Course Title: Apply economic principles to work in the financial services industry
Part B: Course Detail
Teaching Period: Term1 2013
Course Code: ECON5049C
Course Title: Apply economic principles to work in the financial services industry
School: 650T TAFE Business
Campus: City Campus
Program: C6113 - Advanced Diploma of Accounting
Course Contact : Arie Herrnstadt
Course Contact Phone: +61 3 9925 5897
Course Contact Email:arie.herrnstadt@rmit.edu.au
Name and Contact Details of All Other Relevant Staff
Course Coordinator
Arie Herrnstadt 03 9925 5897
arie.herrnstadt@rmit.edu.au
Contact time: by appointment
Level 5 Staff Room
Name and Contact Details of All Other Relevant Staff
Meng (Max) Li mengmax.li@rmit.edu.au
Nominal Hours: 60
Regardless of the mode of delivery, represent a guide to the relative teaching time and student effort required to successfully achieve a particular competency/module. This may include not only scheduled classes or workplace visits but also the amount of effort required to undertake, evaluate and complete all assessment requirements, including any non-classroom activities.
Pre-requisites and Co-requisites
None.
Course Description
This unit describes the performance outcomes, skills and knowledge required to apply broad principles of financial economics that underpin a range of tasks and functions in the financial services industry. It includes understanding how financial instruments are priced in markets and techniques and processes government and organisations use to manage financial risk demonstrating broad knowledge of economic theories and related decision-making in a national and organisational economic context.
No licensing, legislative, regulatory or certification requirements apply to this unit at the time of endorsement.
Ideally each student group should have access to a laptop. It is however recommended that you have access to a mobile computing device to allow greater flexibility in terms of where you can work on campus both in and outside class times.
National Codes, Titles, Elements and Performance Criteria
National Element Code & Title: |
FNSINC601A Apply economic principles to work in the financial services industry |
Element: |
1. Identify economic principles and theories related to financial services functions and tasks |
Performance Criteria: |
1.1 Knowledge of economic principles that apply to the industry is developed and applied |
Element: |
2. Evaluate economic aspects that apply to decision making |
Performance Criteria: |
2.1 Relevant financial modelling techniques are applied to economic data to inform decision making |
Element: |
3. Review own work |
Performance Criteria: |
3.1 Own work is evaluated in the context of relevant economic principles |
Element: |
4. Maintain a personal understanding of economic policies |
Performance Criteria: |
4.1 Current economic theories and their impact on the industry are researched to ensure relevant knowledge is current |
Learning Outcomes
Learning Activities
In-class activities will account for 51 of the 60 nominal hours allocated to this course and will include lectures, tutorial exercises and class discussion. The remaining 9 hours of self-directed learning will be taken up with work on the assignment outside scheduled class.
Details of Learning Activities
In-class activities will account for 51 of the 60 nominal hours allocated to this course and will include lectures, tutorial exercises and class discussion. The remaining 9 hours of self-directed learning will be taken up with work on the assignment outside scheduled class.
Teaching Schedule
Students are expected to check their student email and myRMIT online at least weekly for messages. If absent from class you are also responsible for keeping up with any changes and for downloading, reading notes and completing class exercises that you have missed.
Students are expected to either bring a computer to class to access the course notes and exercises for each topic, or to print the relevant notes and exercises before coming to class so that class time is effectively used. To enable you to print the course material before attending class, the notes and exercises will become available on the myRMIT Blackboard site the week before starting each new topic.
During each class you will be directed which exercises to complete. These exercises will be in the form of multiple choice questions, case studies, short and longer answer questions.
The nominal hours and topic sequence below is are a guide only and represent the total teaching time and student effort required to successfully complete the course. This may include not only scheduled classes but also the amount of effort required to undertake, evaluate and complete all assessment requirements, including any non-classroom activities.
| Week | Commencing | Topics | Elements | Assessment |
| 1 | 11 Feb | Economics as a budgeting tool for accountants. Effect of macro and micro factors. | 1, 2 | |
| 2 | 18 Feb | Asset pricing models and earnings on shares | 1, 2 | |
| 3 | 25 Feb | Effect of demand factors on prices | 1 | Task 1 due |
| 4 | 4 Mch | Effect of supply factors on prices | 1, 3 | Feedback |
| 5 | 11 Mch | Effect of simultaneous Demand and Supply changes | 1, 3 | |
| 6 | 18 Mch | Effect of market structures on pricing | 2 | |
| 7 | 25 Mch | Factors determining macroeconomic activity: circular flow of income. Interview times |
2 | Task 2 progress |
| 8 | 8 Apr | Measuring economic activity for decision making: the business cycle. Interview times |
2 | Task 2 progress |
| 9 | 15 Apr | Business cycle phases and their distinguishing features | 2 | |
| 10 | 22 Apr | Australian financial industry: regulations and capital requirements | 1,2 | |
| 11 | 29 Apr | Reducing business cycle fluctuations using monetary policy | 1,2,4 | |
| 12 | 6 May | Reducing business cycle fluctuations using fiscal policy | 1,2,4 | |
| 13 | 13 May | Revision. Interview times | ||
| 14 | 20 May | Test | Task 2, 3 | |
| 15 | 27 May | Assessment feedback | ||
| 16 | 3 June | Retests if applicable |
Learning Resources
Prescribed Texts
References
Other Resources
Course website on Blackboard
Newspapers and media articles and programs
Relevant websites
Overview of Assessment
Assessment may incorporate a variety of methods including technical requirements documentation, homework, assignments, group and/or individual projects, in class exercises, written and practical tests, problem solving exercises, presentations, direct observation of actual and simulated work practice, presentation of a portfolio of evidence which may comprise documents, and/or photographs and/or video and audio files, review of products produced through work-based or course activities.
