Associate Professor Kevin Liu

My Expertise

Superannuation
Lifecycle financial decision making
Career-focused Education
Problem-based learning

Keywords

formative teaching and learning

problem-based learning

Biography

Kevin is the Associate Dean Undergraduate Programs at the UNSW Business School. Before joining academia in 2011, Kevin served in the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) research department. He has an honours degree and a PhD in Finance from the University of Sydney.

Kevin is an innovative and passionate educational leader committed to education excellence and student experience. He is a UNSW Scientia Education Fellow and EF...view more

Kevin is an innovative and passionate educational leader committed to education excellence and student experience. He is a UNSW Scientia Education Fellow and EF Faculty Champion for Business. Before taking up the Associate Dean Undergraduate Programs role in 2024, Kevin led the Undergraduate Actuarial Studies Program at UNSW as the Program Director for a decade, growing and sustaining the program to be the world's largest and leading undergraduate actuarial program, recognised nationally and globally.

Kevin has led the development of multiple academic programs, majors, and courses for undergraduate, postgraduate, and professional students at UNSW Business School. He has also pioneered and led many program-wide curriculum and pedagogical innovations, particularly in important areas such as assessment design (e.g. StoryWall Formative Assessment Pedagogy), authentic industry learning at scale (e.g. UNSW Sandbox Program), employability skill development (e.g. Excelerate: Modular Excel Mastery Program for All), student engagement (e.g. Retirement VR), student support (e.g. Adaptive Online Revision Tool), and inclusive and equitable quality education (e.g. Regional and Indigenous Outreach Program). These initiatives have been incorporated into more than 50 undergraduate and postgraduate courses across various faculties and schools at UNSW and other institutions, significantly enhancing the learning experiences and outcomes for tens of thousands of students. Kevin's educational innovation and leadership in transforming business education have been recognised through multiple institutional, national, and international awards. He is also regularly invited to present at international learning and teaching conferences and leading universities.

In addition to being Associate Dean Undergraduate Programs, Kevin holds several leadership positions. For example, Kevin is the Deputy Director of the UNSW Sandbox Program. He also serves on the UNSW Business School Education Committee, Faculty Board, Faculty Assessment Review Group, and the UNSW Board of Studies.

Kevin's research expertise is in superannuation and retirement income policy. His research focuses on the governance and performance of superannuation funds; regulation and supervision of superannuation and private pension funds; systemic risk in retirement systems; and retirement saving and investment decision-making.

Kevin is a regular contributor to superannuation policy development and community engagement. His research impact roles include expert witness, public hearing, and Government advising. His research has been cited by major public reviews and inquiries on superannuation. He served on two APRA working groups on investment governance and trustee governance in conjunction with the post-Cooper Review (Super System Review) superannuation reforms. He has been a consultant on superannuation governance and performance issues to APRA and Industry Super Australia (ISA), and was a member of the Productivity Commission's Industry Roundtable on the efficiency and competitiveness of the superannuation system (2017), as well as a member of the Treasury's Your Future Your Super Review - Technical Working Group (2022) and Roundtable on the superannuation performance test (2024). His work has been featured in the media, including the Australian, Australian Financial Review, Sydney Morning Herald, Investment Magazine, and SBS News.

Kevin is passionate about advancing financial literacy and improving retirement outcomes for individuals. He is a director of Understanding Super, a not-for-profit start-up that provides free financial literacy education through its online platform and mobile app to help ordinary Australians understand superannuation.

