Best Free Business MOOCs In November

Principles of Valuation: Time Value of Money

School: University of Michigan

Registration Link: REGISTER HERE

Start Date: November 6, 2017

Workload: 5-10 Hours Per Week

Instructors: Gautam Kaul

Credentials: Professor Kaul has won five Excellence in Teaching awards at Ross, along with earning the Victor L. Bernard Leadership in Teaching Award in 2009. He is widely published in financial journals and teaches a variety of introductory and advanced courses, including Corporate Finance, Investment and Financial Institutions, and Sustainable Enterprise.

Graded: Students can choose to explore course videos, discussions, and ungraded assignments for free, but they won’t be able to submit graded assignments, earn a certificate, or complete a specialization without paying a $79 fee.

Description: Technically, finance is an expression of various behaviors. Many times, behaviors are interpreted based on someone’s background and biases. In this introductory course, students will focus on personal financial decisions – the choices and tradeoffs they make (and why). In particular, it will cover the TVM (time value of money) framework: how today’s decisions impact tomorrow’s outcomes. After mastering TVM basics, the course will move to concepts in alternative decision criteria, such as net present value (NPV) and internal rate of return (IRR), before concluding with accounting principles like cash flows. The course will be taught through video lectures, with students evaluated on work problems assignments and a final exam.

Review: “I don’t know if this review will be acknowledged by anyone, but I need to urge Gautam Kaul to provide more examples in his Time Value of Money video lectures! His assignments and his lectures are very disjointed. He provides a very basic explanation of some key finance principles and formulas, then he makes available assignments with problems that are far more advanced than what his lectures can support. His video examples don’t exceed 3 year periods, they lack any real-world application, and they don’t explain any of the idiosyncrasies that are used throughout the assignments. If these courses are intended to force students to teach themselves the material and allow the instructors to do half-ass preparation, then I’m glad I didn’t pay the $75×5 for the Intro to Finance specialization program. Gautam’s excitement about the field of finance is apparent, but his willingness to sufficiently teach it to the level of his assignments is incredibly lacking and quite frustrating! if you’re so excited to provide an opportunity for learners, then stick to the plan and don’t test for professional ability when you’re teaching basic introduction.” For additional reviews, click here.

Additional Note: This course is the first part of an “Introduction to Finance: Valuation and Investing” specialization, a four course series that includes a capstone project. To learn more about these courses and register for them, click here.