Description: The article discusses the use of the keyword strategy in teaching. The literature with a negative view of keywords is reviewed and responded to by advocating keywords with multiple meanings supplemented with relevant instructional guidance. Numerous examples are presented from the SOA preliminary exams. Additionally, advanced use of keywords to problems not having them are presented.

Description: An article giving a summary of the Asia Pacific Teaching Conference that took place in Bangkok in December 2022. This article will be disseminated via SOA News Weekly, which will link to the article on soa.org.

Description: Increasing technology is available to create and disseminate educational resources worldwide. In response, this article advocates creation of open educational resources (OERs) that will benefit the actuarial profession with both recruitment and retention of members. Specifically, we describe OER contributions made at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and more recently through the ASTIN Academy, a working group of ASTIN, the non-life section of the International Actuarial Association. We advocate pushing boundaries and creating new ways of teaching effectively for the future. The innovative use of technology and open-source materials is a way to foster diversity, equity, and inclusion in the actuarial profession.

Description: This article is an interview of Stuart Klugman, senior staff fellow for Education at the SOA, who explains the changes to the pathway to earn the ASA designation.

Description: As the insurance industry continues to evolve due to a pandemic and rapidly changing economic and regulatory conditions, the role of data scientists and actuaries has become increasingly important. In an interview with the Atidot data science and actuarial team, we discuss what it is like to work at an InsurTech, how data scientists and actuaries can collaborate, and look at some concrete technical examples of where the innovation is having an impact. This article explores what collaboration can look like and how the role of data science and actuary may evolve in the InsurTech industry in the future.

Description: A news release announcing the winners of the 2024 Student Research Case Study Challenge.

Description: Actuary Dave Dillon describes his role volunteering his time as a teacher in higher education, including the rewards and challenges that teaching offers. He discusses the importance of being attentive to his audience’s pre-existing knowledge and adapting his presentations accordingly. His work as a teacher typically encompasses three distinct domains: 1) acquainting young students with the actuarial profession, 2) educating non-actuaries about public policy issues related to health insurance (including the Affordable Care Act), and 3) instructing current actuaries on advanced methodologies and principles within the field. Recently he taught a health insurance course for actuarial science graduate students at Georgia State University and lectured at Boise State University’s master's program in Population & Health Systems Management. In every teaching and mentoring opportunity, actuaries can contribute to the expansion and prosperity of the profession and are encouraged to pursue these endeavors.