This post is based on a presentation I made at the 52nd Actuarial Research Conference in Atlanta, Georgia in July 2017. The slides for the presentation are attached.

I was inspired to give this talk by a few conversations I had with other actuarial educators at last year's conference. I mentioned my usual approach to testing both basic and high level thinking skills, along with communication, in the same question on my exams. More than one person was extremely surprised by my approach and exclaimed "I wish I could write...