Examining the Outcomes of Financial Education

A Study of the Irrational Characteristics of Students and Teachers’ Perspectives on Class Improvement

Abstract

Objective: This study’s first objective was to analyze the outcomes of financial education, with a focus on teachers. This paper proposes customer satisfaction (CS) analysis as a method that any teacher of financial education can use to verify outcomes. CS analysis is a simple and easy technique that can reveal which aspects of a class should be improved, thus allowing immediate class improvements. In line with the concept of CS analysis, this paper defines the outcomes of an intervention/education as the number of priority aspects to improve and the extent of improvement. This study’s second objective was to attempt to verify outcomes in light of the irrational characteristics of students. This paper uses present bias and the subjective opportunity cost of becoming independent from one’s parents to verify the outcomes of financial education.

Methods: Based on a CS analysis differentiated by aspects such as a strong or weak present bias, this study identified which aspects of class quality students were dissatisfied with following an educational intervention and it explored methods of implementing the PDCA cycle.

Results: The group with a strong present bias identified more priority aspects for improvement than did the group with a weak present bias. The CS graph indicated that the group that incurred a high subjective opportunity cost by becoming independent from their parents may have had difficulty with classes. By performing a CS analysis differentiated by certain aspects, this paper demonstrated that priority aspects for improvement appearing in the fourth quadrant differ.

Discussion: This paper has proposed outcomes for an intervention/education from the teacher’s perspective. Previous studies often attributed the unequal outcomes of an intervention/education solely to factors related to students. In contrast, this paper identified which aspects of class quality that students with irrational characteristics were dissatisfied with. Understanding the aspects of class quality that students are dissatisfied with allows instructional strategies to be devised, which should facilitate improvements in financial education. This paper was inspired by faculty development (FD) research. Only a handful of previous studies were from the teacher’s perspective, but the current study has fully introduced an FD perspective.