Powerpoints, Examples and Exercises (& their solutions) will be distributed on MyUni along with additional handouts.

Laptops will be provided for in-class Excel exercises

Good sources of help with learning are the downloadable learning guides (Writing, Effective Reading, Making Notes, Time Management, Exam Prep, etc) and links to other learning resources at -

https://www.adelaide.edu.au/writingcentre/resources/

The “Writing and Speaking at Uni” course will help with assignments. I can provide further tips on preparing presentations for those that would like them.

The block-course format (sometimes, misleadingly, called short-course) is commonly used in industry (continued professional development) and is the norm for 4th year and post-graduate courses in the ASP.

It also represents a time when you are expected to take greater responsibility for your own learning – lectures cover the main ideas and are pointers to the topics you should learn about – rather than comprehensive coverage of the curriculum.

One of the advantages of the block-course format is that you can immerse yourself in a single subject, without distraction or having to “re-load” for each session. Another is that there is no need to force-fit the material to the 1hr lecture/tute format – each topic can be addressed in the time it needs. Yet another advantage is that it provides an opportunity for immediate feedback as exercises are carried out, and solutions presented, in-class, after the concept has been taught.

Laptops will be provided for in-class exercises – and you are welcome to bring your own if you would like. Students are expected to engage with class discussions.

A disadvantage is that the compressed time-scale means that you do not have as much time to let one concept sink in before moving on to another. For this reason
­
- we integrate the exercises to practice concepts immediately after learning them, before moving on to the next concept. The amount of time for in-class exercises is set such that 90% or more of students should be able to finish them.

­- you are STRONGLY ADVISED to take a break after the end of class each day and then revise the day’s material for a couple of hours.

Learning tips (not just for block courses):
For most people it takes about 4 repetitions to get information into your long term memory. Apparently (can’t remember where I learnt this from) the best way to do it is to revise the information the day you learn it (2nd time) , then one week later (3rd time), then one month later (4th time).

At the start of a course section, I usually provide grey-scale versions of the PowerPoint slides shown in class Students often find it useful to have several highlighter pens for use with these handouts, because I make a lot of use of colour. PDF files of the full colour PowerPoint slides will be available on MyUni after the class.

After-class consultation and Provision of Feedback to Students

Solutions to in-class exercises will be provided in-class. Solutions to after-class exercises will be posted on My Uni within two weeks of end of class.

I will arrange several mutually convenient time-slots when I will be available, in the weeks following the class, for questions related to exercises and course content.

• (Why study decision-making and project economics?)
• Role of Companies and Management
• Business performance

• Introductory decision
• Decision Analysis
• Decision Elements, Decisions vs Outcomes, Hard decisions

• Overview and Decision Dialogue Process
• Structuring/Framing the decision situation
• Evaluating/Modelling the decision
• Deciding, sensitivity analysis and assessing trade-offs
• Simplifications and Assessing Decision Quality

• Economic evaluation principles
• Net Cash Flow (NCF)
• Cash Flow Components - Revenues & Costs
• Cash Flow Components -Taxes, Depreciation and Depletion
• ASP #1 major exercise

• Overview
• Concessionary vs Production Sharing Contracts
• Australia Fiscal Regimes

• The Earning Power of money - Interest and Financial Mathematics
• Future Value, Present Value & Economic Equivalence
• The Purchasing Power of Money – Inflation

• Discounted Cash Flows (DCF)
• Key value measures: Payback, Net Present Value (NPV), Capital Efficiency (CE, PWPI), Internal Rate of Return (IRR)
• Inflation

• Nature of uncertainty and its quantification
• Reasoning under uncertainty: review & development of probability rules relevant to remainder of course

• Principles: Monte Carlo Sampling
• Monte Simulation and applications
• @Risk (if time)

• Influence Diagrams and Decision Tree Analysis (DTA)
• Application of DTA to valuing information and project flexibility