Learning resources and support

Academic resources encompass a wide range of materials, tools, and sources of information specifically designed to support and enhance learning, research, and scholarly pursuits in an academic setting. These resources play a crucial role in facilitating knowledge acquisition, promoting critical thinking, and advancing scholarly activities within the academic community.

Here is a list and description of the available resources to help you learn the subject. My advice is to utilize as many resources as possible, as they will enable you to grasp the subject matter and develop the necessary professional competences.

Professor. I have extensive experience as an academic and researcher, along with numerous postgraduate studies. I am willing to assist you in better understanding the course topics. If you need any help, feel free to contact me <martin.lozano@udem.edu> and follow my advice.

Please watch the video about professors:

Teams. Exams and homework assignments (see Course activities) are team-based, so your team will be an important part of your academic support throughout the course.

For the official rules on team size, team changes, expulsions, and team agreements, see Team policies.

Class sessions. During our class sessions, we will explain and discuss specific topics, address questions, review your study progress, and occasionally conduct brief activities. Please keep in mind that the time available during class sessions is limited, and we may not be able to cover every topic in full detail. To ensure comprehensive coverage, we will utilize other resources and learning activities. It is expected that you attend on time, actively participate, and engage in our discussions. I recommend using your computer during the sessions as you may need to access an IDE, view the PDF textbook, or refer to your own homework.

For Zoom sessions, you have the option to keep your camera either on or off, as we will often be sharing the screen during class, or you will be doing an activity. To provide convenience, unless otherwise specified, class Zoom sessions will be recorded and made accessible to you. Please note that occasional internet service disruptions during class sessions are a risk we all face. The Zoom link to join the class can be found in Blackboard and in Schedule.

For attendance and tardiness rules, see Attendance and tardiness policies.

Please watch the following video for a valuable recommendation from Prof. Fleisch, which is applicable to both online and face-to-face sessions:

Email. You are welcome to contact me via email at any time: <martin.lozano@udem.edu>. I also send class emails containing important information, so ensure that my email address is not marked as spam. If there is ever a delay in my response to an email or any other request, please feel free to insist and kindly remind me.

Meetings. Whether it is face-to-face or virtual learning, we can schedule 30-minute Zoom online meetings if you require additional assistance or have any other issues you would like to discuss with me. These meetings can be arranged either individually or as a team. Simply send an email to <martin.lozano@udem.edu> to inquire about my availability. I ask that meetings be arranged by email so that I have written evidence of the arrangement and the necessary time to check my schedule before confirming available hours. If my initial availability does not work for you, feel free to let me know, I can offer alternative times until we find a mutually convenient slot. If you need more time, we can arrange for additional meetings or extend the duration as needed. Here is the Zoom link for meetings: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/9209945512. The student or team may request that the Zoom meeting be recorded, and I can share the recording with them for future reference. For the class session Zoom link, refer to the course calendar: Schedule.

DataCamp. DataCamp is an online learning platform focused on data science and analytics. It offers interactive courses in Python, R, SQL, and other tools commonly used in data analysis, machine learning, and statistics. Users learn by writing and running code directly in the browser, with instant feedback and guided exercises. You have free and full access as my student this semester.

For the official rules on DataLab format, location, backups, and exceptional platform failures, see Activity rules and consequences.

Book. The book (or books) is one of the main pillars of this course. In my experience, learning primarily occurs through reading and then reinforcing the concepts through practical application, although there are various other activities included in this course. The authors of the book are esteemed experts in their respective fields: John C. Hull from University of Toronto; Frank Fabozzi from Johns Hopkins Carey Business School; Richard A. Brealey from London Business School; Stewart C. Myers from Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Franklin Allen from Imperial College London; Rob J. Hyndman and George Athanasopoulos from Monash University; and Eugene F. Brigham and Joel F. Houston from University of Florida. These books are not only suitable for intermediate and advanced undergraduate degrees but also for first-year master’s degrees. I prefer using the original versions of the books rather than translations because, in my experience, the translations may not always match the quality of the original English version and, in some cases, may not be available.

Tutorials. I have created a series of specialized online tutorials that provide step-by-step instructions on implementing various topics and estimating financial and economic models using data. These tutorials aim to help you bridge the gap between the theoretical concepts presented in the textbook and the practical implementation in R code. This approach, often referred to as literate programming, allows for a seamless transition. You can access my tutorials in my GitHub public repository https://github.com/mlozanoqf, or more easily through my webpage.

