KINGSTON, R.I. – April 15, 2025 – Personal finance courses are intended to help college students manage their finances after graduation. However, these courses can be challenging for students who have a lower level of financial literacy due to having economically disadvantaged backgrounds.

In 2019, Jing Jian Xiao, a professor of Human Development and Family Science at the University of Rhode Island, attended a workshop promoting inclusive teaching in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses. The workshop inspired Xiao to integrate an approach to teaching that would make students feel more comfortable and increase their chance of success.

“I generated the student-created case approach and implemented it in my courses in the following semesters,” said Xiao.

The approach flips the conventional case study method on its head. Instead of the instructor providing cases for students to discuss and write about, the students are tasked with creating their own cases based on personal experiences.

The workshop that motivated Xiao was taught by Bryan Dewsbury, a URI assistant professor of biology at the time. Now at Florida International University, Dewsbury encouraged Xiao to collect data on the different approach to teaching his courses.

Data was collected from 58 students enrolled in Xiao’s courses during the spring 2021 and fall 2021 semesters with special care taken to ensure that those students were from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.

The data and the students’ perceived benefits and barriers of the unique teaching approach were documented and published in a peer-reviewed article in the Family and Consumer Sciences Research Journal. Titled, “Toward inclusive teaching: Utilizing student-created case studies in a personal finance course,” Xiao served as the lead author, with Dewsbury and Florida International University doctoral student Mehri Azizi contributing as co-authors.

The article was recently selected as the journal’s best paper in the subject of personal finance and consumer economics for 2024. Xiao will be honored for the distinction at the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences Annual Conference, which will take place June 25-27 in Kansas City, Missouri.

Xiao and his co-authors concluded that enabling students to develop and use their own case studies based on personal experience was effective in enhancing their understanding of personal finance concepts.

Students found that the case study project effectively facilitated their learning of personal finance concepts by bridging classroom teachings with real-life applications. The prospect of future application served as a compelling motivator for students in engaging with the concepts. Additionally, they observed that psychological factors such as increased confidence served as important motivational drivers for learning.

“Based on the qualitative data collected, many students liked this approach,” said Xiao. “We identified benefits and barriers perceived by students and the findings were used to further improve the course I was teaching.”

The method has become a mainstay in some of his current courses.