Participating in the Intensive Education Program

During the fall semester of 2022, the School of Commerce conducted the Intensive Education Program, a concentrated learning initiative that effectively combines the “Case Method” (learning through discussion) and the “Field Method” (learning through experience).
Centered around the “Field Practice” course—where students create PR videos for local companies at their internship sites—the program also includes related courses such as “Theory and Practice of Communication” and “Advertising and Sales Promotion.” By taking these courses intensively over a short period, students are able to improve the overall quality of their final output.

Students from Team 5B (Mr. Ujiki, Ms. Fujino, Ms. Hanashima, Ms. Hirota, and Ms. Yonezawa), who interned at Arakawa Industry, a local metal processing company in Nisshin City, shared their impressions of the program.

How was your experience participating in the Intensive Education Program?

Ujiki:　At first, I was curious about what we would actually be doing. After the first class of the fall semester, I realized it was going to be a real challenge, especially since none of us had ever made a video before. Every day we struggled to figure out how to create an effective video that would truly convey our message to viewers. With advice and feedback from the instructors and guest experts, we managed to bring our ideas to life. It was difficult to balance incorporating the company’s feedback while also expressing what we wanted to communicate through the final video.

Hanashima:　Our initial concept was different from what the company had in mind, which made the process challenging. However, I think the discussions we had to reconcile our ideas with theirs provided an experience that can’t be learned from lectures alone.

How was the experience of creating something as a team?

Yonezawa:
I’m good at drawing, so I was in charge of the storyboards. It was great that each of us could make the most of our individual strengths as part of the team.

Hirota:
There were times when I might have given up if I had been working alone. It was really helpful to have discussions and mutual support within the team as we moved forward.

Fujino:
I was responsible for filming and editing the video. While I’ve done group work in other classes, this was the first time I worked with the same team for an entire term (from mid-September to late October). It was a lot of fun. Since I had no prior experience with filming or editing, and we had to get creative with interviews and other parts of the process, I felt this was something I couldn’t have done alone.

How do you plan to apply this experience in the future?

Ujiki: Arakawa Industry, where we did our internship, welcomed us warmly in a very family-like atmosphere. It was a valuable experience to hear passionate messages directly from the company president. As we move into our third year and gain more opportunities to participate in various internships, I want to make use of what I learned through this experience.