Final Exam Guidance PDF

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Final Exam Guidance...

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ANU Research School of Finance, Actuarial Studies and Statistics FINM 3008/8016 Portfolio Construction Semester 2, 2020 Final Exam – Guidance Outline of Final Exam  Date and Time – Tuesday 10 November, start at 2:40 pm (Canberra time)  Venue – online through Wattle. If you have trouble finding or accessing the

exam, please email me ([email protected]) immediately and I will email the exam to you. Before the exam starts, you can practice taking the exam on Wattle by clicking on the “Practice Final (Not for Grade)” link  Submitting the exam – You should write all your answers on Wattle. Make

sure that you have good internet connection with Wattle at all time during the exam. Make sure you have sufficient amount of time to save and submit your answers. If you have trouble submitting the exam, please contact me ([email protected]) immediately. Late submission will not be accepted.  Format – 20 multiple choice questions (total: 40 marks); plus 5 written

answer questions (total: 60 marks); total 100 marks. Written answer questions may be multi-part. The final exam accounts for 50 % of your total grade in this course or 70% if you redeem the mid-semester exam.  Permitted materials – Because you are sitting the exam away from

campus and because the exam is not invigilated, this exam is open book. All course materials are allowed. HOWEVER, it is not permitted to contact and collaborate with other students or persons during the exam. You will be required to declare that your answers are original and reflect your own thinking. Your answers should not be copied or plagiarized from other sources.  Time allocation – The exam is 210 minutes long (180 minutes of writing time

and 30 minutes of reading time). It is suggested that you allocate your writing time according to the marks assigned to each question. Also, save some time at the end to review your final answers and submit them. The 30 minutes of reading time is meant for you to deal with any unexpected technical difficulties.  Structure – approximately 15% to 20% of the mark is calculation based

(reflects calculation work done in lectures, workshops, excel work and/or for tutorials), the rest are qualitative questions designed to test your knowledge and understanding of course concepts

 Coverage – Final exam covers all materials in this course up (including lectures,

workshops, tutorials, and examinable readings). The emphasis is on materials in the second half of the course.  What type of questions? The types of questions are similar to the mid-

semester exam. Your experience with the mid-semester exam, practice mid-semester exam, practice final exam on Wattle and the Week 12 workshop discussions should together be adequate to give you a good sense of what to expect. Additional past exams will not be posted.  Deferred exams – If for some reason that you cannot write the final exam,

you should apply for a deferred exam (which will take place in Week 1 of Semester 1 in 2021) use the following link https://www.anu.edu.au/students/program-administration/assessmentsexams/deferred-examinations

Weeks covered: 

All topics from weeks 1 through 12 are potentially examinable.

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Approximately, 30% of questions are based on materials covered in weeks 1-5, with the remainder focusing on materials covered in weeks 6-12.

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Approximately, 20% of questions involve calculations. A calculator is sufficient to answer those questions.

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Synthesis questions: some questions in the exam require students to synthesize materials and concepts from different lectures in the course.

Written answer questions: 

Ensure your answers are clear and directly answer the questions.

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Answers to written-answer questions require some indication of understanding or explanation in your own words. Copying from the readings or lecture notes will not give you full mark.

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Read the questions carefully. Sometimes the answers can be found in the questions.

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You will only be marked for what the questions asks. For example, if the questions asks you to outline two benefits of an asset class and you list five, only your first two will be marked. Listing more than two benefits is a waste of time.

Examinable materials The course draws on three sources: (a) lectures and workshops, (b) tutorials and excel work, and (c) examinable readings.

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Tutorials and excel work: tutorial material is examinable. Questions will not ask complicated excel calculations. All calculations can be done with a calculator.

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Readings: students should attempt to extract the key messages from the readings. Some questions may be asked that should be relatively straightforward for students who have put the effort into doing the readings.

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Formulas: students are expected to know the basic formulas used in the course. You are expected to know any formulas appearing in the readings only to the extent they are discussed in tutorials, lectures, or workshops....