Overview

Finesse (Finance Education in a Scalable Software Environment) has been created to support the teaching and learning of Finance for lecturers and students. Finesse simulates a microcosm of the real market on a computer system, by using data that is updated every few minutes from the London stock exchange, to enable students to construct and manage their own investment portfolios. The process of buying and selling shares and managing investments deepens a student's understanding of the underlying principles taught in Finance.

A strong emphasis is placed on the scalability of Finesse by providing a quality learning environment that can cope equally well with classes of ten, or hundreds of students, located at many different institutions. The system is an efficient way of meeting the growing demands of greater student numbers on strictly limited staff time and resources, whilst maintaining and enhancing educational standards.

The system allows students to experience the realities of investing by highlighting the impact of transaction costs on portfolio profits, and the importance of dividends to the overall performance of a portfolio. It also shows students the profitability and risk profiles of various investment strategies that are possible for a UK investor, such as opting for a portfolio of small company shares, a portfolio of firms with low P/E ratios, or of a fully-diversified portfolio of shares. Students are also able to investigate the role of low correlations in setting up their portfolios and to consider the benefits of investing in emerging stock markets by choosing appropriate investment or unit trusts.

Student teams can be composed of individuals from different classes, and they are able to compare their share selection skills and portfolio management techniques with the other portfolio groups.

Structured group communication is supported by the Notebook tool, a lightweight groupware tool that has features of both e-mail and bulletin boards.  Typically, obe Notebook is allocated to each group.  Tutors can see and participate in recorded discussions, and also obtain usage statistics from each Notebook.

Overview | Facilities for Tutors | Facilities for Students

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Last updated: 2006-04-05