Empowering students to probe their worlds to become complex thinkers
As an instructor, I see my role as guiding students to probe their world to develop a more complex understanding of it. I equip students with the skills to become complex thinkers by encouraging them to question their snap judgements, consider multiple perspectives, and establish habits of writing and reflection. I do so by incorporating case studies, in-class activities, and out-of-class assignments.
In 2026, I had the honor to win the Doctoral Student Teaching Excellence award both at the department level and at the college level, at the University of Utah, David Eccles School of Business.
Notable evaluation excerpts from former students
“Something that I was really impressed with in regards to Professor Liu was the fact that some students get really talkative and can even seem disrespectful because of how talkative they are and she handled that very well… I have seen her turn some students that I’ve had in other classes that have been very disrespectful into students that are engaged and excited to participate and it’s all about her approach.”
“She is thorough and explains things well. She helps us understand the importance of learning this material and gives great advice and insight.”
“She has great methods of teaching. It’s a great mix of interactive work and book work so we are gaining hands on experience and skills as well as practicing our critical thinking.“
“She also asked us, the students, questions about what we would want from her teaching and what we don’t want. She was able to tailor her lessons to meet our feedback and I thought it was so great. It made me comfortable enough to speak in class and even when I got the answer wrong, I did not feel unmotivated.“
“Professor Liu is one of my favorite professors I have taken a class from at the U. She is very passionate about the topic and her research. She takes an intro level management class that would otherwise be boring to an engaging course that she has obviously spent a lot of time preparing. She cares about her students [and] makes everyone feel welcome and leads a great classroom environment where nobody is scared to share their ideas, leading to great discussions.”
Coco Xinyue Liu 