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NUS Online Share Trading System
Students will be able to put to practice what they have learnt in the classroom on trading share

	The School of Business, Department of Finance and the Centre for Instructional Technology (CIT) have jointly design and developed a student online share trading system. The system enables students working in groups to select a portfolio of shares from those listed in the Stock Exchange of Singapore and track their portfolio value on a daily basis.
Dr Ho Yew Kee Dept of Finance & Accounting School of Business

The main purpose of the system is to simulate a stock market environment where students can invest in real stocks and track real prices.

The system is also linked to an online forum and course materials are found on the learning management system of the university.

Virtual Investment Practice

Three lectures, 160 students, from five lecture groups, divided into 28 project groups used the system last semester. Each group of student is given an initial virtual amount of S$100,000 to invest in equity stocks listed in the main board of the Stock Exchange of Singapore. Each group must select 10 companies to invest this money. Students log into the system and select the stocks.

The program tracks daily price movements of stocks and pdates the groups' portfolio value on a daily basis. Students are able to monitor their portfolio performance. Students can also view the performance of other groups. They are encouraged to discuss and share their group's portfolio performance in the forum. It is hoped that this will encourage communication and share between the difference lecture groups.

Students can observe the results of their decisions as the companies which they analysed and trade in are real companies. In addition, the competitive pressure between roups' performance creates excitement so as to deliver maximum learning impact and the congruence between theory and real world practice.

Students' reaction & feedback

142 students survey forms were collected in an attempt to evaluate students' reaction to this new system. The survey measured students' perception about the usefulness of the system in bridging the gap between theory and practice. 72.5 per cent of students agreed that they are more enthusiastic about their projects when they use the trading system. 85.9 per cent of students agreed that this is a more convenient way of tracking portfolio.

In the past, students recorded each day's profit or loss on paper. The method is inefficient because it is prone to human error and deliberate mistakes are possible. 76 per cent of students felt it is important for their team to select the right stocks because group performances are now made pubic through the system. 68 per cent of students felt motivated to further analyse the movement of certain stock prices while 60 per cent of students agreed that such a system gives them an opportunity to apply the theories they learnt.

Note: The access to the online share trading system is for registered NUS students only.