Interdisciplinary Teaching Reform of Financial Engineering Majors Based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process in the Post-Pandemic Era

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

Reviewer 1

Interdisciplinary Teaching Reform of Financial Engineering

General Comments

I found some parts of this paper very easy to read, clear and to the point and other parts more challenging.

I suggest that you employ a proof reader to enhance the overall English comprehensibility of the paper.  Alternatively the person who wrote Section 3 or pp 11-14 be asked to rewrite the paper.

 I am sure that your findings are important but i did not get a good sense of your literature and methodology to actually get a good grasp of your research.

There were a number of claims that were not referenced. I have mentioned a few below but there are many more. I suggest that you seek an academic mentor who can help you shape the work.

No doubt you will get important feedback from your submission this time. I encourage you integrate the feedback and consider submitting it once it is in a scholarly shape. As it is now, I cannot agree that it should be published but with extra work you may get it to a standard to submit it to a relevant journal.

Response: Thank you for the valuable comments. In order to make the research clear, the literature and methodology have been rewritten. The revised parts have been highlighted in the article. Many claims that are referenced now. At your reminder, we have now proofread the full text to make the paper more professional.

 

More detailed feedback

Section 1

What is the definition of professional talent training? Is that similar to employability of graduates?

Consistency with references. Some references just have the name of the author and others have name of author and date.

Response: Thank you for the valuable comments. Professional talent training is similar to employability of graduates in this paper, which means graduates' ability to acquire and maintain jobs. References have been revised and highlighted.

 

2.2 introductory paragraph is very hard to grasp its meaning.

L110 terms such as blended learning L116 professional course teaching mode - need to be defined for the reader. Your readers are in other countries and want to know if their understanding matches your understanding. Therefore definitions are important.

Response: Thank you for the valuable comments. The first paragraph of the introduction section elaborates on the urgency of teaching reform in the post pandemic period, the second paragraph elaborates on the importance of teaching reform in the financial engineering major, followed by the content and ideas of this research, and finally, the innovative points and contributions of this research. Blended learning means that combines classroom-based and on-line learning, professional course teaching mode means cooperative learning. It has been revised and highlighted.

 

2.3  

Excellent definition of Financial Engineering but you need to reference where this knowledge has been sourced.

L137 More and more evidence shows… reference the 2-3 key authors who have provided this evidence.

L154 repetition of words

Response: Thank you for the valuable comments. References have been added to explain the definition of Financial Engineering and provide this evidence “L137 More and more evidence shows…”. The revised part has been highlighted in the article.

 

2.4

L162 There is a claim that needs to be referenced: Most of the research on curriculum evaluation focuses on the establishment of evaluation dimensions and index systems at present. Issue with word order needs to be addressed.

Response: Thank you for the valuable comments. References have been added of this part. Issue with word order has been addressed. The revised part has been highlighted in the article.

 

 

2.4.1

Why were these evaluation indices selected? Are these the most highly cited?? I would like to know how legitimate these are and why you selected these?

Response: Thank you for the valuable comments. The selection of these evaluation indices is based on references, and these evaluation indices are highly cited. References have been added of this part. The revised part has been highlighted in the article.

 

2.4.3

Please reference your claim: L196 The AHP is part of the most comprehensive evaluation system

Response: Thank you for the valuable comments. The expression here is not accurate. References have been added of this part. The revised part has been highlighted in the article.

 

3. The English here is very good. This person who wrote this section should edit the whole paper.

L270-272 these seem to be similar to L48-50.  

Table 1: This could be moved to the Appendix.

Tables 2 and 3 should just be summarised into a succinct paragraph to let the reader know what

method you used to get your results.

Pages 11-14 were comprehensible and the person who wrote this section should rewrite the whole paper.

