KDI School has long explored various forms of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) and project-based learning across courses, training programs, and field-based learning activities.  What makes the case led by Professor Liu Cheol particularly meaningful is its attempt to connect classroom learning with the local government of the city where KDI School is located.

In this sense, the collaboration between KDI School and the Sejong City Government represents an early but promising model of government-academia PBL. Students were not simply asked to discuss policy problems in theory. They were invited to engage with real policy challenges faced by Sejong City, analyze publicly available data, and propose practical solutions. While this may sound straightforward, in practice it is anything but simple. Yet meaningful educational innovation often begins with one successful example — precisely the kind demonstrated by Professor Liu and his students.

Professor Cheol Liu emphasized that this kind of PBL course would not have been possible without the active cooperation and support of Sejong City Government. He expressed special appreciation to Lee Seungwon, Vice Mayor for Economic Affairs of Sejong City, and Jang Minjoo, Director General for Policy Planning of Sejong City, for their outstanding collaboration and support.

Professor Cheol Liu, KDI School students, and representatives of Sejong City Government discuss the outcomes of the PBL-based policy collaboration at Sejong City Hall.

For Professor Liu, PBL was not merely a new teaching method. During his sabbatical, he reflected deeply on the future of education, and Diane Tavenner’s Prepared offered important inspiration through its emphasis on real-world problem solving, self-directed learning, collaboration, and reflection.

The rapid rise of AI made this reflection even more urgent. As students increasingly rely on AI for information, ideas, and assignments, Professor Liu began to ask what should truly be taught in the classroom. For him, the answer was not to reject AI, but to use it as a learning resource that helps students explore information, structure problems, compare alternatives, and strengthen their own judgment. As he remarked, “AI knows more than we do.” This realization led him to rethink traditional lectures and integrate PBL, AI, external resources, and professional networks into his teaching.

Within Korea’s policymaking context, PBL becomes especially valuable for KDI School students. Since approximately half of the student body consists of international students, many are not familiar with Korea’s policymaking process, particularly at the level of individual cities such as Sejong. Yet this challenge can also become an opportunity for full immersion. Students are required to work through each stage of the process — from literature review and problem identification to data analysis and policy design — from the ground up.

One of the most important elements in this process is the one-to-one matching of Korean and international students. Professor Liu designed the teams so that, ideally, each group would include one Korean student and one international student. This structure allowed the strengths of both sides to come together naturally. International students brought fresh perspectives and comparative policy insights, often free from local assumptions. Korean students contributed their understanding of Korean society, the administrative system, local context, and Korean-language materials.

Of course, reality was a little more dynamic than the original plan: in one case, there were not enough Korean students, so one team ended up with two international students. Still, this small adjustment shows how flexible PBL must be in practice.

More importantly, the team structure was not just about dividing tasks. It became a core mechanism of collaborative learning, helping students from different backgrounds understand and solve real policy problems together. Professor Liu also emphasized that students should experience the full policymaking cycle, not simply produce a final presentation.

For international students, language remained a challenge. Understanding Korean data, documents, and policy discussions required support. Here, AI-assisted consecutive translation became especially useful, showing that language barriers are becoming increasingly manageable rather than critical obstacles.

The students greatly benefited from Professor Liu’s guidance and professional network, which enabled collaboration between KDI School and the Sejong City Government. In response to the request, the city authorities provided concrete policy challenges currently facing the city. Notably, all relevant data was publicly available. This meant that the collaboration did not impose an additional burden on municipal staff, keeping the process efficient and streamlined.

Students present their policy proposals based on Sejong City’s real-world policy challenges, followed by discussion and feedback with city officials, chaired by Lee Seungwon, Vice Mayor for Economic Affairs of Sejong City.

At the conclusion of the course, the student teams, together with Professor Liu, visited Sejong City Hall and presented their policy proposals directly to public officials. This PBL approach has now been implemented twice at KDI School, including in the current semester. As Professor Liu noted, the method is still being refined and improved.

To foster student engagement, Professor Liu suggests moving beyond traditional lectures and incorporating more interactive methods, such as videos, case studies, discussions, field-based materials, and AI-assisted tools. The deeper students are immersed in the process, the more meaningful the learning outcomes become.

PBL is also flexible rather than fixed. It can be adapted to different courses and policy areas, and may even turn the classroom into a policy consulting space working with local governments. Such possibilities depend greatly on professors’ creativity and commitment.

But challenges remain. PBL requires syllabus redesign, new approaches to assessment, continuous feedback, team monitoring, and coordination with external partners. These demands can make broader adoption difficult without sufficient support.

Still, the benefits are clear. By the end of the course, students gain a genuine understanding of how real-world policy systems work. Engaging with concrete policy challenges and experiencing the full process firsthand helps build strong policy capacity and human capital.

PBL also invites professors to rethink their roles in the age of AI. Professors are no longer only lecturers, but also coaches, designers, facilitators, and network-builders who help students think, collaborate, and use tools responsibly. For PBL to grow sustainably, universities need to provide institutional support, proper incentives, and openness to AI-based teaching innovation. With these conditions in place, PBL can become a sustainable model for policy education innovation at KDI School.