FNAN 498 Master Syllabus

FNAN 498: RS: Contemporary Topics in Finance Master Syllabus

(subject to change – always refer to the latest version posted on the course Canvas site)

Course Instructor:
Office Number:
Office Hours:
Email:
Course Meeting Times:
Graduate Teaching Assistants:

Course Information

Course Website: Canvas

At this site, you can access course materials (e.g., lecture slides) and course assignments.

NOTE: Username and passwords are the same as your George Mason email account. You must have consistent access to an internet connection in order to complete the assignments in this course through Canvas. Note the technology requirements for School of Business in your Canvas course menu—it contains details of minimum technology requirements.

Writing Intensive Course

The Faculty Senate’s Writing Across the Curriculum Committee has approved this course to fulfill the Writing Intensive requirement in the Finance area. To meet this requirement, you will identify a finance-related question, problem, or challenge of interest for further research. After I approve your identified question, problem, or challenge, you will design and carry out a research plan to address that issue. You will present the results of your research in a written report and an oral presentation. Your written report must be between 3,000 and 3,500 words in length.

Throughout the semester, you will also analyze and prepare written responses to finance-related case studies and selected finance-related research articles published in peer-reviewed academic journals. Responses will range in length from 250 to 1,200 words, depending the specific requirement.

Research and Scholarship (RS) Course and Mason Impact (MI) Course

This course is designated BOTH as a Research and Scholarship (RS) Course AND as a Mason Impact (MI) Course.

This course is designated as a Research and Scholarship Intensive (RS) course, which means that as an enrollee in the course, you will be given the opportunity to actively participate in a research or creative project and make a significant contribution to the creation of a disciplinary appropriate product (see the Research and Scholarship Intensive Courses for the site where our course has the RS designation).

This means that once you satisfactorily complete the course, you will receive two designations on your transcript. One designation will be that you completed a Research and Scholarship course. The other designation will highlight the name of your research project. Consequently, your transcript notification will look like how a master's thesis is notated.

As part of the Research and Scholarship program, you must submit your research paper to me (via our Canvas site) and to the undergraduate education office.

Because your course is listed both with a RS designation and a Mason Impact (MI) designation, the following opportunities are available to you.

Students can receive a line on their transcripts that highlights the name of their specific project by uploading their projects via the portal on the student section of the Mason Impact website
Students can receive a MINI Grant for up to $500 to complete their project.
Students can share the results of their project at the Celebration of Student Scholarship and Impact.
Students can use the Mason Innovation Exchange (MIX) in a new location—Horizon Hall on the Fairfax Campus. New this year is an “incubator” area where selected student groups will be able work on their projects.

When you submit your paper to the undergraduate education office, you will be asked to provide some information such as your research paper’s name and our course number. You will also be asked a few short reflection questions about your research experience.

Course Objectives

Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:

Articulate and refine a focused and manageable question, problem, or challenge that may contribute to the field of finance.
Produce an academic or applied research project that has the potential to make contributions to knowledge.
Clearly communicate the results of a scholarly or creative project through publishing, presenting, or performing, while consistently employing conventions appropriate to the audience and context.
Acquire information or data using effective, well-designed strategies, while consistently using appropriate criteria to judge the credibility of the evidence.

Course Methodology

The class format will combine reading, lectures, presentations, and other learning tools.

The class will be asynchronous in that there is no specific meeting times to review the material of a class; however, it MUST BE NOTED that there are specific and set deadlines to complete given assignments, home works, postings on discussion forums etc.
Every student is expected to be engaged in the weekly discussions on the course Discussion Forums, and submit assignments as per the deadlines.
In addition to the readings, screencasts and timely completion of assignments, every student will be expected to be an active participant and a dedicated individual applying what you learn to every element of the course work.

Research Paper-Related Course Structure

Note: The timelines mentioned below are indicative, and are subject to change as we progress through the semester.