Students are advised that they are likely to be asked to personally demonstrate their assessment work to their teacher to ensure that the relevant competency standards are being met. Students will be provided with feedback throughout the course to check their progress
Assessment Tasks
You are required to complete 3 tasks. You must successfully complete all 3 tasks to be deemed competent in this unit.
TASK 1 (due Week 3) - Topics 1 - 4
Individual assignment based on a short newspaper industry case study with attached short answer questions on issues related to petrol pricing.
To be deemed competent in this assessment you will be expected to show cover and show understanding of industry, demand and supply factors that affect the price of petrol motorists have to pay and enable petrol companies to increase their profit margin. Further details are provided on the assignment sheet.
TASK 2 (due Week 14, with progress interviews mid semester and before final submission) - Topics 1 - 12
Individual share portfolio assignment, with progress review requirement. This will build on the work covered in Task 1.
You will be expected to select a portfolio of between two and four shares that you will nominally "buy" for a total of $10,000. You will be expected to track and graph the share market price movements of the shares in your portfolio on a weekly basis. Ultimately you will total the final total market value of the shares in your portfolio, based on share prices at the end of the semester, and add any dividends earned during the intervening period.
You will then need to explain micro and macroeconomic reasons for the movement in one of the shares, both in terms of its share price and in terms of possibly underlying causes, namely changes in market conditions that affected the demand for and supply of the company’s products. You will also need to demonstrate that you can effectively and correctly use a combined demand/supply graph to explain how the equilibrium price of the share has changed, and the underlying cause, namely either the price and/or quantity of the company’s products changing.
Your final result will be based on evidence of your progress in preparing for the final submission. To do this you will need to see your teacher for a progress report/interview during the semester. Your final result will also be based on you demonstrating an understanding of and applying macro and micro economic principles and topics covered.
TASK 3 (due Week 14) - Topics 7 - 12
Closed book test, consisting of multiple choice questions covering aspects of the topics that may not have been covered by students in Task 2.
Assignment submission Requirements
Tasks 1(A&B) and 2 must be submitted via Blackboard and through Tunitin, a plagiarism checking tool. Turnitin will assess your work in approximately one minute, and return a colour coded response for the originality of the text. For information on Turnitin see:
Student FAQ, http://www.rmit.edu.au/academicintegrity/studentfaq
Student procedures and account setup (pdf),
http://www.rmit.edu.au/academicintegrity/studentprocedures
Turnitin student information page, https://www.turnitin.com/static/training/student.php
• Always retain a copy of your assessment tasks (hard and soft copy)
• Ensure that you submit assessments on or before the due date. If your performance is affected by unexpected circumstances, you should consider applying for Special Consideration. Information on the process and application forms is available at http://rmit.edu.au/browse;ID=ls0ydfokry9rz .
• When submitting any individual or group work for assessment at RMIT University you must complete, sign and submit a cover sheet in which sheet you declare that the work you are presenting for assessment is your own work. An assignment cover sheet is available on blackboard.
• Each page of your assessment should include a footer with your name, student number, the title of the assessment, unit code and title and page numbers. For example, Julie Macpherson, s324567, Task 2, ECON5049C Apply economic principles, Page 1 of 10.
Please note that to confirm your competency you may be questioned on any aspect of an assignment you submitted, either as an individual or as part of a group. In the case of a group assignment you may be questioned about any aspect of the assignment, even parts of it you may not have directly prepared.
Marking Guide (competency):
Vocational Education and Training (VET) is based on current industry needs and the focus on preparing you for the workplace. Because VET courses are informed by practical application of knowledge and skills, they are based on a system known as ‘competency based training’ (CBT). So when you are assessed in VET it is about whether you are competent to do the job, as well as having a firm grasp of the knowledge and skills required to do that job, as opposed to traditional curriculum based education settings that are often based on knowledge retention.
You need to demonstrate you are competent in each element of the unit of competency you are studying.
You will receive feedback on each assessment task that will state whether you are competent or not and how well you are performing. Once competent in all elements of the unit you receive a competency grading.
Please refer to the Final Grades table below.
Marking Guide (Grading)
After achieving competency we then grade your performance in the unit; this gives you the opportunity to have the level of your performance formally recognised against industry standards and employability skills.
The grading is according to the following criteria:
1. LEVEL OF INDEPENDENCE, INITIATIVE, ENTERPRISE AND PERFORMANCE OF WORK TASK
Demonstrates a high level of ability to complete all tasks independently as per the specifications, a high level of initiative in applying economic principles.
2. DEMONSTRATED BREADTH OF UNDERPINNING KNOWLEDGE AND A WILLINGNESS TO CONTINUE LEARNING
Demonstrates depth of understanding of the key concepts and knowledge required in applying economic principles.
3. TECHNIQUES & PROCESSES, TECHNOLOGY SKILLS AND PROBLEM SOLVING
Shows understanding of the kinds of problems that can arise in applying economic principles and how these may be addressed.
4. WORK ORGANISATION, PLANNING AND SELF MANAGEMENT
Demonstrates effective planning, manage and organise time through appropriately using a diary, submitting their assessments within deadlines.
5. COMMUNICATION, PEOPLE NETWORKING, LANGUAGE AND INTERPERSONAL SKILLS AND TEAMWORK
Contribute constructively and clearly to relevant group and class discussions. Also demonstrating good techniques in collecting and providing information in order to appropriately applying economic principles. .
Final Grades Table:
CHD Competent with High Distinction
CDI Competent with Distinction
CC Competent with Credit
CAG Competency Achieved – Graded
NYC Not Yet Competent
DNS Did Not Submit for assessment
Further information regarding the application of the grading criteria will be provided by your teacher.
Assessment Matrix
Course Overview: Access Course Overview