Improving Pedagogy Through The Use Of Dynamic Excel Presentations In Financial Management Courses

Abstract

This paper discusses and illustrates the use of dynamic Excel presentations to improve learning in Financial Management courses. Through the use of such presentations, multiple and varied examples of important principles in Financial Management, which would ordinarily take an excessive amount of time to cover, can be considered within the time span of a single class. Two applications of these techniques are presented in this paper: (1) Time Value of Money -- Classic Retirement Annuity analysis and (2) Capital Structure Decisions -- EBIT-EPS Analysis. By using these Excel techniques to cover multiple examples under different initial conditions and assumptions, the authors contend that students gain a broader understanding of these financial problems and their solutions, than would otherwise be possible.