L490 typo-the word should be ‘had’ and not bad

Line 497 ‘this paper’ should be ‘this research’

Response: Thank you for the valuable comments. We have now proofread the full text to make the research more professional. The interdisciplinary curriculum is a part of the educational reform content, and the article mainly reflects the combination of courses such as big data, machine learning, and artificial intelligence with traditional courses in financial engineering. Table 1 has been moved to the Appendix. Some paragraphs have been added between Tables 2 and 3 to explain the process and method of obtaining the results. The word ‘bad’ has been revised ‘had’. ‘This paper’ has been revised ‘this research’. The revised part has been highlighted in the paper. 

Reviewer 2 Report

Dear authors, please see some comments (highlighted in yellow) I made based on your paper:

Lines 34-7: However, in the post-epidemic era, there are still many problems (such as?) in the effective implementation of the teaching process of financial engineering specialty, resulting in the difficulty in achieving good results (such as?)in the quality and efficiency of teaching and the effective cultivation of students' practical and innovative abilities.

Line 66: colleges and universities (how many?) in our city (which city?)

Literature Review 80 2.1. Teaching Reform (section can be extended and improved)

Line 85: these factors (which ones?)

Line 261-5: Financial engineering concrete is also from the curriculum system, teaching reform the curriculum, teaching techniques and methods, practice teaching and examination system in five aspects, and hope that through the teaching reform of comprehensive scientific and reasonable course system, the curriculum teaching technology and method of introduction, innovation, practice teaching for practical, dynamic comprehensive evaluation system of the goal and effect. (consider rephrasing, it is not clear what you mean here)

Lines 461-2: indicating that the teaching reform will also have an impact on the graduate entrance rate of students (what kind of impact? how significant?)

Line 490: bad better (did you mean "had better?")

 

Author Response

Reviewer 2

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Dear authors, please see some comments (highlighted in yellow) I made based on your paper:

Lines 34-7: However, in the post-epidemic era, there are still many problems (such as?) in the effective implementation of the teaching process of financial engineering specialty, resulting in the difficulty in achieving good results (such as?) in the quality and efficiency of teaching and the effective cultivation of students' practical and innovative abilities.

Response: Thank you for the valuable comments. These problems are such as a lack of scientificity in the curriculum system and environments, a lack of innovation in teaching technology, a lack of adaptability in practical teaching, and more. Lines 34-7 have been revised to “However, there are still many issues with the effective implementation of the teaching process for the financial engineering major in the post-epidemic era, including a lack of scientificity in the curriculum system and environments, a lack of innovation in teaching technology, a lack of adaptability in practical teaching, and more. These issues make it challenging to provide positive outcomes in terms of teaching effectiveness and quality, as well as in the efficient development of students' practical and innovative skills.” The revised part has been highlighted in the article.

 

Line 66: colleges and universities (how many?) in our city (which city?)

Response: Thank you for the valuable comments. There are 11 colleges and universities in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province. The revised part has been highlighted in the article.  

 

Literature Review 80 2.1. Teaching Reform (section can be extended and improved)

Response: Thank you for the valuable comments. This section has been extended and references have been added of this part. The revised part has been highlighted in the article.

 

Line 85: these factors (which ones?)

Response: Thank you for the valuable comments. These factors are such as teachers, students, teaching resources. The revised part has been highlighted in the article.

 

Line 261-5: Financial engineering concrete is also from the curriculum system, teaching reform the curriculum, teaching techniques and methods, practice teaching and examination system in five aspects, and hope that through the teaching reform of comprehensive scientific and reasonable course system, the curriculum teaching technology and method of introduction, innovation, practice teaching for practical, dynamic comprehensive evaluation system of the goal and effect. (consider rephrasing, it is not clear what you mean here)

Response: Thank you for the valuable comments. This part has been rewritten as follows: The teaching reform for the financial engineering major will be carried out from five aspects: curriculum system, teaching reform, curriculum design, teaching methods, and practical teaching and assessment system. The revised part has been highlighted in the article.

