Personal Finance (BUS 2204) at UoPeople

Last term, I took Personal Finance (BUS 2204). I would say that it’s a lightweight business course, which you can pair with any other class. In the class, you learn about various types of investments, financial planning, yearly budgets, risk management, financial securities, taxes, wealth management, retirement, estate planning, real estate planning, decision making while buying a major purchase like a home or a car, and ways to save money, etc. In a nutshell, it’s a very informative course that lets you think about your personal finances.

Just like always, it was a huge class in the beginning, but the number decreased by the end of 3rd week. My instructor had been teaching at the UoPeople for the last 11 years. She had an MBA and was quite an expert in her field. She wanted us to give personal perspective in the assignments rather than the same old concepts from the book. I really admire her for that. Also, she was active in all aspects of the course, posted in Discussion Forums and graded them herself, and changed overall grades when necessary. To get full points in the Discussion Forum, she made it mandatory for students to ask 3 questions and answer 3 questions from one another to promote teamwork.

The class was civil in general, but some individuals always copied and pasted stuff from external websites without citations. Then there was a student who believed that getting high amounts of likes on Facebook posts is an achievement in life. I sincerely felt sorry for them, because life can be very harsh for some people living in developing countries. It doesn't give everyone equal opportunities. So, getting likes for some from their friends could only be their biggest accomplishment in life, sadly.

In my view, it is a very well-structured course with more weight given to the Graded Quizzes and the Final Exam (15%+15%+30%), and less weight given to the Discussion Forums, Written Assignments, and Learning Journals (10%+20%+10%). It’s one of the lightweight courses where you don’t have to write 7 Written assignments straight for 7 weeks without any break. You write only 5 Written assignments in the course. All the questions for the Discussion Forums, Written Assignments, and Learning Journals were taken from the book. Speaking of the book, it was plain-speaking and to the point. Most of the time, I felt it gave sufficient information for you to write your assignments and take notes. The book highlighted the key definitions and summarized each section, which would help you with preparing your notes and studying for the Graded Quizzes and the Final Exam.

All the Discussion Assignments, Written Assignments, and Learning Journal assignments were very uncomplicated. It’s probably one of the few courses at the UoPeople that gives you the choice of choosing the questions to answer in the assignments. The word count limit for the assignments was also very minimal ranging from only 100-650 words at max. Some weeks you read one, and at others, you read two chapters from the book. The chapters aren't that long. The book is to the point mostly.

As for the Graded Quizzes, most of the questions come from non-Graded Quizzes and whatever you have learned in your readings. To prepare for them, I suggest first consulting your notes and taking non-Graded before taking the Graded Quizzes. Each Graded Quiz had 20 questions, and you’ve to do it in 40mins. The questions also involve some very minimal math at times; questions like calculating the rate of return and inflation, so keep a calculator nearby.

The exam had 40 questions, and you get 1hr to do it. The exam was also straightforward. If you do your weekly readings, make notes, do your non-Graded Quizzes, and review the exam, then chances are you’ll do well on the exam. The book makes it very easy for you to make notes. I strongly suggest you make notes if you wish to do well on the course. Also, make sure you know how to determine inflation and the annual rate of return, as the Final Exam had some of those questions. 1hr was more than enough to do the exam. I ended up getting an A+ in the course, and I couldn’t be more pleased with my effort.

In a nutshell, it’s a pretty sweet and informative course that allows you to think and understand things about your personal finances, investment, wealth planning, retirement, etc. The course undoubtedly gave me time to reflect on my finances and presented an opportunity to consider many new investment ideas. It’ll truly enlighten you if you take the course as a learning opportunity to gain knowledge about something new and thereafter if you plan to implement it in your life as well. Think of it as a ladder which you can climb only with the right parkour skills.