In the initial weeks of the course, you will have reading assignments and lectures on the basics of both effective writing and research methods. In one of those lectures, the finance-dedicated librarian will discuss Fenwick Library’s capabilities and resources that you can take advantage of while carrying out your research. The librarian will remain available to help you throughout the semester during her weekly office-hour sessions and via e-mail.

In Week 6, you will select a finance-related topic of your choice for your research project (if you need ideas for a topic, see the different journal articles that we reviewed and their references and the references of those references, etc.) Be prepared to discuss the following five items related to your topic:

the issue you want to address;
the scope of the inquiry;
why the issue is worthy of inquiry;
your data collection plan, and
your data evaluation plan.

You may proceed with your research once I approve your topic and your plan for carrying out your research.

In Week 6, you will submit an outline highlighting your literature review, describing the progress of your data collection efforts, and discussing your strategy for completing your research. In Week 14, you will submit a draft research report for my review and comment. My comments will focus on both your analysis and your writing.

In Week 16, you will submit your final paper and a 5-minute presentation describing your project and your findings.

I encourage you to consider disseminating your findings to a broader audience. For example, I can arrange for you to present your findings to the Finance Area faculty and other interested Business School faculty. You should also consider submitting your paper to The Mason Review or to a professional journal of your choice.

Other Course-Related Activities

In addition to your research project, you will analyze finance-related case studies and/or academic research journal papers. You will then respond, in writing, to specific questions associated with those case studies and articles. I (or my teaching assistant) will edit your response to the first writing assignment. We will assign a tentative letter grade for this submission. If you respond to the edits and resubmit your assignment within one week after I or my assistant return your edited paper, we will grade your paper and assign a permanent grade. If you choose not to resubmit a revision within one week, your tentative grade will become the permanent grade.

You may work together in small groups (2 to 3 students) in analyzing the cases and articles, especially the financial analysis portions of the cases. However, you must write your own analysis of the cases and articles.

We may discuss your analyses in online discussion forums.

Course Material

The following items are required for the course:

Journal Articles:

Will be assigned from time to time. You need to access/download these articles from the George Mason University Libraries
Turabian, Kate L. A Manual for Writers, 9e, Chicago: The University of Chicago, 2017 (NOTE: while we use this book for our textbook readings for guidelines and advice on how to approach research writing, we do NOT use the Chicago writing style – we use the APA style, instead – see elsewhere in the syllabus for further details and resources on the APA style)
In addition, you might want to lookup for research methods, statistical analysis tutorials online and teach yourself the research methods that are used for the research topic(s) of your interest. The sooner you start learning these, the better prepared you will be to conduct your research effectively.

Participation

Learning can only happen when you are playing an active role. It is important to place more emphasis on developing your insights and skills, rather than transmitting information. Knowledge is more important than facts and definitions. It is a way of looking at the world, an ability to interpret and organize future information. An active learning approach will more likely result in long-term retention and better understanding because you make the content of what you are learning concrete and real in your mind.

Although an active role can look differently for various individuals, it is expected in this class that you will work to explore issues and ideas under the guidance of the professor and your peers. You can do this by reflecting on the content and activities of this course, asking questions, striving for answers, interpreting observations, and discussing issues with your peers.

Since this is an Advanced course, your participation is measured by your participation in the class discussion, forums under the Canvas class online, and timely completion/submission of assigned tasks/home works. Make sure you make your postings, replies in a timely manner to get the proper credit.

Rules and Expectations

Late submissions will not be accepted. I may make exceptions if feasible, but only for extraordinary circumstances, e.g., birth of your child, military deployments, severe illness, death of an immediate family member. Requests for extensions should be made prior to the submission deadline. Please note that I won’t accept claims of conflicts from other course requirements or excessive workloads from your employer as justification for an extension. For situations where a solution is already posted online after the submission date, no extensions can be granted.

In correspondence/communication students will be expected to:

Be professional and respectful in correspondence.
Make reasonable requests of the instructor. We will be happy to clarify course material and answer legitimate questions; however, please exhaust other information sources (e.g., syllabus, Canvas) for answering your question before contacting me.

