Real Data, Real Learning: Experiential Learning Strategies in Corporate Finance Education

Abstract

Theory and practice in corporate finance education are often disconnected. Prior research on Problem-Based Learning (PBL) in finance holds some potential, but the evidence for the influence of experiential, data-driven tasks on students’ conceptual understanding and data literacy remains under investigated. The study adopted Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory and analyzed a PBL project using 59 accounting students representing equity analysts at a Malaysian public university to implement the Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) on actual Bursa Malaysia event data. The study is qualitative in design. Descriptive statistics were used to summarise student endorsement of the project, and written reflections collected over five months in 2024 were analysed thematically. Two research questions guided the analysis: (1) how the project shapes students’ understanding of EMH and related corporate finance concepts; and (2) how it influences students’ data literacy, including their use of spreadsheets to analyse and interpret investment outcomes. Results demonstrate strong support for the intervention, with 91.5% of students recommending the project for future cohorts. Six themes were identified: authentic relevance, improved analytical skills and data-handling, theory-to-practice transfer, increased self-confidence and decision-making, stronger communication and collaboration, and perceived deficits in instructional scaffolding. Results show that a systematic interaction with real market data deepens conceptual understanding and enhances the competence of the quantitative evidence used, making visible the design features that can be improved. The study introduces an EMH-based PBL model for corporate finance modules and proposes design protocols for finance educators desiring to cultivate both technical proficiency and workplace skills through experiential techniques.