FIN445, International Financial Management, is the capstone course in the Finance Program. All Finance majors are required to take this course. In addition, this course is open to some (about 5 per year) exchange students from Europe. Four sections are offered each year, with one in the fall and 3 in the spring term, for a total of about 150 students. The first hybrid FIN445 will be offered in fall 2020 and the plan is to convert all future sections to the hybrid format. Approximately 50% of the class will take place face-to-face (1 hour and 50 minutes per week) and 50% will be done on-line. I believe offering this course in a hybrid format not only allows effective delivery of the course materials but also provides students flexibility in their schedule given that this is usually their last course before graduation.
The course focuses on issues faced by global financial managers. Key topics include the fundamentals of the macroeconomic environment of international financial management, the financial environment in which a multinational firm and its managers must function, and the foreign exchange management and financial management in a multinational firm. Students will be exposed to business-related global issues, processes, trends, and systems inside and outside the classroom.
Generally speaking, content in Finance courses tends to be a combination of theory/definitions and quantitative problem-solving/case analyses. Course delivery related to theory and definitions could be more efficiently and effectively delivered using an online platform, whereas a classroom setting is more effective in going over problems and cases. For online activities, my plan is to use Canvas to facilitate the online discussions and student group updates. Short videos of lectures will be posted on Canvas for students to watch before face-to-face discussions on related topics. In addition, I have adopted the MyLab Finance platform from the publisher Pearson to allow students to work on assignments and take quizzes online. Group project presentations and exams will take place during the face-to-face sessions.
It seems like transitioning Capstone classes into hybrid is a popular choice and definitely has its advantages. Can you comment at all about how your course will differ from the other capstone courses being redesigned this term?
It seems that other capstone courses being redesigned this term are mainly project based and taught by more than one instructor. For my course, I am the only instructor teaching all four sections each year. Although I have group projects assigned to students as well, lectures on financial theories and problem solving through cases and examples are main learning activities in this course. This is a capstone course because students need to apply what they have learned from other finance courses to help make financial decisions for multinational enterprises operating in the global market.