Focus on Personal Finance: An Active Approach to Help You Develop Successful Financial Skills, 2/e
Jack Kapoor,
College of DuPage Les Dlabay,
Lake Forest College Robert J Hughes,
Dallas County Community Colleges
ISBN: 0073530638 Copyright year: 2008
Focus on the Features
New Features:
Each chapter has been updated to reflect the most current information in today’s world of personal finance. New or expanded content coverage includes: updated coverage of savings and checking services, Series I bonds, adjustable rate mortgages, rising healthcare costs, 401(k)s, exchange traded funds, and updated facts and figures throughout.
Assurance of Learning—Focus on Personal Finance is designed specifically to support assurance of learning initiatives with a simple, yet powerful solution. Each test bank question for the text maps to a specific chapter learning outcome/objective listed in the text. Instructors can use the test bank software to easily query for learning outcomes/objectives that directly relate to the learning objectives for the course. Instructors can then use the reporting features of the software to aggregate student results in similar fashion, making the collection and presentation of learning data simple and easy.
Daily Spending Diary, at the end of each chapter, provides a series of questions asking students to track and analyze their individual daily spending. Appendix C includes Daily Spending Diary worksheets.
Caution boxes within the chapter content contain some common mistakes and pitfalls that students should watch out for regarding the topic covered in that section.
Additional Application Examples added to each chapter to provide more relevance for the students to the chapter material.
Additional Problems and Questions added to the end-of-chapter materials providing instructors with more options for homework assignments.
Continuing Case allows students to apply course concepts in a life situation. This feature encourages students to evaluate the changes that affect a family and then respond to the resulting shift in needs, resources, and priorities through the questions at the end of each case.
Video Case in conjunction with Business Week Videos, a video case at the end of every chapter builds upon a particular topic and provides questions for students to analyze and relate back to their own personal finance situations.
Enhanced Cartridges for Blackboard, WebCT, and other LMS systems allow instructors to manage their course and administer online examinations. Some of the new features include:
Pre-test and Post-test Question Banks: Instructors can administer comprehensive and chapter-specific pre-test and post-tests to evaluate students’ understanding of the material.
Narrated PowerPoint: The chapter slides are available in English and Spanish. They follow the chapter topics and provide steps and explanations for how to solve those topics using real-life examples. Knowing that each student learns differently, a quick click on each slide talks the students through the contents. Students can view the slides via their computer or download them to their iPod!
iPod content: Harness the power of one of the most popular technology tools students use today, the Apple iPod. Our innovative approach enables students to download Narrated PowerPoints and quizzes right into their iPod and take learning materials with them wherever they go. This makes review and study time as easy as putting on headphones! An iPod icon has been added to the start of each chapter. This icon indicates that various study tools are available in iPod format. iPod content is available in English and Spanish!
Chapter Overviews: Concise recap of what students should learn from each chapter. A great reading prep assignment!
Online Glossary: Key terms and their definitions in a ready to use format. Can be used by students as a study tool or can be used to create a mix and match quiz.
Online Course Guide in the Instructor’s Manual will provide faculty with guides for using the textbook resources while teaching an online course.
Videos new videos by BusinessWeek! Each 5-10 minute video highlights issues relevant to today’s personal finance student, showcasing real-world application. Topics includes taxes, consumer credit, insurance and investing.
Excel Templates now available for Your Personal Financial Plan worksheets. Templates are available on the book’s Website and allow students to fill out the sheets electronically and email or post to a digital drop box. This feature is especially useful in an online course.
Retained Features:
Brief, softcover, 4-color text with spaces for students to write in examples from their own lives, and perforated pages so students can turn in sections for homework or keep their financial plan in a separate place.
Student-focused and active approach encourages students to write their own examples and goals in the book through self-assessments, in-chapter exercises, and end-of-chapter exercises including problems, cases, and Your Personal Financial Plan sheets.
"Your Personal Financial Plan worksheets" are a built-in personal financial planner with 3-4 worksheets at the end of each chapter that get students to establish their own financial goals and plan. The integrated use of the Your Personal Financial Plan sheets is highlighted with an icon in the margin. This visual, near the text material needed to complete each worksheet, helps integrate this resource into the learning process, and continues to track personal financial habits with the readings.
"Getting Personal" assessments begin each chapter. Each assessment quiz focuses on one's current personal financial habits for the topics that will be covered in that chapter. Each assessment contains 4-6 questions that students must fill-in, circle or rate their answer.
