Having returned to teaching the basics of pricing fixed-income securities after several years, the author recalls the difficulty students have in understanding the total return provided by fixed-income securities that are purchased at either a discount or premium from face value. This teaching note attempts to clarify the concept by suggesting…

Inspired by a white paper produced by the Delta Project on Postsecondary Education Costs, Productivity, and Accountability, this study uses different measures of calculating the cost of a college degree at an upstate community college in New York. Departmental cost per credit hour, direct instructional costs, and full costs are all explained. A…

A heuristic approach to explaining of the Black-Scholes option pricing model in undergraduate classes is described. The approach draws upon the method of protocol analysis to encourage students to "think aloud" so that their mental models can be surfaced. It also relies upon extensive visualizations to communicate relationships that are…