Tutoring

Initial situation

The Bachelor’s courses are overloaded. In order to improve the teaching of small groups of Bachelor students, the teaching team felt the need to call upon assistants. In a “win-win” dynamic, the teaching team proposed that Master’s students get involved in teaching by assisting Bachelor’s students for one semester. This course gives Master’s students in Wealth Management (GEMWeM) the opportunity to learn and practice teaching and research tasks. Students assume the role of teaching assistants and help Bachelor students achieve the learning objectives of a course.

Project implementation

The teacher who coordinates this course inquires at the beginning of the semester with colleagues about their need for assistantships. These are presented in the form of projects to the Master’s students who can apply to take part in them. According to their preference and their background, students are assigned to the teachers responsible for the courses. The students propose and lead exercise or question-and-answer sessions on various topics discussed in class. This is done in collaboration with the assistants and doctoral students of the course and the teacher who supervises the Master students.

The student is evaluated at the end of the semester on the basis of the feedback and the teacher’s overall assessment.

Thoughts and advice

This form of teaching allows students to complete and deepen certain aspects of their finance training and gives them the opportunity to teach students less advanced in their studies.

This type of practice is very easy to replicate and does not require much time to set up. It is necessary to appoint a person in charge of listing the needs of the teachers and the applications of the students in order to put them in contact. The teaching team acts as an intermediary between the teacher responsible for the course and the student. It is therefore necessary to know how to step back.

Student feedback

“As a teaching assistant for Corporate Finance, I helped prepare practice sessions, supervised exams, and helped with other administrative issues related to the course. I gained experience in classroom teaching by solving exercises in front of groups of about 30 students. Prior to being a teaching assistant, I had no teaching experience, but this opportunity helped me become more confident and patient. I truly enjoyed teaching and was genuinely interested in student success. The workouts were always well thought out and professionally delivered. I hope my lessons were very helpful in preparing students for the final exam.” “I was assigned to the “market finance” course. Beyond the pedagogical aspect of the course, which I loved, this course also allowed me to review certain basics in order to master them. Learning how to explain these notions to Bachelor students allows me to really master the subject. This course also allowed me to organize my explanations, a quality that I think will also be useful in my professional life. Finally, I exchanged a lot with the first year Bachelor students. I tried to reassure them and give them advice. “I learned how to communicate complex concepts to students (5-15 per course). The communication skills you learn in this course are really practical and necessary in the professional world. Not to mention that teaching is one of the most rewarding activities I have ever had the pleasure of doing in my life. It was a very interesting and rewarding experience to be on the other side of the classroom.” “In summary, I feel that this course allowed me to: Review and master the basics; Organize my understanding of the topic around others and adapt; Present sometimes complex concepts in a simplified manner; Reassure students.”