NEWS

On Wednesday, January 22, 2014, students from APU's First-Year Student Workshop II classes gathered for a final presentation session. The workshop instructors, APU Vice President Imamura Masaharu and Professor Joe Hicks, the Director of the Educational Development and Learning Support Center Director, were on hand to provide feedback.

First-Year Student Workshop is a mandatory subject for all freshmen. Workshop I aims to provide students with the basic study skills they need to succeed at university, such as literature survey techniques, research methods and essay writing skills, while Workshop II is designed to promote intercultural understanding between domestic and international students by making use of APU's multicultural environment.

The main theme of Workshop II changes every year, and this year's theme was "Proposing Projects to Invigorate APU". With the support of Teaching Assistants (TAs), approximately 1,200 new students over two semesters planned and implemented a wide range of proposals, and seven student groups out 224 were chosen for their outstanding plans. During the final session, these seven groups gave bilingual presentations on their proposals, which included ways to improve manners in cafeteria lines and an event to express appreciation to the local bus companies upon which students depend.

The session ended with a closing statement by Vice President Imamura, who said, "With your proposals, you all tried to change something, and communicating the need to change to others is called leadership. By pooling your leadership in teams, you can exhibit considerable influence on others. When you promote change, it is important to adjust the things that don't work, but I believe you, as APU students, will become change agents when you enter the real world, and I think you will be able to put your experiences from this class to use in the future.”

AY2013 First-Year Student Workshop II Outstanding Presentations