 

Lines 461-2: indicating that the teaching reform will also have an impact on the graduate entrance rate of students (what kind of impact? how significant?)

Response: Thank you for the valuable comments. This part has been rewritten as follows: The graduate enrollment rate of this major ranks fourth, indicating that teaching reform will also have an impact on students' graduate enrollment rate. Specifically, this teaching reform has increased the graduate enrollment rate. The above prominent factors have improved the effectiveness of teaching reform. The revised part has been highlighted in the article.

 

Line 490: bad better (did you mean "had better?")

Response: Thank you for the valuable comments. It has been revised to ‘had better’. The revised part has been highlighted in the article.

Reviewer 3 Report

The contribution presents a reform program for the teaching of financial engineering

 

It is clear that this program has enabled or improved the school's discipline strength, enrollment rate, employment rate, and competition awards, especially discipline strength.

 

Therefore, it is a very interesting and pertinent contribution that should be known and disseminated to the scientific community.

 

In addition, it have, as very well argued at the beginning (in the introduction), sustainable development, so necessary in our times.

 

It is very interesting to verify that the results of a survey that was passed to financial engineering students were collected and that, in this way, they participated in the preparation of the proposal to reform the teaching of this discipline.

 

I have found the review of the literature very excellent, it is very well structured and argued. The citations and references are very appropriate, current and impactful.

 

The methodology used is very appropriate. It is very well justified and the tables help to understand each of the variables involved in the process of analysis and subsequent proposal for reform of the teaching of financial engineering.

 

I also find very accurate how the results of the questionnaire have been presented, and how they serve for the subsequent preparation of the proposal.

 

I can only reproach the authors for two things. The brevity of the conclusions, which is why I encourage them and suggest that they be completed with a little more development. And, on the other hand, that they review the format of the included references so that it is in accordance with the format required by the journal.

 

Author Response

Reviewer 3

The contribution presents a reform program for the teaching of financial engineering

It is clear that this program has enabled or improved the school's discipline strength, enrollment rate, employment rate, and competition awards, especially discipline strength.

Therefore, it is a very interesting and pertinent contribution that should be known and disseminated to the scientific community.

In addition, it have, as very well argued at the beginning (in the introduction), sustainable development, so necessary in our times. 

It is very interesting to verify that the results of a survey that was passed to financial engineering students were collected and that, in this way, they participated in the preparation of the proposal to reform the teaching of this discipline.

I have found the review of the literature very excellent, it is very well structured and argued. The citations and references are very appropriate, current and impactful.

The methodology used is very appropriate. It is very well justified and the tables help to understand each of the variables involved in the process of analysis and subsequent proposal for reform of the teaching of financial engineering.

I also find very accurate how the results of the questionnaire have been presented, and how they serve for the subsequent preparation of the proposal.

I can only reproach the authors for two things. The brevity of the conclusions, which is why I encourage them and suggest that they be completed with a little more development. And, on the other hand, that they review the format of the included references so that it is in accordance with the format required by the journal.

Response: Thank you for the valuable comments. The conclusion has been rewritten and the format of the included references has been revised. The revised part has been highlighted in the article.

Reviewer 4 Report

Dear Authors:

I find the topic you have studied is of great significance. 

However, your manuscript has a very confusing structure. 

The focus of the study needs to be clearly written. Moreover, I also consider that there are weaknesses in the conceptual framework, and it also lacks current and relevant references/sources.

I present to you some of my reflections:

-it seems to me that the title does not correspond properly to the study: “Interdisciplinary Teaching reform of Financial Engineering Specialty based on Analytic Hierarchy Process in the Post-Pandemic Era”. For example: The study is not only based "on Analytic Hierarchy Process"; 

-it should emphasize this: “to help graduates achieve employment sustainability”. In fact, I consider this aspect (lack of emphasis on "to help graduates achieve employment sustainability") a shortcoming of the manuscript. They should review it. 

