A learner-centered approach to design a Computational Finance module in higher education

Abstract

In this paper, we describe our design of ACM30070 “Computational Finance”, a core module in the BSc in Financial Mathematics in the School of Mathematics and Statistics. The over-arching purpose of this module is to help students to develop mathematical, statistical and coding skills, along with significant knowledge and critical thinking, that allows them to effectively construct, manipulate and visualize financial datasets and to build financial mathematical models. The use of computation and a FinTech software (FinCad Analytics) are pointed out as essential to facilitate sensemaking in computational finance. More broadly, we discuss the education-research based rationale behind the “learning by doing” and “flipped classroom” institutional models that we have chosen for ACM30070, and we show how the modern “inclusive” definition of computation has been embedded into the learning activities. An accurate description of the design principles and implementation is also presented. At the end of the paper, we briefly introduce a discipline-based education research that will follow from this module design.