COVID-19 has changed the behavior of millions of people around the globe. People need to observe social distancing regulations in their daily lives and in education settings. This includes the HKUST-NYU Stern MS in Global Finance (MSGF) students and staff.
Due to travel restrictions and quarantine requirements currently in place in Hong Kong and abroad, the MSGF module in May was conducted entirely online via Zoom for the two courses on Applied Corporate Finance and Valuation and Behavioral Finance. At first, students were skeptical about attending classes online, but the MSGF program had successfully transformed students’ learning experience into a highly positive one by creatively making alternative class arrangements as well as remarkable efforts made to the module.
To connect with an international cohort of students based in Asia and the United States, the MSGF Program Office made effective adjustments to the class schedule from a typical 9-to-6-day to a more conducive schedule across various time zones. This included reducing class hours per day, adjusting class times for each session, and splitting sessions in the morning and evening. Across six days between May 15 and 20 May, the modified schedule was adapted to split the day into two parts – a morning session from 8:30am to 11:30am and an evening session from 8:30pm to 11:30pm. The schedule turned out to be the best alternative so that students didn’t have to sacrifice their sleep to attend classes across different time zones.
On the teaching side, both course instructors Professor Alminas ZALDOKAS and Professor Abhiroop MUKHERJEE made substantial modifications to the course content to fit with the three-hour block sessions. Rather than conducting classes as usual, both professors designed numerous topic-based polling questions for discussion in almost every hour during class time and assigned break-out group discussions on business cases to maintain students’ concentration and interactivity in each session.
Extra resources and manpower were also put in for students to actively participate, ask questions, and take part in in-class discussions. The virtual classroom was set up in the executive classroom, which turned into a video studio that simulated real-life face-to-face classes. The professors were able to see all 40+ students’ cameras on their screen and students were encouraged to participate as normal by physically raising their hands to simulate face-to-face interaction. To better facilitate in answering students’ questions outside class hours, both professors volunteered additional time to stay behind after the morning session and joined in early before the evening session commenced. Throughout the module period, teaching assistants as well as the MSGF program team stayed up late past midnight to support the professors in class and help answer students’ questions.
Six days have passed and the collective effort has paid off! Even though the module was conducted entirely online, both professors effectively engaged with students in discussions no different to regular face-to-face sessions. The interaction would not be feasible without the virtual set-up which was designed closely to simulate a physical classroom environment. A big shout out to our professors and students who demonstrated their flexibility and adaptability during these unprecedented times. We would also like to thank the teaching assistants, professional videographer, and the MSGF program team for their effort and time in transforming this module from a physical classroom to a virtual environment.
The feedback from students and professors were highly positive for this very first virtual module in the MSGF program:
“Thank you MSGF team for making the best of the current situation, especially staying with us till mid-night……Appreciate your hard work to make all this happen during the pandemic……The learning experience was just as good as physical classroom arrangements.” – MSGF students
“Four great days engaging with the MS in Global Finance students. With multiple layers of real-time interactions, moderating the process successfully requires a well-coordinated team effort.” – Professor Alminas Zaldokas
“In the virtual classroom, I could see all 40+ students live simultaneously, to simulate a face-to-face experience even in the remote mode. I found the online mode enjoyable.” – Professor Abhiroop Mukherjee