- “financial engineering courses” or “Financial Engineering Specialty” or “Financial Engineering Major”? Clarification and uniformity are needed.

- This statement is very problematic: “The evaluation of the effectiveness of this interdisciplinary teaching reform can also provide theoretical guidance for the government to better formulate talent training programs, and ultimately help graduates to achieve employment sustainability through teaching and learning.” 

For example: “and ultimately help graduates to achieve employment sustainability through teaching and learning.”- What was the theoretical background?

- I think the manuscript needs restructuring. The methodology section should be included. The "Contents of Teaching Reform" section has another scope. When writing the "methodology" section, characterize, with references, the instruments used in the study. Properly characterize the participants in the study. What you have written, for example, lines 222-230, has not strength of argument in the context of research methodology.

-You must also write clearly and appropriately the objectives of the study. Ex: Analyze ...; Evaluate/Assess ...;...

I suggest that at the end of section 1. you write, appropriately, the objectives of your study. The result analysis should be organized according to the objectives of the research you conducted.

I suggest revisiting the lines 13-19, because they are unclear:

“This paper first analyzed the urgency and importance of financial engineering practice teaching and talent training in the post-epidemic era. Then, according to the needs of the labor market, the paper put forward the content and plan of interdisciplinary teaching reform to meet the needs of talent cultivation. Thirdly, face-to-face survey and interview were conducted on the students participating in the teaching reform, and the data obtained were summarized and processed. On this basis, the effect of teaching reform was evaluated by combining expert scoring method and analytic hierarchy process. “

 

- I also have serious doubts regarding:

-table 1: “Teaching techniques and methods”; “Practical teaching”. What is the difference between teaching techniques and methods? What is practical teaching? Isn't it a teaching method?

-The statements present in lines 484 to 498 is very problematic. See my doubts denoted with parentheses. I suggest rewriting those sentences.

“The results showed that the financial engineering teaching reform program proposed in this paper (does it correspond?) has improved the  school's discipline strength, enrollment rate, employment rate and competition awards,  especially the discipline strength.” 

“On the one hand, the research can help (does it correspond?)  students master the professional quality of financial engineering and improve their ability to solve practical problems. On the other hand, this paper can help (does it correspond?) graduate improve the competitiveness of students in employment and increase the sustainability of employment.””

-Include in section 2 the meaning/scope  of concept "discipline strength" and it must be engaged with relevant sources.

Rev

Author Response

Reviewer 4

Dear Authors:

I find the topic you have studied is of great significance. 

However, your manuscript has a very confusing structure. 

Response: Thank you for the valuable comments. The structure has been revised, and the methodology has been added. The revised part has been highlighted in the article.

The focus of the study needs to be clearly written. Moreover, I also consider that there are weaknesses in the conceptual framework, and it also lacks current and relevant references/sources.

Response: Thank you for the valuable comments. The focus of the study is to assess the efficacy of educational reform, and it has been rewritten. A lot of references have been added. The revised part has been highlighted in the article.

I present to you some of my reflections:

-it seems to me that the title does not correspond properly to the study: “Interdisciplinary Teaching reform of Financial Engineering Specialty based on Analytic Hierarchy Process in the Post-Pandemic Era”. For example: The study is not only based "on Analytic Hierarchy Process"; 

Response: Thank you for the valuable comments. The methods used in this study include Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) in evaluating the effectiveness of educational reform, questionnaire survey method and interview method in the data collection process. The AHP method accounts for a large portion of the text, which is also the method used in Chapter 5 for evaluating the effectiveness of educational reform. Therefore, this method is pointed out in the title.

-it should emphasize this: “to help graduates achieve employment sustainability”. In fact, I consider this aspect (lack of emphasis on "to help graduates achieve employment sustainability") a shortcoming of the manuscript. They should review it. 

Response: Thank you for the valuable comments. This ‘to help graduates achieve employment sustainability’ has been revised ‘to help students adapt to the labor market’. The revised part has been highlighted in the article.    