My Grants

Research Grants

2016-2017: Team Leader and Chief Investigator (with E Ooi), Industry Research Grant, Industry Super Australia, $50,000.
Governance, related-party outsourcing, and MySuper performance of Australian Superannuation Funds
2016: Chief Investigator (with E Ooi and P Gerrans), UWA Business School Research Development Awards (BSRDA), $8,000.
Who is Best to Look After Our Retirement Savings? The Role of Trustee Independence for Superannuation Fund Boards
2015: Chief Investigator, UNSW Business School Research Grants (BSRG), $20,000.
Does Governance Explain Heterogeneous Fees for Homogeneous Products? Trustee Board Structure and Default Product Fee-setting in the Australian Superannuation Industry
2014: Chief Investigator, UNSW Business School Research Grants (UNSW Business School Research Grant), $25,000.
Are Trustees Rewarded for Performance? The Remuneration of Superannuation Fund Trustees and Its Determinants
2013-2014: Chief Investigator (with B Arnold, H Bateman, R Buckley, S Donald), Centre for International Finance and Regulation (CIFR) Research Grant (with Australian Prudential Regulation Authority), $200,800 over 2 years. Identifying, Monitoring, and Managing Systemic Risks in Australia's Superannuation System
2013: Investigator (with H Bateman), The ARC Centre of Excellence in Population Ageing Research (CEPAR) Research Grant, $15,000.Retirement Income Provision in China: The impact of Household Characteristics and Regional Differences
2013: Chief Investigator UNSW Business School Special Research Grant (SRG), $10,000. Can Trustee's Expertise be Trusted? The Competence of Superannuation Fund Trustees and Its Implications on Fund Performance

Learning and Teaching Grants

2021: UNSW Education Focussed School Grant (with X Xu)
Authentic Assessments: Integrating Real-World Industry Challenges into Curricula as Program-wide Authentic Assessments in BActSt and MActSt Programs, $40,000.
2018: UNSW Education Focussed Foundation Funding (with twenty EF academics across all Faculties at UNSW), $197,000.
Digital Assessment: Empowering Students and Supporting Teachers through Innovative Student-Oriented Educational Practices
2018: UNSW Education Focussed Foundation Funding (with eleven EF academics across six Faculties at UNSW), $100,000.
AV Select: Enriching UNSW Teaching Through AV (Audio and Video) Technologies
2017: UNSW Scientia Education Investment Fund Grant (with H Yip, K Fong, M Uncles, T Wilcox, K Clark, D Mayorga, L Piggott, J Wardrop), $50,000.
A Learner-Centred Approach to Attain Significant Learning of Oral Communication for AOL in MCom Programs
2015: UNSW Learning and Teaching Innovation Grant (with H Bateman), $20,000.
Enhancing the Learning Experience of Postgraduate Students with Diverse Backgrounds Using Personalised Pathways and Adaptive Tools

My Qualifications

Ph.D. (Finance), University of Sydney

My Awards

Bloomberg Education Excellence Award - Best Innovative Teaching Practices (with Fei Huang, Xiao Xu, Jonathan Ziveyi, and Sherry Zhang), The 36th Australasian Finance and Banking Conference (2023)
UNSW, Vice-Chancellor’s Awards for Programs that Enhance Learning (with other members of the BCom Redesign Team) (2021)
UNSW Business School, Bill Birkett Award for Sustained Teaching Excellence (2021)
UNSW Business School, Values in Action Award (with other members of the BCom Redesign Team and BCom Project Team) (2021)
UNSW Business School, Award for a Program that Enhances Learning (2017)
AFA (Association of Financial Advisers)/PFL (Plan for Life), Annuity & Income Stream Innovation Award for UNSW Retirement Planning Course (Collaborated with Challenger, Co-developed with Hazel Bateman) (2014)

My Research Activities

Kevin has research interests in the areas of superannuation and retirement income policy. His current research investigates the operation, structure and performance of superannuation funds; the governance and regulation of superannuation and pension funds; systemic risk in retirement systems; retirement saving and investment decisions.