Regarding honesty in work, students will be expected to:

Review the University integrity and honesty policies in the student handbook for guidelines regarding plagiarism and cheating (summarized below). I will gladly clarify my stance on any questionable or “grey area” issues you may have.
Refrain from dishonest work as it will receive a minimum penalty of zero on the assignment and a maximum penalty of a zero for the course with a report to the Honor committee. The George Mason University Honor Code requires that faculty submit any suspected Honor Code violations to the Honor Committee. Therefore, any suspected offense will be submitted for adjudication.

Writing Assignment Standards

All your submissions must be original and written by you personally. You may not copy from any other sources (except where you are directly quoting a source within double quotation marks; in such case, you must explicitly state the source). Every submission you make in this course is subject to plagiarism check through SafeAssign or other means. Any findings of plagiarism will be seriously dealt with in accordance with the policies set forth in this syllabus and/or the policies of the School of Business and/or the University.

All writing assignments should be formatted as follows: double-spaced, Times New Roman, 12-point font, and 1-inch margins. Use APA style method to cite and reference professional or academic sources.

Here are a few APA style quick guides:

Here’s a VERY USEFUL Tutorial to help you get conversant with the APA style:
Introducing the Basics of Seventh Edition APA Style tutorial

To help manage the citations and seamlessly create reference lists, I recommend using one of the many free software tools available online – below are a few such tools you can use:

George Mason University has a Writing Center that can help you improve your English writing skills.

Course Grading and Evaluation

Table 1: Graded Items and their Weights

(upon submissions in a timely manner - late submissions, if accepted at all, will be penalized)

Research Topic	1%
Research Paper Outline	4%
Draft	9%
Final Paper	30%
Oral Presentation	10%
Journal Articles Review – Set 1 - Presentations (4, at 7% each)	28%
Journal Articles Review – Set 2 OR Topic analyses	8%
Class participation	10%

Table 2: Letter Grade Criteria

Grade	Range
A+	>=97.5%
A	92.5% – 97.4%
A-	89.5% – 92.4%
B+	86.5% – 89.4%
B	82.5% – 86.4%
B-	79.5% – 82.4%
C+	76.5% – 79.4%
C	69.5% – 76.4%
D	59.5% - 69.4%
F	<59.5%

Class Participation – 10%

Your challenge is to immerse yourself in the topics and perspectives presented in the course. You will want to be able to comment on the discussion topics with authority. You are encouraged to make notes on your own thoughts about the various concepts and issues, and consider possible issues/outcomes. Your posts should be to the point and include sufficient technical detail for others to respond. You should present your opinions, but justify them with facts and proper sources. What did you agree with, and why? What did you disagree with and why? If any, what did you not understand and need any help in understanding? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the article analyzed?

Initial/Original Post
Please post what you view as the appropriate responses to the above prompts. Your initial post should be 150-300 words. Please provide response with a clear, well-formulated thesis; sentence structure, grammar, punctuation, and spelling count. Support all posts with appropriate rationale and citations from readings; appropriately document sources.

Responding to Others
Responses to at least two classmates' postings should be approximately 200 words and should be thoughtful, substantial, polite and more extensive than a simple "well done" phrase or "I agree." Consider points of agreement, disagreement, assumptions, and value judgments. You will be able to respond to others after you submit your initial post.

Instructions
Each student shall make at least one original post on the assigned topic for that week by Thursday 11:59 PM, ET, and react to at least two of your peers' posts by Sunday 11:59 PM, ET. Review the Discussion Board Participation guidelines in the syllabus, as appropriate.

Assignments –
Set 1 - Journal Article Review Presentations
Set 2 – Journal Article Reviews OR Topic Analyses Reports

Periodically, assignments are required to be uploaded to Canvas. Assignments are due at the due date and time specified on Canvas.

Refer to the class calendar and any announcements for details and any revisions.

Journal Article Review Presentations:
This YouTube video is a good example of what and how you should review a published journal article.

Each one of you should complete and submit your review presentation slides.

