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Editorial

From the Special Issue Editor

The fourth issue of Vol. 8,Toward a Theory of Instruction: Teaching Individual
Financial Management, centers on education theory and practice. This marks the first time
for a special edition of Financial Services Review, and it has been my pleasure to serve as
the guest editor. What makes this issue special is its personal focus; the authors reveal their
thoughts, practices, and results of teaching individual financial management.

The first two articles relate to general curriculum design. The lead article is entitled “An
integrative approach to using student investment clubs and student investment funds in the
finance curriculum.” Authors Brian Grinder, Dan W. Cooper, and Michael Britt argue that
experience in investment clubs and managing investment funds can effectively ground
student learning and increase finance comprehension. In their article Ellie Fogarty and
Herbert Mayo describe the senior thesis in finance required at The College of New Jersey.
Designed as a “spire,” it addresses the issue of course sequence and presents an interesting
way to allow finance students to gain specialized knowledge not offered within the formal
curriculum.

The next two articles use research techniques to address student learning results. In
“Student learning style and educational outcomes: evidence from a family financial man-
agement course,” Jonathan Fox and Suzanne Bartholomae test for a relationship between
student learning style and success in an individual financial management course. In “Does
education affect how well students forecast the market?” John C. Alexander, Jr. and Robert
B. McElreath find that education improves the forecasting ability of students.

The next several articles directly relate to teaching personal financial management, from
introductory to more advanced topics. “An integrated model for financial planning,” written
by Natalie Chieffe and Ganas K. Rakes, provides a framework for structuring the financial
planning course and student learning. Ronald R. Crabb shares his teaching methods and gives
a how-to guide in “Cash flow: a quick and easy way to learn personal finance.” Thomas H.
Payne and J. Howard Finch discuss the importance of having students truly understand a
model’s assumptions, inputs, sensitivity to error, and practical limitations in “Effective
teaching and use of the constant growth dividend discount model.” In his article “Learning
by doing: offering a university practicum in personal financial planning,” Tom Eyssell

Financial Services Review 8 (1999) ix–x

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describes the practicum at his school as providing valuable and rewarding experiential
learning opportunities for students.

The final two articles of the special issue on education deal with web-based teaching
resources. “The Internet in the personal finance course,” by Walt Woerheide, explores the
extent and implications of current and future Internet integration in personal finance text-
books. Finally, Stuart Michelson and Stanley Smith share how-to create and teach with
personal web pages in “Applications of WWW technology in teaching finance.”

On a personal note, I give my special thanks and encouragement to the all of the authors
who submitted manuscripts (37 in total) for this special issue. I look forward to their
continued participation in the dialogue on teaching individual financial management. Thanks
also to the long list of Academy of Financial Services colleagues who gave so unselfishly of
their time to review and rereview submissions.

Jill Lynn Vihtelic

x J.L. Vihtelic / Financial Services Review 8 (1999) ix–x