Published on July 28, 2020 by Sean Flynt  
Stephen Chew
Stephen Chew

Samford University psychology professor Stephen Chew has produced a new video that builds on the extensive public resources he has created to help improve learning and teaching. How to Learn in Pandemic Times offers reassurance that although education might look different in coming months, the way humans learn will not.

“Regardless of the place you find yourself in, learning only takes place in one location, and that’s inside your brain,” Chew notes in the video. “If you understand the principles of how the brain learns, then you’ll be able to adapt to whatever situation you might find yourself in.”

Those principles will be familiar to anyone who has taken advantage of his acclaimed series of videos for students on how to study effectively, but the single new video provides an excellent overview for teachers, parents and students suddenly feeling adrift in the shifting education landscape. In it, Chew describes the science of information processing and warns against common choke points and pitfalls in learning.

Chew is one of the nation’s most celebrated psychology professors and currently serves as chair of the National Institute on the Teaching of Psychology. His many honors include the American Psychology Foundation’s (APF) Charles L. Brewer Distinguished Teaching of Psychology Award, the Society for the Teaching of Psychology’s Robert S. Daniel Teaching Excellence Award, Distinguished Member status in Psi Chi, the International Honor Society in Psychology, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching’s state and U.S. Professor of the Year honors and Samford’s Buchanan Teaching award. He also has served as a Carnegie Scholar and Fellow of the American Psychological Association.

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 6,101 students from 45 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.
Samford University 2020 Annual Report