Abstract:

This paper describes a two-year project on innovative teaching methods that is carried out in the MSc in Actuarial Science at the University of Malaga. The study program of this MSc is focused on the professional competences of actuaries, which require highly specialised skills. However, the professional work of actuaries is scarcely known in Spain and our students frequently have some difficulties to contextualise the contents of the study program as well as the professional skills they must develop. In addition, most of these skills are of a transversal nature, and also some of the specific contents of the courses are applied jointly in the professional practice.

Due to these factors, it is essential for an effective accomplishment of the goals of our study program the implementation of mechanisms that allow the coordination and collaboration between lecturers (and between students) of different courses, in such a way that students get a holistic vision of the actuarial profession which help them to develop the full range of professional skills, whether they are specific or transversal.

To that end, this project includes interdisciplinary and transversal activities with a marked professional focus, that have been specifically designed to enhance the process of identification and development of professional skills. Furthermore, most of them require the combined use of techniques, contents and skills of different courses, and thus, the assessment is performed simultaneously by several lecturers, which demands a high degree of coordination between them.

All the designed activities have in common the professional component as their basis, but have different formats, in an attempt to encourage creativity, innovation and group working, as a bridge to the current requirements of actuarial work. The proposals that we are working by now cover a quite wide range of activities, including workshops with professionals, lecturers and students that promote the interaction between them; producing specialised reports on insurance topics of special relevance proposed by professionals, which may result in final dissertations; and developing automatized models for managing actuarial risks.

Keywords:

Actuarial, professional skills, coordination, transversality.