You will be assessed based on two components:

Your participation in the article/topic discussion forums AND in the classroom
Your write-up AND presentation

Research Paper –
Topic Approval: 1%;
Outline: 4%;
Draft: 9%;
Presentation – 10%
Final Paper: 30%

The Research Paper is your culminating assessment but will be worked on in phases so that you can receive feedback and refine your work throughout the class.

George Mason University Honor Code

The complete Honor Code is as follows:
To promote a stronger sense of mutual responsibility, respect, trust, and fairness among all members of the George Mason University community and with the desire for greater academic and personal achievement, we, the student members of the university community, have set forth this honor code:

Student members of the George Mason University community pledge not to cheat, plagiarize, steal, or lie in matters related to academic work.

Cheating Policy

Any form of cheating on an activity, project, or exam will result in zero points earned.

“Cheating” includes, but is not limited to, the following: reviewing others’ exam papers, having ANY resources utilized when not allowed, collaborating with another student during an individual assignment.

If you have questions about when the contributions of others to your work must be acknowledged and appropriate ways to cite those contributions, please talk with the professor or utilize the George Mason University writing center.

Plagiarism and the Internet

Copyright rules also apply to users of the Internet who cite from Internet sources. Information and graphics accessed electronically must also be cited, giving credit to the sources.

This material includes but is not limited to e-mail (don't cite or forward someone else's e-mail without permission), newsgroup material, information from Web sites, including graphics. Even if you give credit, you must get permission from the original source to put any graphic that you did not create on your web page. Shareware graphics are not free. Freeware clipart is available for you to freely use. If the material does not say "free," assume it is not.

Putting someone else's Internet material on your web page is stealing intellectual property. Making links to a site is, at this time, okay, but getting permission is strongly advised, since many Web sites have their own requirements for linking to their material. Review the Honor Code.

Individuals with Disabilities

Students with documented disabilities should contact the Office of Disability Services (703) 993-2474 to learn more about accommodations that may be available to them.

Academic Integrity and Inclusivity

This course embodies the perspective that we all have differing perspectives and ideas and we each deserve the opportunity to share our thoughts. Therefore, we will conduct our discussions with respect for those differences. That means, we each have the freedom to express our ideas, but we should also do so keeping in mind that our colleagues deserve to hear differing thoughts in a respectful manner, i.e. we may disagree without being disagreeable.

Student Privacy Policy

George Mason University strives to fully comply with FERPA by protecting the privacy of student records and judiciously evaluating requests for release of information from those records.

Please see George Mason University’s student privacy policy.

Email Policy

George Mason uses electronic mail to provide official information to students. Examples include notices from the library, notices about academic standing, financial aid information, class materials, assignments, questions, and instructor feedback. You are responsible for the content of university communication sent to your George Mason e-mail account and are required to activate that account and check it regularly.

Computer Requirements

See Costello College of Business Minimum Computing Requirements.

Hardware: You will need access to a Windows or Macintosh computer with at least 2 GB of RAM and access to a fast and reliable broadband internet connection (e.g., cable, DSL). A larger screen is recommended for better visibility of course material. You will need speakers or headphones to hear recorded content and a headset with a microphone is recommended for the best experience. For the amount of Hard Disk Space required taking a distance education course, consider and allow for:

the storage amount needed to install any additional software and
space to store work that you will do for the course.

If you consider the purchase of a new computer, please go to Patriot Tech to see recommendations.

Software: Many courses use Canvas as the learning management system. You will need a browser and operating system that are listed compatible or certified with the Blackboard version available on the myMason Portal. See supported browsers and operating systems. Log in to myMason to access your registered courses. Some courses may use other learning management systems. Check the syllabus or contact the instructor for details. Online courses typically use Acrobat Reader, Flash, Java, and Windows Media Player, QuickTime and/or Real Media Player. Your computer should be capable of running current versions of those applications. Also, make sure your computer is protected from viruses by downloading the latest version of Symantec Endpoint Protection/Anti-Virus software for free here.