My Engagement

Member, Department of the Treasury 'Your Future Your Super Review - Technical Working Group' (2022)
Director, UnderstandingSuper (since 2017)
Member, Australian Government (Productivity Commission) ‘Industry Roundtable on the Competitiveness and Efficiency of the Superannuation System’ (2017-18)
Consultant, Industry Super Australia (ISA) 'Superannuation Governance and Performance' (2016-2017)
Consultant, Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) 'Superannuation Outsourcing, Performance and Governance' (2011-2013)

Submissions

Department of the Treasury, Annual Superannuation Performance Test – Design Options, 2024
Department of Education, Skills and Employment, National Priorities and Industry Linkage Fund Consultation Paper (with Yenni Tim and Veronica Jiang), 2020
Royal Commission, Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry, 2018
Productivity Commission, Superannuation Competitiveness and Efficiency Inquiries, 2018
Senate Standing Committees on Economics, Superannuation Laws Amendment (Strengthening Trustee Arrangements) Bill 2017, 2017

Media Coverage

My Teaching

Kevin is a UNSW Scientia Education Academy Fellow and a multi-award-winning educator who is committed to empowering students by developing inspirational learning experiences through the integration of a career-focused educational approach and innovative educational technologies. As an EF Academic, he has led the development of multiple academic programs, majors, and courses for undergraduate, postgraduate, and professional students at UNSW Business School.

Kevin is Deputy Director of the UNSW Sandbox Program, which challenges the status quo that work-based learning is merely the “cherry on top”. The Program scaffolds real-world challenges into existing courses, connecting students with industry practitioners to co-create solutions for contemporary issues. Since its inception in November 2019, the Sandbox Program has transformed 25 undergraduate and postgraduate courses across four disciplines at the UNSW Business School. Over 7,800 students have gained work-based experience through working directly with 160 industry experts from 30 leading industry partners, including Microsoft, Australian Red Cross, APRA (Australian Regulation Authority), AwareSuper, MetLife, the Actuaries Institute, Ernst & Young, KPMG, IAG, Suncorp, Salesforce and WWF Australia, to address 70 contemporary business and societal challenges.

Kevin also pioneered the StoryWall Formative Assessment Model, which has been adopted in over 50 courses at UNSW Business School (over 15,000 StoryWall assessment completions by UG and PG students across four schools) to engage students as partners in co-creating authentic learning experiences and active online learning communities.

Kevin also leads teaching innovation projects that use advanced digital technologies to support student learning, e.g. Online Personalised Adaptive Revision Tool, and Retirement VR (Virtual Reality). He is a founding member of two Learning and Teaching Communities of Practice at UNSW, and has jointly received $407,800 in competitive learning and teaching funding.

Kevin received multiple education excellence awards at the university, national and international levels.

Learning and Teaching Leadership

Associate Dean Undergraduate Programs, UNSW Business School (since 2024)
EF Faculty Champion for Business, UNSW (since 2024)
Scientia Education Fellow, UNSW Scientia Education Academy (since 2022)
Founder, StoryWall Formative Assessment Model (since 2019)
Deputy Director, UNSW Sandbox Program (since 2020)
Program Director, Undergraduate Actuarial Program (2013-2023)
Member, School of Risk and Actuarial Studies, Education Committee (2013-2023)
Member, UNSW Business School Undergraduate Education Committee (2019-2023)
Member, BizLab (Business School Experimental Lab) Management Committee (2012-2023)
Member, UNSW Business School BCom Review Working Group (since 2020)
Team Champion, UNSW Business School BCom Review Working Group, Active Problem-based Learning Team (since 2020)
Reviewer, UNSW Peer Review of Teaching (since 2021)
Reviewer, Business School Peer Support of Teaching (since 2018)
Mentor, UNSW Academic Mentor (since 2018)