- “financial engineering courses” or “Financial Engineering Specialty” or “Financial Engineering Major”? Clarification and uniformity are needed.

Response: Thank you for the valuable comments. It has been changed to financial engineering major. The article has clarified and unified “Financial Engineering Major”. The revised part has been highlighted in the article.  

- This statement is very problematic: “The evaluation of the effectiveness of this interdisciplinary teaching reform can also provide theoretical guidance for the government to better formulate talent training programs, and ultimately help graduates to achieve employment sustainability through teaching and learning.” 

For example: “and ultimately help graduates to achieve employment sustainability through teaching and learning.”- What was the theoretical background?

Response: Thank you for the valuable comments. This ‘to help graduates achieve employment sustainability’ has been revised ‘to help students adapt to the labor market’. This part has been revised. The revised part has been highlighted in the article. 

- I think the manuscript needs restructuring. The methodology section should be included. The "Contents of Teaching Reform" section has another scope. When writing the "methodology" section, characterize, with references, the instruments used in the study. Properly characterize the participants in the study. What you have written, for example, lines 222-230, has not strength of argument in the context of research methodology.

Response: Thank you for the valuable comments. The methodology has been added and a lot of references have been added. The description of participants characteristics has been presented in Part 4, and participants have completed all undergraduate courses and have a basic understanding of the training mode of their major, so they can make more objective and scientific evaluations. Lines 222-230 is a summary of existing research. The revised part has been highlighted in the article.

-You must also write clearly and appropriately the objectives of the study. Ex: Analyze ...; Evaluate/Assess ...;...

I suggest that at the end of section 1. you write, appropriately, the objectives of your study. The result analysis should be organized according to the objectives of the research you conducted.

Response: Thank you for the valuable comments. The objectives of the study have been added in section 1 as follows: The purpose of this research is to assess the efficacy of educational reform. The conclusions have been revised according to the objectives of the research we conducted. The revised part has been highlighted in the article.   

I suggest revisiting the lines 13-19, because they are unclear:

“This paper first analyzed the urgency and importance of financial engineering practice teaching and talent training in the post-epidemic era. Then, according to the needs of the labor market, the paper put forward the content and plan of interdisciplinary teaching reform to meet the needs of talent cultivation. Thirdly, face-to-face survey and interview were conducted on the students participating in the teaching reform, and the data obtained were summarized and processed. On this basis, the effect of teaching reform was evaluated by combining expert scoring method and analytic hierarchy process. “

 Response: Thank you for the valuable comments. This part has been rewritten as follows: This research first analyzed the significance of financial engineering practice teaching and graduate employability in the post-epidemic era. Second, the study proposed the content and plan of interdisciplinary teaching reform to address the needs of talent cultivation based on labor market needs. Third, a face-to-face survey and interview were done with students involved in the teaching change, and the results were summarized and analyzed. On this basis, the impact of teaching reform was assessed using a combination of the expert scoring method and the analytic hierarchy approach. The revised part has been highlighted in the article.   

 

- I also have serious doubts regarding:

-table 1: “Teaching techniques and methods”; “Practical teaching”. What is the difference between teaching techniques and methods? What is practical teaching? Isn't it a teaching method?

 Response: Thank you for the valuable comments. This "teaching techniques and methods" has been changed to "teaching methods". Practical teaching is also a teaching method that involves incorporating practices or activities to improve students' hands-on abilities during the teaching process. The revised part has been highlighted in the article.   

-The statements present in lines 484 to 498 is very problematic. See my doubts denoted with parentheses. I suggest rewriting those sentences.

“The results showed that the financial engineering teaching reform program proposed in this paper (does it correspond?) has improved the  school's discipline strength, enrollment rate, employment rate and competition awards,  especially the discipline strength.” 

“On the one hand, the research can help (does it correspond?)  students master the professional quality of financial engineering and improve their ability to solve practical problems. On the other hand, this paper can help (does it correspond?) graduate improve the competitiveness of students in employment and increase the sustainability of employment.””

