Educational tools for effectively teaching and assessing a core financial planning unit in an undergraduate degree

This paper examines the use of various educational tools for effectively teaching and assessing a core Financial Planning unit in an undergraduate Accounting degree. The paper primarily focuses on the effectiveness of scaffolded instruction in teaching Financial Planning students undertaking the Bachelor of Business (Applied Finance) and Bachelor of Business (Accounting) degrees across four campuses of University of Western Sydney (UWS). The accounting degree offered at UWS is currently the only one in Australia that includes Financial Planning as a core undergraduate unit. Scaffolded instruction was deliberately used to encourage students in areas that were expected to cause them difficulty. The students were surveyed to determine their perceptions about the effectiveness of this educational tool on two skills assessment tasks undertaken during 2005 autumn semester. The first task involved designing and administering a client Fact Finder and the second involved preparing a Statement of Advice. Both tasks included scaffolded instruction with the Fact Finder assessment designed to allow multiple attempts, and the Statement of Advice including an interim progress check. Aspects of the skills assessment tasks addressed in the survey included how well the task design contributed to the learning experience of the skills and knowledge required in the area of financial planning and the usefulness of tutor guidance and feedback in class. Overall students perceived the assessment tasks as valuable learning experiences that increased their appreciation of the skills and knowledge needed by a Financial Adviser in addition to improving their own competence. The importance of tutor feedback and the opportunity to discuss assessment tasks in the allocated tutorial time rated highest on the likert scale, demonstrating the effectiveness of scaffolded instruction. Scaffolding in financial planning education may play a significant role in supporting the attainment of generic knowledge and in particular the specific skills required in the rapidly evolving and highly regulated financial planning industry.