Learning and Teaching Presentation and Showcase

2024: SOA (Society of Actuaries) 2024 Actuarial Teaching Conference - Nashville, Reimagining Actuarial Education in the AI Era: The UNSW Experience (with Andrés Villegas), Nashville US
2024: UNSW’s Education Festival, Excelerate: Modular Excel Mastery Program for All
2024: Invited Speaker at 2nd Annual Pensión Conference - Pensions and Technology, Retirement VR: Engaging the Next Generation in Retirement Saving Decisions Through Immersive Experiences
2024: Invited Panel Speaker, Evaluation of Teaching & e-portfolio CoP Workshop, Same, Same, But Different - How Different Disciplines Embrace the Evaluation of Teaching Processes, UNSW PVCESE
2024: Invited Speaker, UNSW Course Design Institute (CDI) - Pedagogies
2023: 36th Australasian Finance and Banking Conference (AFBC), Addressing Real-World Financial Challenges through UNSW Sandbox Program (with Xiao Xu and Sherry Zhang), Sydney, Australia
2023: Invited Keynote Speaker at Assessment Innovation and Digitalization in Financial Education Conference, Rethink, Reimagine and Repurpose Assessment Design in Financial Education, Chongqing, China
2023: Invited Seminar Presentation at Monash University (Department of Econometrics and Business Statistics), Reimagine and Repurpose Assessment Design: Co-Creating Authentic Learning and Engaging Future Business Professionals in Industry Problem-Solving, Melbourne, Australia
2023: 27th APRIA (Asia-Pacific Risk and Insurance Association) Annual Conference, StoryWall: A Formative Assessment Model for Co-creating Authentic Learning Experiences, Osaka, Japan
2023: AFRIC (Actuarial, Finance, Risk and Insurance Congress), Work-based Learning Experience for All - Engaging the Next Generation of Actuaries to Solve Industry Problems in a Sandbox, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
2023: AFRIC (Actuarial, Finance, Risk and Insurance Congress), StoryWall - A Formative Assessment Model for Empowering Students as Partners in Learning, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe
2023: Advance HE Teaching and Learning Conference 2023 - Teaching in the spotlight: Shaping the future of teaching in HE, Work-Based Experience for All: The Tripartite Impact of UNSW Sandbox Program, Keele, UK
2023: Invited Workshop Presentation at UNSW Business School Education Initiative Education Matters Workshop, Exploring StoryWall
2023: Invited Workshop Presentation at UNSW LET'S Meet T2 2023 (by Educational Technology Support, PVCESE), Teaching with MS Teams: Engaging Students and Creating Active Online Learning Communities
2023: Invited Panel Speaker, UNSW Business School Education Initiative Education Matters: Innovative Teaching Models, Identifying Challenges and Opportunities in Business Education & Innovating Business Education
2023: Invited Seminar Presentation at TeachingMatters Seminar, Generative Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education: Opportunities and Challenges, School of Creative Industries, LASALLE College of Arts, Singapore
2023: Southeast Asian Conference on Education, StoryWall: A Formative Assessment Model for Co-creating Authentic Learning Experiences and Feedback, Singapore
2023: Invited Presentation at Nanyang Business School, Tripartite Problem-Solving in A Sandbox - Facilitating Industry, Academic, and University Student Partnership at Scale (with Yenni Tim), Nanyang Technological University (NTU) Singapore
2023: Invited Workshop Presentation at UNSW LET'S Meet T1 2023 (by Educational Technology Support, PVCESE), Microsoft Teams for Teaching
2022: SOA (Society of Actuaries) 2022 Actuarial Teaching Conference - Bangkok, The UNSW Sandbox Model: Engaging the Next Generation of Actuaries to Provide Solutions to Industry Problems, Bangkok Thailand
2022: Australasian Actuarial Education and Research Symposium, Invited Panelist, Education Panel Discussion - The Tensions in Actuarial Assessment, ANU Canberra
2022: Australasian Actuarial Education and Research Symposium, Data Analytics Sandbox: Engaging the Next Generation of Actuaries to Provide Solutions to Today’s Industry Problems (with Fei Huang), ANU Canberra
2022: UNSW’s Education Festival, Work-based Experience for all: The Tripartite Impact of UNSW Sandbox Program (with Yenni Tim)
2022: SOA (Society of Actuaries) 2022 Actuarial Teaching Conference - Chicago, StoryWall: A Formative Assessment Model for Co-creating Authentic Learning Experiences and Feedback (with Jonathan Ziveyi), Chicago US
2022: SOA (Society of Actuaries) 2022 Actuarial Teaching Conference - Chicago, The UNSW Sandbox Model: Engaging the Next Generation of Actuaries to Provide Solutions to Industry Problems, Chicago US
2021: 29th Colloquium on Pensions and Retirement Research, Retirement Sandbox: Engaging Young Minds to Provide New Solutions to Old Problems (with David Bell, Shang Wu, and Richard Liu), Sydney, Australia
2021: UNSW’s Education Festival, StoryWall: A Formative Assessment Model for Co-creating Authentic Learning Experiences and Feedback (with Fei Huang, Guillaume Boglioni Beaulieu, and Jonathan Ziveyi)
2021: UNSW Connections Seminar and Workshop, 'Get Real! Career-focused Assessments to Equip Students for Real-world Challenges' (with Yenni Tim)
2020: Education @ Business Showcase, 'StoryWall: A Formative Assessment Model for Enhancing Student Online Learning Experiences' (with Fei Huang)
2020: Education @ Business Showcase, 'Future-proofing Our Graduates through A Sandbox Career-focused Experience' (with Yenni Tim and Veronica Jiang)
2019: Business School Learning & Teaching Showcase, 'Enhancing Student Learning and Engagement through the Purposeful Inclusion of Student Voices'
2019: EF Lunch & Learn – Business, 'Retirement VR, Inspiring Student Learning through Immersive Learning Experiences with Interactive Virtual Reality'
2018: UNSW Inspired Learning Summit 2018, Multimedia Showcase - VR/AR Immersive Experience, 'Retirement VR (Virtual Reality) Showcase'
2016: UNSW Learning and Teaching Forum, Poster Presentation, 'Enhancing the Learning Experience of Postgraduate Students with Diverse Backgrounds Using Personalised Pathways and Adaptive Tools'