Students owning Macs or Linux should be aware that some courses may use software that only runs on Windows. You can set up a Mac computer with Boot Camp or virtualization software so Windows will also run on it. Watch this video about using Windows on a Mac. Computers running Linux can also be configured with virtualization software or configured to dual boot with Windows.

Note: If you are using an employer-provided computer or corporate office for class attendance, please verify with your systems administrators that you will be able to install the necessary applications and that system or corporate firewalls do not block access to any sites or media types.

Attendance/Course Participation Policy

Since this is an asynchronous mode section, there is no specific attendance is required.

However, note that you are expected to be following the material and completing the assignments for each class as per the posted deadlines on a weekly basis, unless otherwise excused by me in writing. Your course participation will be measured by your participation in the online forums as required, and the submission of the assignments on time.

This class builds upon each prior class' material, exercises, and discussions. If you miss submitting/completing more than 5 assignments on time (including the weekly postings on the Discussion Forums), you will be AUTOMATICALLY getting an 'F' in the class. This is NOT negotiable. If you have any constraints in completing the class’ assignments and other tasks regularly and promptly, this class is not for you.

Class Calendar

FNAN 498 - Fall 2022 - Dr Margam - Class Calendar: Ver 1.0 (subject to revisions; always refer to the latest version on Canvas)
Week Of	Topic	Textbook/Course Site Self-Reading Task	Assignment
#1) Jan 23 - 29	Introduction Sample Journal Article Reviews:	Syllabus Course structure Course site – Discussion Forums Sample Journal Article and Reviews – grading exercise	-Participate in online discussion about the Syllabus, Grading Weightage, Discussion Forum participation requirements, etc. Note: Read the syllabus for the Thursday and Sunday deadlines, and the minimum postings you are expected to make each week. -Participate in online discussion about Sample Journal Article – your first impressions (and more) about Scholarly Research Articles and how to prepare a Review of a paper - Sample Journal Article Reviews: Grade each of the four reviews by section, with a % score. Compare and contrast them (at least your top-scoring and bottom-scoring bottom-scoring reviews): Submission due by Sunday 11:59pm
#2) Jan 30 – Feb 5	- Preparatory Journal Article Review – in Groups	Each Group to select one of the four article choices provided	- Prep Journal Article: Writeup Group submission due, Sunday 11:59pm -Participate in online discussion about Prep Journal Article
#3) Feb 6 –12	- Preparatory Journal Article #2 Review – in Groups	Each Group to select one of the article choices provided	- Prep Journal Article #2: Writeup Group submission due, Sunday 11:59pm -Participate in online discussion about Prep Journal Article
#4) Feb 13 - 19	- Journal Article #1 Review – Individual writeups begin - Forming a Research Question - Library Capabilities presentation (tentative)	Chapter 1: What is Research and How Researchers Think About it.	- Journal Article #1: Individual Writeup submission due, Sunday 11:59pm -Participate in online discussion about the topic below: Consider potential research questions in an area of interest to you and share with the class for advice/comment/critique (sample topics: involving SPACs, Activist Investors, Various Calendar Effects in Stock Market, Trading Strategies, Mutual Fund Performance, Research Analyst Estimates and Performance, Crypto Currencies, Bond Markets, ESG Investing, etc.)
#5) Feb 20 - 26	- Journal Article #2 Review Hypothesizing	Chapter 2: Defining a Project Topic, Question, Problem, Working Hypothesis. Chapter 3: Finding Useful Sources.	- Journal Article #2: Writeup submission due, Sunday 11:59pm -Participate in online discussion about Journal Article #2 - Participate in online discussion about “potential research topics/areas” – talk about a broad research area OR specific research question that you may be interested in or thinking of or want to know more about – so that your classmates can chime in. Do not worry about somebody else stealing your topic – who ever posts a topic (specific research question) first, others can not claim the same research question (the broad area can be similar, but not the research question itself). In cases of conflicting claims, the timestamps of the DB posting can help settle the “first claim” - For ideas on areas/topics, see the sample list provided in other weeks’ schedule.
