Stephen Linn Chew
Professor
Howard College of Arts and Sciences
Psychology
201 Ingalls Hall
slchew@samford.edu
205-726-2562

Stephen L. Chew has been a professor of psychology at Samford since 1993. He served as department chair from 1993 to 2019. Trained as a cognitive psychologist, he is a nationally recognized expert on the cognitive basis of effective teaching and student learning. He conducts original research on topics such as using examples in teaching, the impact of cognitive load on learning, the importance of student curiosity and trust in the teacher, and the tenacious misconceptions that students bring into the classroom. He also works to translate cognitive research into accessible knowledge for teachers and students. He is the creator of a groundbreaking series of YouTube videos for students on studying effectively based on cognitive research. The videos have received millions of views and are used worldwide at educational institutions, from high schools to professional schools.

Chew was selected as a Carnegie Scholar in 1998 as part of the Carnegie Academy for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (CASTL). He was awarded the Buchanan Award for Classroom Teaching Excellence from Samford in 1999. In 2005, he received the Robert S. Daniel Teaching Excellence Award from the Society for the Teaching of Psychology as the outstanding teacher of psychology at four-year colleges and universities. He was named the 2011 Outstanding Master’s Universities and Colleges U.S. Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. He earned the American Psychology Foundation’s (APF) Charles L. Brewer Distinguished Teaching of Psychology Award 2018. In 2022, he received the Award for Distinguished Career Contributions to Education and Training in Psychology from the American Psychological Association. He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and a Distinguished Member of the Psi Chi International Honor Society in Psychology. He regularly serves as a keynote speaker and workshop leader at conferences on teaching in general and on the teaching of psychology in particular.

 

Degrees and Certifications

  • PhD, University of Minnesota
  • BA, The University of Texas at Austin

Awards and Honors

  • U.S. Professor of the Year. The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE).
  • Carnegie Scholar, Carnegie Academy for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
  • Charles L. Brewer Distinguished Teaching of Psychology Award
  • Psi Chi Distinguished Member Award
  • John H. Buchanan Award for Excellence in Classroom Teaching. Samford University
  • Alabama Professor of the Year. The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE).
  • Robert S. Daniel Excellence in Teaching Award. Society for the Teaching of Psychology, Division 2 of the American Psychological Association, 2005.
  • Fellow of the American Psychological Association; Division 2: Society for the Teaching of Psychology.

Publications

  • Dunn, D. S., & Chew, S. L. (Eds.) (2005). Best Practices in Teaching Introduction to Psychology. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

  • Chew, S. L. (2005). Seldom in Doubt but Often Wrong: Addressing Tenacious Student Misconceptions. In Dunn, D. S., & Chew, S. L. (Eds.). Best Practices in Teaching General Psychology (pp. 211-223). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

  • Berry, J. W., & Chew, S. L., (2008). Improving Learning Through Interventions of Student-Generated Questions and Concept Maps. Teaching of Psychology, 35, 305-312.

  • Chew S. L., Bartlett R., Dobbins, J., Hammer E. Y., Kite, M., Loop, T., McIntyre, J., Rose, K. A. (2009). Contextual Approach to Teaching: Bridging Goals and Outcomes. In D. Halpern (Ed.), Undergraduate Education in Psychology: Blueprint for the Discipline's Future. Washington, D.C.: APA.

  • Chew, S. L. (2010). Improving Classroom Performance by Challenging Student Misconceptions about Learning, APS Observer, 23, 51-54.

  • Chew. S. L. (2012). Challenging Core Student Beliefs and Values during Teaching. In L. E. Landrum and M. A. McCarthy (Eds.). Teaching Ethically: Addressing the Ethical Challenges Facing Undergraduate Teachers of Psychology. Washington D.C.: APA.

  • Daniel, D. B., & Chew, S. L. (2013). The Tribalism of Teaching and Learning. Teaching of Psychology 40, 363-367. doi: 10.1177/0098628313501034.

  • Chew, S. L. (2014). Helping Students to Get the Most Out of Studying. In V. A. Benassi, C. E. Overson, & C. M. Hakala (Eds.). Applying science of learning in education: Infusing psychological science into the curriculum. Available at the Society for the Teaching of Psychology website. 

  • Chew, S. L., Halonen, J. S., McCarthy, M. A., Gurung, R. A. R., Beers, M. J., McEntarffer, R., & Landrum, R. E. (2018). Practice What We Teach: Improving Teaching and Learning in Psychology, Teaching of Psychology, 45, 1-7. doi: 10.1177/0098628318779264

  • Chew, S. L. (2018). Learning science and the teachable moment: The importance of the interactions between factors that affect learning. Impact, 1 (3), 65-67.

  • Bernstein, D. A., Frantz, S., & Chew, S. L. (2019). Teaching psychology: A step-by-step guide (3rd ed.). New York, Taylor & Francis.

  • Chew, S. L., Neufeld, G., Hamill, S., Taylor, A, & Macias, S. (2020). Assessing Goal 4 communication skills for psychology across audience, purpose, and context. Teaching of Psychology, 47(4), 296-304. DOI Link

  • Chew, S. L., & Cerbin, W.J. (2021). The cognitive challenges of effective teaching. The Journal of Economic Education, 52(1), 17-40, DOI Link

  • Chew, S. L., (2021). Using Examples to Promote Learning. The Teaching Professor.

  • Chew, S. L. (2021, August 23). The superpowers of the psychology major. Psychology Teacher Network. American Psychological Association. 

  • Chew, S. L., Naufel, K. Z., Boysen, G. A., Wickes, K., & Rudmann, J. (2022). Why introductory psychology? In Gurung, R. A. R. & Neufeld, G. (Eds.), Transforming introductory psychology: Expert advice on teacher training, course design, and student success (pp. 9-26). American Psychological Association. DOI Link

  • Chew, S. L., Boysen, G. A., Naufel, K. Z., Wickes, K., & Rudmann, J. (2022). The successful psychology course: Transformative skills in introductory psychology. In Gurung, R. A. R. & Neufeld, G. (Eds.), Transforming introductory psychology: Expert advice on teacher training, course design, and student success (pp. 139-170). American Psychological Association. DOI Link

  • Chew, S. L. (2021). An advance organizer for student learning: Choke points and pitfalls in studying. Canadian Psychology/Psychologie Canadienne, 62(4), 420–427. DOI Link

  • Chew, S. L. (2022, September). Two Truths and Lie about Introductory/AP Psychology. Psychology Student Network. American Psychological Association. 

  • Chew, S. L. (2023). The Culture of Teaching We Have Versus the Culture of Teaching We Need. In C. E. Overson, C. M. Hakala, L. L. Kordonowy, & V. A. Benassi (Eds.). In their own words: What scholars want you to know about why and how to apply the science of learning in your academic setting (pp. 31-43). Society for the Teaching of Psychology.