COURSE INFORMATION Course Title: SEMINARS IN BANKING AND FINANCE

Code	Course Type	Regular Semester	Theory	Practice	Lab	Credits	ECTS
BAF 503	B	3	3	0	0	3	7.5

Academic staff member responsible for the design of the course syllabus (name, surname, academic title/scientific degree, email address and signature)	NA
Main Course Lecturer (name, surname, academic title/scientific degree, email address and signature) and Office Hours:	Dr. Albina Hysaj ahysaj@epoka.edu.al , Tuesday 17:00-18:00
Second Course Lecturer(s) (name, surname, academic title/scientific degree, email address and signature) and Office Hours:	NA
Teaching Assistant(s) and Office Hours:	NA
Language:	English
Compulsory/Elective:	Elective
Study program: (the study for which this course is offered)	Master of Science in Banking and Finance
Classroom and Meeting Time:	By appointment-Office 305
Code of Ethics:	Code of Ethics of EPOKA University Regulation of EPOKA University "On Student Discipline"
Attendance Requirement:	N/A
Course Description:	The students prepare a term project on the related field of study in accordance to the program under the supervision of their supervisors.
Course Objectives:	Students will complete their thesis proposals by identifying a unique research question, the literature review leading up to the question and hypothesis, the methods to answer the question and test the hypothesis. Students will carry out the proposed methods and discuss their preliminary results in the context of the literature. Students will demonstrate an ability to organize and express their ideas in accordance with accepted academic norms and ethics.

BASIC CONCEPTS OF THE COURSE

1	Research Topic: is a subject or issue that a researcher is interested in when conducting research. A well-defined research topic is the starting point of every successful research project. Choosing a topic is an ongoing process by which researchers explore, define, and refine their ideas.
2	Research Question: Pinpoints exactly what you want to find out in your work. A good research question is essential to guide your research paper, dissertation, or thesis. All research questions should be: 1- Focused on a single problem or issue. 2- Researchable using primary and/or secondary sources. 2 - Feasible to answer within the timeframe and practical constraints. 3 - Specific enough to answer thoroughly. 4 - Complex enough to develop the answer over the space of a paper or thesis. 5 - Relevant to your field of study and/or society more broadly.
3	Hypothesis: An idea or explanation for something that is based on known facts but has not yet been proved.
4	Research Hypothesis: (Also called as scientific hypothesis) is a statement about the expected outcome of a study (for example, a dissertation or thesis). To constitute a quality hypothesis, the statement needs to have three attributes: 1– specificity, 2- clarity and 3- testability.
5	Literature Review: A literature review is a piece of academic writing demonstrating knowledge and understanding of the academic literature on a specific topic placed in context. A literature review also includes a critical evaluation of the material; this is why it is called a literature review rather than a literature report. It is a process of reviewing the literature, as well as a form of writing.
6	Primary Data: Is data that is collected by a researcher from first-hand sources, using methods like: Surveys and censuses or interviews.
7	Secondary Data: Is the data that has already been collected through primary sources and made readily available for researchers to use for their own research.
8	Methodology: Research methodology is defined as the systematic method to resolve a research problem through data gathering using various techniques, providing an interpretation of data gathered and drawing conclusions about the research data.
9	Methodology vs. Methods: Methods are “practical procedures used to generate and analyze data (Birks and Mills, 2011, p. 4) while Methodology “is the underlying theory and analysis of how a research is done or should proceed” (Kirsch & Sullivan, 1992, p. 2).
10	Empirical Analysis: is a type of research dedicated to the discovery of concrete, verifiable evidence. Guided by the scientific method, empirical analysis allows researchers to remove personal bias and instead use concrete, accurate and repeatable real-world evidence to draw conclusions. The empirical evidence is a central part of the scientific method, leading to the proving or disproving of a hypothesis.