Learning and Teaching Innovation

2023: Excelerate – Modular Excel Mastery Program for All - COMM1110 - Created the Excelerate Modular Excel Training program, which transforms Excel learning into an engaging and enriching experience. This program features modular learning resources, a real-world problem-driven approach, advanced formative assessment design, and active online learning communities that foster continuous feedback, delivering effective and engaging Excel learning solutions.
2021: StoryWall – Exemplar Moodle site - Developed a comprehensive Moodle site with information and teaching resources on the StoryWall approach that can be easily transferred to other courses.
2019 - 2020: StoryWall – Formative Assessment Model - ACTL3192/5306 - Created the StoryWall Formative Assessment Model, which is a learner-centred pedagogical approach that integrates specific conditional actions into online discussion forums to create formative assessment tasks. StoryWall has been adopted by teaching staff across multiple Schools with very positive feedback from students and educators.
2020: Sandbox – New Milestone Formative Submission Model - ACTL3192/5306 - Implemented the Sandbox Industry Challenge Project in ACTL3192/5306, which aims to enhance students' career-focused learning experience by bringing real-world scenarios and real industry challenges into the classroom, creating a safe space for students to explore, collaborate, and make changes. Developed a new Sandbox formative milestone submission assessment model. Received strong positive feedback from students and industry partners. Investment Magazine (18/01/2020): UNSW Sandbox Program highlights challenges of providing quality, scalable guidance
2020: Digital Placemaking - Creating Virtual Student Learning “Places” to engage students - RISK3003/5003, ACTL3192/5306, RISK5001 - Pioneered the virtual "Student Common" room via "digital placemaking" to transform online “space” into meaningful learning “places” to help build an effective online learning community for students to connect, communicate, and collaborate with their peers. Business School Staff Stories: Bold Ideas for the Student Experience, TEACH @Business (pp10-13)
2018-2020: Retirement VR – ACTL3192/5306 - Retirement VR, Inspiring Student Learning through Immersive Learning Experiences with Interactive Virtual Reality.
2016: Online Personalised Adaptive Revision Tool - ACTL5401 Retirement Planning (Distance Learning) - This approach addresses the limitations of the existing delivery format for both face-to-face and distance learning cohorts by providing instant feedback and automated learning/revision pathways to meet the different learning needs of a diverse student body.

Courses Taught

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Location

Business

Room 1038C
Quadrangle Building

Contact

+61 2 9385 7119

Kevin.liu@unsw.edu.au

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Publications

by Associate Professor Kevin Liu

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