David Krause, director of the Applied Investment Management program, noticed a growing trend over the past few years: Students and individuals in the workforce desire diverse academic opportunities. Krause decided to take action by bringing a massive open online course (MOOC) on applied investing to Marquette, the first of its kind.
Students in the four-week survey of investing course will learn about investment tools such as common stock, bonds, real estate and alternative investments. The self-paced course is open to anyone in the university and begins Sept. 23.
“I designed the course where there is one lesson per day,” Krause said. “But theoretically, a student could complete all the lessons and assignments in a linear fashion.”
Over the summer, Krause recorded all the lectures and designed all the assignments for the class, which makes it possible for students to complete the class on their own time.
Krause said a second inspiration for designing this MOOC was that over the years, he said he felt he had given lectures that he wished he had recorded and been able to share with students.
“I’ve always wanted to be able to archive my lectures for those students who may have missed a class or wanted to go back and study it,” Krause said. “Now the technology to do this is available through different programs.”
The course is open to the first 1,000 people who enroll and will be not be graded. As a result, the class will not count for college credit.
This class also allow students in the College of Business Administration with a certain major to explore interdisciplinary coursework.
“This class is a pretty interesting idea,” said Thomas Hayes, a junior in the College of Business Administration. “This type of class might be really attractive for business students who haven’t had much investing experience.”
Krause designed the course in a way that does not take the place of a Marquette course. Instead, he believes people who are self-motivated will sign up for the class. For this reason, Krause said the retention rates of information may be higher than an average survey class. He believes individuals will take the class with a purpose and learn a great deal about investing because of it.
Only a small number of schools have employed a MOOC, including Brown University and Santa Clara University. Krause believes that Marquette is among the first to offer a MOOC on applied investing. He also noted that the average age of an individual taking this type of class is 35 years old.
Some say an open class gives students outside the College of Business Administration the opportunity to take a class on investing they normally would not be able to take.
“I think this is a great idea,” said Jasmine Hempel, a junior in the College of Communication. “Investing can be considered a life skill, and this class could be really helpful. I’ll definitely consider taking it.”