By Ahmet Benlialper, a former ESSEC PhD student researcher. He is currently an assistant professor at the Corvinus University of Budapest.

Ahmet taught for the first time International Finance for the Master of Finance, at the ESSEC APAC campus.

How was your experience ? Did you enjoy it ?

First experiences are always special. I loved it. It was a double challenge for me since it was my first teaching experience as an instructor and in a country that I have never been before (Singapore). However, it turned out to be a great time since I had a chance to meet and exchange ideas with many bright students in finance, professionals in industry and academics based in Singapore.

What tools or teaching methods did you use? ( Kahoo, Beekast, cases, …)

Second, I also included several case studies and led class discussions on them.

Third, I conducted two experiments on money and finance, so that students can grasp some of the course topics in a less boring way.

Fourth, I used my advisor’s contacts to invite several prominent people from the finance industry to give talks in my classes. Students found this opportunity particularly interesting and asked many questions to my guests.

Fifth, I prepared several problem sets and invited my students to meet me in a room I booked during an office hour in case they have questions. Many of them have come and I went through the questions they asked me to give them a better idea of the practical implications of lecture contents.  

How did you prepare for it?

I took over the course from my advisor Jamus Jerome Lim and sticked to his way of teaching it in previous years and some of the materials he provided. I used his slides for the first half of the classes and developed my own slides for the rest. I’ve also read two textbooks in the summer along with some relevant papers.

At the same time, I worked on the history of the theory of finance for a while to provide my students the historical context as well. Professor Perry Mehrling’s papers and his book on Fischer Black proved to be especially valuable for these endeavours.

What did you learn about teaching that you wish you knew before entering the classroom?

Teaching makes you learn the topic by heart. Before serving as an instructor, I already knew the Feynman approach to learning but didn’t really grasp how important being able to teach something was for learning. As I prepared for each class, I realized that this is also a learning process for me since I felt the obligation to know every single detail (and even beyond) of what I will be teaching in the next class. This way, I came to the conclusion that, teaching is also the best way to study a subject. Therefore, when I have the option, I will choose the courses that I will teach in the future based on what I really want to know by heart.

How does teaching complement your work as a PhD student researcher ?

I have been trained as an economist in my PhD years. That means that much importance has been attached to developing formal theoretical models and testing certain predictions of these models via econometric techniques. Thus, when I was preparing for the course, I felt particularly weak on how some segments of financial markets work in practice. Given that, during that time, I was also working on my paper that focuses on how global bond markets were working. I made significant use of these details on the inner workings of global financial markets in my research.

Any advice to future students teaching for the first time?

1) Prioritize interactive sessions and refrain from long monologues. Always try to engage with students by asking them questions or challenging them with an idea of yours. You will notice that quite a few of students are actually very active in class at ESSEC and they will try to respond to your questions in brilliant ways. This way, they will also feel that their views are respected, and they will be much more willing to participate.

2) Furnish your courses with actual examples from the real world/history. It might be a bit more difficult for courses where theory is more heavily used, but in many areas the course topic will be quite conducive for such an approach. This way, the course content will be much less boring even for students who really do not have much interest in the subject area. I still remember the excitement and the willingness to learn when I was talking about a tweet of Elon Musk in class, or a brief analysis of Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse. Try to find ways to make your classes as interesting as possible.

3) Pay special attention to diversity and inclusion. Always check your class materials and make sure that they are free of content that might be considered as offensive by certain students. Try to pronounce student names correctly. Even smallest efforts will be appreciated by students and will enhance inclusion. Of course, be responsive at all times, not just in class but also in office hours and via emails. Do your best to make sure that nobody feels left behind.