 

 Response: Thank you for the valuable comments. The conclusions have been revised according to the objectives of the research we conducted. The revised part has been highlighted in the article.   

-Include in section 2 the meaning/scope  of concept "discipline strength" and it must be engaged with relevant sources.

 

 Response: Thank you for the valuable comments. Discipline strength refers to the comprehensive strength of a discipline in academic research, teaching level, talent cultivation, and other aspects. This part has been rewritten and relevant reference has been added. The revised part has been highlighted in the article. 

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

The reader needs to read through a lot of material that is mentioned more than once. 

The listing of a range of evaluations makes it very tedious to read though. Summarise the limitations of 2-3 key methods used and then provide the advantages as well as limitations for the one selected. 

There are still a number of grammatical errors and it would be good to get the article rewritten by a native English speaker.

 

Author Response

Respond Reviewer 1

The reader needs to read through a lot of material that is mentioned more than once.

 Response: Thank you for the valuable comments. We have removed duplicate contents and increased readability of the article, so that readers can quickly understand the viewpoints expressed in the article. The revised part has been highlighted in the article. 

The listing of a range of evaluations makes it very tedious to read though. Summarise the limitations of 2-3 key methods used and then provide the advantages as well as limitations for the one selected. 

Response: Thank you for the valuable comments. This article uses expert grading method and questionnaire survey method. On the one hand, in the selection of experts, how to ensure the authority of experts and the rationality of the composition of expert groups is a problem to be solved in the actual research. On the other hand, grading by experts is bound to have a certain subjective tendency. Questionnaire survey requires higher level of questionnaire design and is difficult to guarantee the response rate and efficiency of the questionnaire and the representativeness of the sample. This paper mainly uses analytic hierarchy process (AHP). The advantages of analytic hierarchy process are simple to use and easy to understand. It can solve the practical problem when the quantitative data information is insufficient. The limitations of analytic hierarchy process are less quantitative data and more qualitative components, which is not easy to be convincing. When there are more indicators, the data statistics are large and the weight is difficult to determine. The revised part has been highlighted in the article. 

There are still a number of grammatical errors and it would be good to get the article rewritten by a native English speaker.

Response: Thank you for the valuable comments. In order to make the research clear, we have now proofread the full text to make the paper more professional. The revised part has been highlighted in the article.

Reviewer 4 Report

Dear authors,

your manuscript is much improved.

But I challenge you to search the meaning of "practical teaching".  If the context is the type of lesson in a course plan, then that needs to be specified in the manuscript. But from what I understand of the manuscript, it seems to me that if you replaced "practical teaching" with "Job skills developing" in the manuscript, the conceptual problem would be solved.

Look at the numbering of the tables. Table 2 cannot be referred to before table 1...

Rw

Author Response

Respond Reviewer 4

Dear authors,

your manuscript is much improved.

But I challenge you to search the meaning of "practical teaching".  If the context is the type of lesson in a course plan, then that needs to be specified in the manuscript. But from what I understand of the manuscript, it seems to me that if you replaced "practical teaching" with "Job skills developing" in the manuscript, the conceptual problem would be solved.

Response: Thank you for the valuable comments. "practical teaching" is the type of lesson in a course plan in this paper. Practical teaching refers to a type of teaching method that emphasizes hands-on learning and application of knowledge in real-world scenarios. It typically involves activities such as experiments, simulations, case studies, and problem-solving exercises that allow students to develop practical skills and gain experience in their field of study. The goal is to prepare students for the challenges they will face in their careers and help them apply what they have learned to solve real-world problems. The revised part has been highlighted in the article.

Look at the numbering of the tables. Table 2 cannot be referred to before table 1...

Response: Thank you for the valuable comments. The order of table 1 to table 4 has been revised. The revised part has been highlighted in the article.