"Back to Getting Personal" sections are located at the end of each chapter, and ask students to revisit their initial "Getting Personal" responses. Having read the chapter, these questions challenge students to re-think their personal financial habits and record what they would do differently and why.
Each chapter also begins with an "Objectives & Why is This Important?" section. Students have a clear understanding of the importance and relevance of each chapter. There are references in the margins to indicate the narrative that corresponds with the objectives. The objectives are also used to organize the end-of-chapter problems and questions, as well as materials in the Instructor's Manual and Test Bank.
Key Terms appear in bold type within the text and are defined in the margins. A list of key terms and page references is located at the end of each chapter.
Each chapter contains several "Did You Know?" yellow "sticky-notes" containing fun facts, information, and financial planning assistance that students can use to create their personal financial plans.
"From the Pages Of...Kiplinger's Personal Finance" is a one-page chapter feature that presents an actual article from the well-known Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine related to a chapter topic. Each article presents a personal finance issue to debate and solve, using the questions at the bottom of the page. Suggested answers are located in the Instructor's Manual. This is an excellent tool to develop critical thinking and writing skills! Also, because money matters, your students can subscribe to a year of Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine for a reduced rate of $14.97! There is a subscription card inside the back cover of the text with ordering details.
Concept Checks, located at the end of each major section, provide fill-in-the-blank questions to assess knowledge of the main ideas covered in that section. Students will know whether they have mastered concepts to move on, or to stop and revisit certain topics. Professors can find answers to concept checks in the Instructor's Manual.
"Apply Yourself!" boxed activities, listed by chapter Objectives, ask students to perform activities that apply concepts to one's specific life situation, thus personalizing the material for optimal relevance.
"Personal Finance in Practice" boxes offer information that assist students when faced with special situations and unique financial planning decisions, and challenges them to apply these concepts to their lives and record personal responses.
"Figure It Out" boxes presents a variety of important mathematical applications relevant to personal finance situations and concepts.
Annotated Weblinks relevant to a section or concept are found in the margins, along with a description of what students will find on the site.
Chapter Summary, organized by Objective, provides a concise summary that is a great study and self-assessment tool, located conveniently at the end of chapters.
Key Terms List, located at the end of each chapter, is a handy list of all the boldface key terms from each chapter, along with page references for easy reference while studying.
A variety of Financial Problems & Questions provides space for students to work out their quantitative analysis of personal financial decisions for each chapter.
"Internet Connection" end of chapter Web exercises ask students to apply concepts to real-life situations and institutions by surfing the Web. Directions guide the way, and space is provided to record findings for reference or a class project.
As part of the end of chapter materials, students are given a "Case in Point" hypothetical dilemma and data to practice concepts just learned. A series of questions reinforces the material and applies chapter topics.
"Your Personal Financial Plan Sheets" apply concepts to one's own unique personal situation, and serve as a roadmap to their personal financial future. Students should fill them out, rip them out, submit them for homework, and keep them filed in a safe spot for future reference! For convenient cross-referencing, they are listed at the beginning of each chapter and with in-text icons. Key websites are listed to help students devise their personal financial plan, and the "What's Next for Your Personal Financial Plan?" section at the end of each sheet challenges them to take their responses and plan to the next level, as well as foreshadowing upcoming concepts in the text.
"Homework Manager Packaging Option!" This exciting web-based program will help your students learn corporate finance by duplicating problems from each chapter in the textbook and by providing automatic grading and feedback to both students and instructors. Instructors have great flexibility by controlling the rules and policies for assignments, which can range from self-study sessions to homework sessions to proctored exams. Homework Manager can also be set in “algorithmic” mode to present students with new data each time an assignment is worked, so they can work on fresh problems with the same structure until they master the concept. Immediate scoring and feedback helps guide and optimize student learning. Instructors can assign problems and have them automatically graded—a great time saver! The 2nd edition Test Bank is also included in Homework Manager for online testing and grading.
"Homework Manager Plus Packaging Option!"This packaging option combines all the great features of Homework Manager, along with access to an online version of Focus on Personal Finance, linked to additional study features, so that students can easily refer back to the text for review and guidance.
To obtain an instructor login for this Online Learning Center, ask your local sales representative.
If you're an instructor thinking about adopting this textbook, request a free copy for review.
2008 McGraw-Hill Higher Education