Evaluating FINESSE: a case-study in group-based CAL

The FINESSE project (Finance Education in a Scalable Software Environment)( 1) addresses problems associated with the teaching of finance courses in th e UK Higher Education sector by constructing a networked, computer-based po rtfolio management game. The FINESSE consortium consists of finance lecture rs at the Universities of Dundee, Strathclyde, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Glasgo w Caledonian University, and members of the Computer Sciences division at t he University of St Andrews. Subject-specific resources were developed to e xploit access to real-time stock-market data thereby allowing students to e xplore portfolio management strategies in a new and exciting way, This pape r focuses on the need for a mix of methods when evaluating a CAL project, a nd on the desirability of including evaluation as part of the design stage and of the development process. We describe the various approaches employed to evaluate different aspects of FINESSE throughout the first 2 years of i ts use, and present the results of a student questionnaire. (C) 2001 Elsevi er Science Ltd. All rights reserved.