COURSE OUTLINE

Week	Topics
1	1 - Getting the research idea, selecting the topic and identifying the research questions (Students should consult the existing literature while working on this task). 1.2 - Preparing the Gantt chart showing the work plan for accomplishing the thesis on time.
2	2 - Selecting the topic, draft the research questions and draft the Abstract. Where possible, expected research results can be stated based on the existing literature and author's expectations.
3	3 - A draft introduction and a draft outline should be prepared. 3.1 - The introduction should include the main theoretical ground and the key research papers where the topic is based as well as a clear and short presentation of the expected chapters to follow. 3.2 The Outline should have a formal structure as shown in the Thesis Writing Guideline of EPOKA and should address your structure of the Thesis.
4	4 - Conduct literature review (Search for papers/articles closely related to your research topic using and documenting key words).
5	4 - Conduct literature review (Try to identify the research gap related to your topic).
6	6 - Draft Literature Review chapter. A minimum of 12 published research papers related to your topic is expected for this part. Literature review is a continuous process and will be extended when writing the Thesis.
7	7 - Develop methods and search for the data that will be used. (Focus on Literature Review on Methodology, Models and Data used in your topic).
8	8 - Make a data description giving the key features of your data and the descriptive statistics of the data.
9	9. Make a draft Data and Methodology chapter (Refer to Literature Review on Choosing the Model/Methodology and your data).
10	10 - Conduct the research analysis, and try to record some preliminary results/findings from your model. Try to interpret the findings and point out how do they relate with the literature and how they address the research questions.
11	11 - Write a summary of the work done by also pointing out the limitations of the study and showing a clear road map on how you will develop further your proposal during next semester and turn it into a Master Thesis.
12	12 - Do a final review of your work, check the format according to the guideline and submit it to the Turnitin. Prepare a short presentation of a max 10 slides and present your work to the professor for further evaluation.
13	13 - Presentations of the Thesis proposals
14	14 - Presentations of the Thesis proposals

Prerequisite(s):
Textbook(s):	NA
Additional Literature:	NA
Laboratory Work:	NA
Computer Usage:	Yes
Others:	No

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

1	Students will identify a significant research question
2	Students will contextualize the question and hypothesis in the literature of the field
3	Students will develop a hypothesis
4	Students will develop methods to answer the research question and test the hypothesis
5	Students will carry out planned methods
6	Students will present results in light of academic norms
7	Students will contextualize results and discuss the limitations and significance of the study in light of literature
8	Students will follow ethical standards and academic norms in documenting sources
9	Students will demonstrate an ability to conduct research, think critically, and organize ideas in effective ways
10	Students will submit a proposal and present it to the course advisor.

COURSE CONTRIBUTION TO... PROGRAM COMPETENCIES (Blank : no contribution, 1: least contribution ... 5: highest contribution)

No	Program Competencies	Cont.
Master of Science in Banking and Finance Program
1	The students gain the ability to look at the problems of daily life from a broader perspective with an increased awareness of the importance of moral/ethical considerations and professional integrity in the workplace.	5
2	They develop a broader understanding of banking and finance including concepts, theories, and analytical tools that serve both in national and international markets.	5
3	They are able to apply advanced valuation models to estimate the price of different financial assets as well as evaluate multinational business firms.	5
4	They are able to apply different investment techniques and form portfolios that would generate higher returns by decreasing the unsystematic risk level.	5
5	They have advanced knowledge of the regulatory framework and functioning of the banking system, international banking, central banking and the conduct of monetary policy.	4
6	They are able to conduct advanced financial analysis and use the results in the decision-making process of business firms.	4
7	They are able to understand and use advanced economic theories and tools to solve economic problems in banking and financial services industry.	5
8	They have the ability to utilize accounting, financial and economic data as well as other information to solve complex and unstructured business problems by using advanced econometric and statistical models.	5
9	They develop their ability to think critically, do advanced and independent research, analyze, interpret results, draw conclusions, and communicate effectively, both individually and as part of a team.	4
10	They are provided with opportunities to acquire the necessary skills and competencies to move on to further study within the discipline.	5

COURSE EVALUATION METHOD

Method	Quantity	Percentage
Presentation	1	30
Term Paper	1	70
	Total Percent:	100%

ECTS (ALLOCATED BASED ON STUDENT WORKLOAD)

Activities	Quantity	Duration(Hours)	Total Workload(Hours)
Course Duration (Including the exam week: 16x Total course hours)	16	3	48
Hours for off-the-classroom study (Pre-study, practice)	16	4	64
Mid-terms			0
Assignments	1	50	50
Final examination			0
Other	1	25.5	25.5
Total Work Load:			187.5
Total Work Load/25(h):			7.5
ECTS Credit of the Course:			7.5

CONCLUDING REMARKS BY THE COURSE LECTURER

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