Ah, ya entendí. I have created a series of specialized video tutorials and written resources that provide step-by-step explanations on implementing various topics and estimating financial and economic models using data. You can access my YouTube channel here: Ah, ya entendí. You can also read my Substack here: Ah, ya entendí.

Others. All learning resources described above represent a good resource for your own study of the course material. There are plenty of Internet resources that you will have to use, from databases, YouTube videos, GitHub public repositories, specialized programming blogs, AI tools, books, electronic books, etc. See the resource list at the end of this document for further details. You are encouraged to read articles, reports and news on your own to enhance and expand your understanding about how theoretical concepts relate with current real-life events. The Economist, The Financial Times, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, MarketWatch, Reuters, Bloomberg, Bureau of Economic Analysis, Banxico, Project Syndicate, The New York Times, El Financiero (México), El Confidencial (Spain), OECD, are a good way to grasp contemporary insights related with this course. Other references to support your learning process include economic and financial reports from private banks such as Banamex and BBVA, and think tanks websites such as The Mexico Institute, México cómo vamos, CIDAC, IMCO, COMEXI, among many others. My advice in this respect is rather simple: the more you read the more you learn.

Further support.

If you have any concern, any question about the course contents, or any difficulty understanding the course material, contact me as soon as possible. This is your responsibility starting from day 1. We can arrange an online meeting, or we can address your questions by email, depending on what is more convenient. If your academic performance is poor and you genuinely want to improve, my best advice is to contact me during the lecture period, not after the last session of the semester. During the semester, we can discuss specific strategies that may help you improve your marks and reduce the risk of failing the course. After the final exam, there is very little I can do to change the outcome.

If you receive a low mark in one activity or struggle with a specific topic, take action quickly. Review the feedback, identify what went wrong, redo the work if needed, and contact me if you need guidance. I do not plan to relax the marking criteria, so the right response is to raise your own quality standards until your work meets the expectations of the course.

I recommend that you do not get disappointed, angry, or sad if you receive a low mark. One low mark does not determine the final outcome of the course. Please review the evaluation method to understand how the final grade is computed. The basic logic is simple: to improve, understand, and learn, you need to know what you did well, what you did wrong, and then try again until you can do it well without becoming desperate or frustrated. Nobody wants to hurt you; we want you to learn in a favorable environment. We are not in conflict; we are collaborating. According to my experience, students who sadly fail this course often ignore or forget these recommendations.

As a student, you may have different responsibilities. You may be working, taking other courses, dealing with family commitments, facing unexpected workload, or managing personal difficulties. These situations can affect academic performance. My view is that you are expected to manage your time effectively, but also to protect your health. Sometimes the workload is so intense that you may need to reconsider commitments in order to do well and remain healthy, physically and mentally. If you feel overwhelmed by personal difficulties, workload, or responsibilities, please ask for help. The university has professionals who can support you. If you have personal problems, I can listen, and if I am unable to guide you properly, we can look for professional help. Health is far more important than a job, a course, or the university.

This is a video from The University of Arizona Global Campus about How to Manage College Stress.

We all know that good grades do not necessarily make you a good person or a good professional. One could have difficulties at school but have such a good professional network, or an impressive ability to do business, or an impressive entrepreneurship spirit. However, grades are still quite useful to assess how well you are at meeting some academic standards and how well you manage to understand the relevant topics in your area of expertise. It is more important to be a good person than a good professional, and the graded activities are specifically designed to partially evaluate your technical abilities as a professional. Then, we all assume that you are a good person, and the course activities will help us to evaluate some of the required skills and competences as professionals. Having said that, I hope you can achieve high grades in this course.

In sum, I expect the best academic performance you can achieve, not the average, and definitely not the minimum. This should not be a surprise since you are studying at one of the most prestigious private universities in the country, in a business school with AACSB and AMBA accreditation. If you deliver your best performance in this course, you may be in a better position to eventually tackle difficult business problems, including valuable problems that do not yet exist. I am sure you have done extraordinary things in the past and overcome hard challenges. Take this course as another opportunity to develop your potential and show commitment to your academic and professional training.

I strongly believe you can learn anything just as this video from Khan Academy indicates:

Most of my previous recommendations in this subsection are for those who are having difficulties with the course. If you are doing fine, then good for you , try to enjoy the learning process as much as you can. My commitment is that you will have all the support and resources you need to pass the course during the semester; you only have to take them or ask for them during the lecture period, not after the last course session, and follow all my recommendations in this syllabus.