#6) Feb 27 – Mar 5	Journal Article #3 Review	Chapter 4: Engaging Your Sources. Chapter 5: Constructing Your Argument	- Journal Article #3: Writeup submission due, Sunday 11:59pm -Participate in online discussion about Journal Article #3 -Participate in online discussion about potential Research Topics, by sharing your potential research topic(s) as well as responding to two classmates’ postings. A sample of potential research topics to consider: SPACs, Activist Investors, Various Calendar Effects in Stock Market, Trading Strategies, Mutual Fund Performance, Research Analyst Estimates and Performance, Crypto Currencies, Bond Markets, ESG Investing, etc. Search the library databases for various other finance related research topics for further ideas – you can propose an original research idea that extends the state of the current knowledge OR propose to replicate a previously published study with latest data.
#7) Mar 6 - 12	Journal Article #4 Review -Research Planning	Chapter 6: Planning Your First Draft.	- Journal Article #4: Writeup submission due, Sunday 11:59pm -Participate in online discussion about Journal Article #4 -Participate in online discussion about YOUR proposed Research Topics (short list to a maximum of 3 topics), by sharing your potential research topic(s) as well as responding to two classmates’ postings. Your posting should address at least the research question, what is known in the current literature on that topic/question, what you would like to investigate and what is its contribution to literature or industry, and what do you hypothesize about possible analyses results of your data. -Submit your proposed Research Paper Topic or a brief list of potential topics (not to exceed three) by Sunday, 11:59pm
#8) Mar 13 – 19	-Q&A about your research topic(s) -In-class presentation and discussion on your Proposed Research Topic(s)		- Continue to Participate in online discussion about YOUR Research Topic - Add more color to YOUR research topic: what would be your sample data, where would you get it, have you already been able to download the data, what methodology and analyses are you going to conduct on your data, what kind of possible results can be expected and what would the implication of each kind of results would be.
#9) Mar 20 – 26	Refine and select your final research topic – in-class discussion and presentation of the final topic		-Finalize and submit Your Research Paper Topic, Sunday 11:59pm -Participate in online discussion about your own Research and more detail on your progress (on the topics from Weeks #7 and #8)
#10) Mar 27 – Apr 2	Research Plan & Schedule	Chapter 7: Drafting Your Paper	-Participate in online discussion about your own Research and the OUTLINE of your Research Paper - Post a possible schedule/plan to complete your research in the remaining time
#11) Apr 3 – 9	Research Paper Outline	Chapter 8: Presenting Evidence in Tables and Figures	Your Research Paper - Outline Due Monday, 11:59pm - Post an updated schedule/plan to complete your research in the remaining time
#12) Apr 10 - 16	Research Work in Progress – reach out to the professor as needed	Chapter 9: Revising Your Draft	-Participate in online discussion about your own Research and its progress and schedule - what’s going well and what’s not going well - Post an updated schedule/plan to complete your research in the remaining time
#13) Apr 17 - 23	Research Work in Progress – reach out to the professor as needed	Chapter 10: Writing Your Final Introduction and Conclusion. Chapter 11: Revising Sentences.	-Participate in online discussion about your own Research and its progress and schedule - what’s going well and what’s not going well - Post an updated schedule/plan to complete your research in the remaining time
#14) Apr 24 - 30	Research Work in Progress – reach out to the professor as needed	Refine and revise your paper	Research Paper - Draft Version (full content, with allowance for grammar, structure, bibliography, and other finishing touches pending) Due Monday, 11:59pm
#15) May 1 – 7	Research Work in Progress – reach out to the professor as needed	Refine and revise your paper	- Continue working on refining the draft version for final submission next week
#16) May 10-17 (specific day and time TBD)	Submission of your Research Paper and Presentation slides	Final Paper Submission Final Presentation Slides	Your Research Paper Final Version – due on the specific day by NOON; Research Paper Presentations – Due by NOON;

To print: Right-click and choose “Print,” then follow your browser’s print settings.
To download: Right-click and choose “Print,” then select “Save as PDF.”