Finance Education in Business Schools During COVID-19 Pandemic: A Viewpoint

Abstract

The recent crisis of COVID-19 poses a serious threat to the smooth functioning of the finance education in Indian business schools. Both general and specific pedagogical issues related to finance education crop up. However, innovation at institute and individual instructor level mitigates such threats to large extent and successfully maintains the desired learning environment for students in the ‘virtual’ mode.

Introduction

Experiential learning theory, as proposed by Kolb (1984), is instrumental and influential in the context of management education (Holman et al., 1997). Undoubtedly, this plays a crucial role in grooming a student more industry-oriented and thus attracting recruiters to choose prospective managers. In India, the craze of getting enrolled in Master of Business Administration (MBA) among the graduates shows a stupendous growth post liberalization (Bhatnagar & Ramachandran, 2021). The MBA or equivalent programs offered by the older Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and ISB are the most preferred ones for the talented pool of students across the country. Over the decades, these institutes develop and nurture a deeply rooted ecosystem to impart experiential learning for students. The recent crisis of COVID-19 poses a serious threat to the smooth functioning of this ecosystem. First, it forces people to maintain social distance and to stay home. Next, it triggers nationwide lockdown and international as well as domestic travel restrictions. More specifically, the education sector in India experiences the lockdown for the longest duration. Therefore, it is a matter of great interest how the premier management institutes rise to the occasion, protect the interests of all stakeholders, including students, faculty and recruiters, and thereby maintain their brand value in the context of global management education.

Pedagogical Challenges

Among different management courses, courses on Finance are often perceived to be ‘technical’ (Dowd, 2004). Partly, this is due to the fact that management institutes value diversification and admit students from different backgrounds. Hence, many students are exposed to finance subjects for the first time in their careers. Moreover, most of the finance courses are usually number intensive and conceptually complex. Naturally, finance educators have to adopt some innovative pedagogy (e.g., case study, simulation, programming, etc.) to impart experiential learning effectively to students. In addition, real-time access to databases through finance and trading laboratory is a vital part of the learning mechanism in a few business schools, such as IIM Calcutta. The pandemic restricts the instructors from applying this pedagogy to a large extent. Therefore, it is an arduous task to engage students and deliver a quality learning experience while managing all sorts of restrictions.

The challenges which the finance educators of business schools could foresee while planning to teach courses during the pandemic are of two types: (a) general, that is, common to all other disciplines; and (b) specific, that is, more relevant in the context of finance education. The general issues mainly include: lack of non-verbal feedback emanating from the body language of class participants; absence of self-imposed discipline and active participation of students; and, uncontrollable external issues such as intermittent internet connection or delayed delivery (in few cases) of physical study materials due to country-wise lockdown. The specific issues which are more pertinent to the finance courses are: difficulty in performing laboratory-oriented activities, for example, demonstrating financial market-related behaviour on a real-time basis; the slower pace of delivery in explaining quantitative concepts; and difficulty in assessing the impact of different experiential learning techniques on students’ learning outcomes.

Pedagogical Innovation

To encounter the above-mentioned issues, the educators adopt and apply several measures while teaching online. To address the general problems outlined above, the faculty often seek help from Teaching Assistants (TA) who take the responsibility to identify the non-participation or disengagement of students at the individual level. Further, TAs often act as an intermediary to communicate any particular student-related issues to the instructor. Based on their feedback, instructors reach out to students through separate ‘lounge’ sessions at the group or individual levels. Although it is incredibly challenging to deal with ‘bandwidth’ issues of internet or delayed delivery of study materials at an individual instructor level, the role of the institute is crucial. The strong relationship with suppliers and proactive decision to bring few needy students to campus somehow minimize the adverse impact on this front. The problems related to teaching Finance has also been addressed proactively. For instance, different time blocks are identified, and remote access to databases is used slot-wise for learning purposes. With tactical planning and systematic monitoring, laboratory-based learning has been imparted virtually. To save time on delivery, short video lectures are often shared with students before the sessions. Further, follow-up ‘lounge’ sessions are conducted based on instructors’ understanding and students’ feedback. Breakout room facilities provided by the software companies are utilized effectively to ensure learning from innovative simulations such as management games. Components of assessments have also been updated to ensure student engagement. Self and peer evaluation are incorporated to assess performance in group projects or assignments. Online quiz modules with randomized allocation from a pool of questions are used to promote ‘learning-by-doing’. Thus, several innovative techniques have been evolved over time to combat the challenges posed by the virtual mode of teaching.

Further, COVID-19 has also opened many new opportunities that were largely unexplored in business schools. For instance, it has now become easier for students to attend any open international webinar organized frequently these days to enrich their knowledge base. Moreover, eminent faculties and practitioners from abroad can be invited to share their wisdom with domestic participants. Recently held ‘Research Summer School 2021’ at IIM Calcutta in the area of Accounting and Finance is one such prominent example.

Conclusion

The discussion above suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic has imposed serious threats in maintaining the learning environment for students in the ‘virtual’ mode. The challenges experienced by the finance educators of business schools during this unprecedented situation are of two types: general and specific. Difficulties at general level are minimized with effective use of resources like TAs, lounge facilities offered by software, and timely planning. Issues specific to finance courses are resolved by early sharing of video lectures, systematic laboratory training using remote access, and focussed monitoring. Additionally, new opportunities such as accessing international knowledge resources through webinars have now been available to business schools. In summary, COVID-19 transforms Finance education in business schools to a great extent by making it more demanding, innovative, and insightful.