is boring, and if thethe flow of analyzing the data which

A: The opportunity to present in front of

actual stakeholders.

slides should be visible to everyone andThe group that submitted an excellent

able to be seen from anywhere in the

final assignment has the opportunity toclassroom: the font size should be at least

present improvements and suggestions in

26pt, and usually written in 28pt so that it

front of the tourism industry working in

can be viewed by everyone even in a largethat field and receive feedback. This is alecture room. I also try to move slowly

valuable opportunity for students to learn

through the lecture while watching the

how their research and analysis can bereaction in the class so that students haveseen in the eyes of actual stakeholders.

enough time to take notes. In 95 minutes x
2 koma, I cover about 30 slides.

Q. How do you improve classes
specifically?

Lecture Design

A. The size of the text on presentation

Q: What do you try to do so thatstudents can listen to your lectures?

have to listen to the lecture firmly. By

assignments require a 3000-character

A: "Minimal characters and words on the

doing this group work often, students canreport and a 10-minute Powerpoint

slide" and " frequent group work.”

understand most of the lessons without

presentation. In some cases, I may also

Using slides which contain as few

losing information.

give in-class assignments for a plus, so it
is not a small amount. However, allcharacters and words as possible and use a
lot of photos and images makes it difficult

Q: What are your other reasons for

submissions I request of groups are afor students to review later on, so I think

actively incorporating groupsummary of what they have done in class,that students will acquire the habit ofwork?

applying and analyzing what they havelistening to the professor's explanation

A: They will surely acquire even a little

done for their selected area. Therefore,

firmly during class. In addition, byknowledge.

these are not tasks which take much time if

conducting group work to practice theAs a professor you can teach a lot ofstudents listen carefully to the class, and I

lecture content, I think that students willcontent in one lecture, but the students

think students usually enjoy thesenaturally acquire the attitude that theytend to forget most of the content after

assignments as they can go to theirclass. In that regard, I may not teach a lotof content, but I am conscious of having
them learn through group work andpractice so that they can firmly grasp
analysis methods and ways of thinking anddo not forget afterwards.

Q: What is the basic amount of
assignments you give to students?
A: Two individual tasks and two group
tasks.
Individual assignments require two reports(Results from the Class Evaulation Survey)of 1000-1500 characters, while group

I always make
improvements while
thinking about "how tocreate a situationin which students canmotivate themselves."selected areas for research.

Interviewer Impressions

so students who have difficulty with group

情に棹させば流される。智に働けば角が立つ。どこへ越しても住みにくいと悟った時、

work can receive a fair score as well.

詩が生れて、画が出来る。とかくに人の世は住みにくい。意地を通せば窮屈だ。
This interview was my first interview experience, and I was nervous at first, but theとかくに人の世は住みにくい。
professor was friendly and I was able to communicate properly because of the

Q: What is your grade evaluation
method?

Q: Is there anything you ask yourenthusiasm and earnest attitude he had towards students and his classes, and the

A: Group assignments reflect thestudents to do in online classes?

evaluation of all class members・tension quickly eased. He also carefully considered the questions in the interview, and

A: I tell them to turn on their videos andIndividual assignments play a

exchange lots of opinions and questions

supplementary role.

with one another.

The evaluation of the group assignment

As I mentioned earlier, I would like tois based on the evaluation of all members

check the students' reactions to improve

totaled by the TA for the final presentation

the class, so I tell them I would be gratefuland the mutual evaluation by other group

if they could turn on the video if possible.

members. There are two individual tasks,

I would also like to have more opinions

I would also like to have more opinions

students. For me, the saddest thing isand consultations with them.

when: "I put out the problem firmly, butThe good thing about online classes is that

others have no response at all." I think that

it is easy for students to ask questions andit varies by professor, but I think that there

give opinions. In face-to-face classes, noare no teachers who find it troublesome toone stays behind after the class, but inreceive questions from students. Since

online classes more people remain online

before being a professor and student there

to ask questions. However, there are manyis a person to person relationship, I think ittimes when only the same students speak. Iwould be ideal if I could proceed with thethink it is an environment that is easier toclass while interacting with one another.

speak than face-to-face classes, so I would
like to hear the opinions of morepolitely answered them one by one.
I think that I was able to understand the contents of the interview more deeply
because I experience of taking Youn Sensei's class as a student. Even when there arebonus points, one person is often hesitant to say the answer, but in the Youn Sensei'sclass, because the basic unit is a group rather than an individual, I feel that I wasaware of being able to "participate in the class with my friends" and I was able toenjoy the class. It was very interesting to see an environment in which the students cankeep their motivation up.

What is [Q]?
At APU there are many professors who put together wonderful classes, and if
we could get to know how these classes are planned, it would contribute to
the improvement of other professors’ classes. For that purpose, we havebegun doing interviews in order to learn about class 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, andforming 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.

UALITYUESTION
UEUE