Street Finance

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2015:

108 hours

None

Please refer to Prerequisites and Corequisites.

None

For the purposes of considering requests for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Description, Subject Objectives, Generic Skills and Assessment Requirements for this entry.

The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the disability support scheme can be found at the Disability Liaison Unit website: http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability/

Street Finance is an innovative subject that involves finance students visiting secondary schools in Melbourne for the purpose of delivering three lessons on finance topics of interest and relevance to young people.

Participation in Street Finance requires students to develop a thorough understanding of the relevant areas of finance to be taught, based on materials supplied by Department of Finance. Specific topics to be covered will change from year to year, and may include broad topics (such as budgeting) and/or topics of specific practical relevance to high school students (financial aspects of mobile phone contracts).

Street Finance provides a unique opportunity for students to develop their technical and communication skills, while at the same time making a tangible contribution to the community through the delivery of finance lessons to an audience that may not usually have strong avenues of access to financial education or the financial profession.

Students undertaking Street Finance will develop fundamental communication skills, including the ability to explain complex financial concepts and information to a non-expert, non specialist audience. The program is also designed to build skills and enhance confidence in public speaking, which is important for any finance professional. More broadly, students undertaking the program will gain experience in the provision of community financial education, which is an increasingly important aspect of the work of finance professionals in many parts of the profession (and particularly the community financial sector).

Students will be required to identify the best method of adapting supplied materials to the particular curriculum needs and context of an individual school. The substantive knowledge will then need to be communicated in a clear and accessible manner in presentations to high school students of varying academic abilities and backgrounds.

Students enrolled in this subject will receive instruction in relevant substantive areas from faculty in the Department of Finance, as well as specialist training in lesson planning and delivery. Students will also have the opportunity to develop new materials which may either be used by individual schools and/or by Street Finance in the Department of Finance in future years.

A student who has successfully completed Street Finance will have:

• specialised knowledge of at least three substantive areas of finance and financial literacy relevant to young people
• sophisticated understanding of the importance of financial literacy
• Developed knowledge about the current status of financial literacy in Australia and government policy in the area
• a nuanced understanding of some of the challenges faced by young people in the Australian economy
• an understanding of community financial resources relevant to young people
• an advanced and practical understanding of the challenges involved in effectively communicating complex financial concepts and ideas to a non-specialist audience
• the ability to critically assess theories of teaching and lesson delivery
• an understanding of appropriate methods for identifying and developing written materials suitable for use to communicate to non-experts

• Three written lesson plans (45%)
• Assessment of 1 (out of 3) school presentations (25%)
• Reflective essay: 2,000 words (30%)

Hurdle requirement:

Attendance at all seminars conducted in the Department of Finance, as well as scheduled visits to assigned schools, is compulsory.

Specialist printed materials will be made available from the Department of Finance.

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

Students who successfully complete the Street Finance program will have developed and demonstrated:

• Sophisticated skills in oral communication, and an advanced ability to observe, evaluate, interpret and transmit an analysis of a discrete legal issue to a non-expert audience
• An ability to identify the requirements of a specific audience and tailor a presentation so as to deliver an effective and accessible lesson in a specific area of finance
• An advanced capacity for critical and independent thought and reflection, in particular to reflect critically on the relevance of specialised areas of finance for young people in Victoria
• Advancement of the discipline of finance teaching theory and practice by integrating theoretical knowledge with practical experience in lesson delivery
• The ability to learn from encountering different perspectives, and to recognise the extent to which students’ own beliefs, values and experiences inform their understanding of the purpose and relevance of public finance education and financial literacy

Enrolment in Street Finance is limited to 20 students per semester and enrolment is by application only, the deadline for which is 30 November 2014. More information is available at http://fbe.unimelb.edu.au/finance/streetfinance

NB: All students selected into this subject will need to complete a 'Working with Children' check.