FIN 441 talks about financial institutions such as banks, insurance companies, and investment funds, etc. Students will learn how financial institutions operate and why their efficient operation is important to the economy. The course is offered in the fall (2 sections) and winter term (1 section) and each section is expected to have 45 enrolled students. The course will be conducted in a hybrid format. The online and classroom meeting will be equally weighted. The classroom meeting will take place once per week, with 10 meetings in total plus a final. Students must have taken FIN 240 (finance) or BA 360 (intro to financial management) before taking the course. It is expected that students will mostly be in their 3rd or 4th year and will have at least chosen finance as their major or minor.
The weekly course cycle is described as follows. First, a weekly learning module will be posted. A typical learning module will include reading assignments (e.g., textbook), online lecture videos, a short online quiz, and a low-stakes homework assignment. The online quiz and the low-stakes assignment are expected to be completed before they come to the class. In addition to online learning module, I will pose weekly questions in the discussion board and incentivize students to share their opinions online with bonus points. After students fully absorb the knowledge from the online learning module, they will come to the class to demonstrate their understanding.
The main activity during the classroom meeting is the “guided and graded” in-class group exercise. Students will work as a group (which includes up to 4 members per group) on the problem sheet they receive in the beginning of the class. The problem sheet typically includes about 10 quantitative problem solving and may include some essay questions. Although students work with group members, they submit their answers individually before leaving the classroom. They are allowed to use textbook or any internet resources as an aid. And since it is guided, if they have any questions or encounter any difficulties, I will be their guide and provide them with hints. The difference between online quiz and the in-class exercise is that the former measures the degree to which students achieve the lower learning domain in Bloom’s taxonomy while the latter focuses on the higher learning domain. The in-class exercise thus reinforces the online learning activities through the development of problem solving skill and the application of the concepts they learn online into practical examples.
After the classroom meeting, a new cycle begins.