Dr. Lauren Scharff
Director, Scholarship of Teaching & Learning
Bio
Lauren Scharff is the Director for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) Program and Professor of Behavioral Sciences at the U.S. Air Force Academy, where she has worked since 2008. Prior to that, she was a professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychology at Stephen F. Austin State University where she worked beginning in 1993. She completed her Ph.D. in Human Experimental Psychology in December 1992 from the University of Texas at Austin. Courses she has taught include introductory psychology, leadership, research methods, biopsychology, and perception, and she has won several teaching awards. Her current research focuses on a variety of topics within SoTL (e.g. metacognition, use of knowledge surveys, critical thinking, feedback literacy). Dr. Scharff is past president (2008-9) and a Fellow (2025) of the Southwestern Psychological Association and served as the United States Regional Vice President for the ISSOTL (2016-2019). Her awards include the Florence L. Denmark Psi Chi National Faculty Advisor Award (2007) and the Gary Poole Distinguished Reviewer Award for ISSOTL’s journal, Teaching and Learning Inquiry (2021). She is co-creator of the award-winning Improve with Metacognition website.
Education
Ph.D . Completed December 1992: University of Texas at Austin
Major: Human Experimental Psychology: Sensory Vision and Visual Perception
Minor: Math and Applied Science
Title: Effects of Eccentricity and Convergence on the Critical Disparity Gradient.
M.A. Completed August 1989: University of Texas at Austin
Major: Human Experimental Psychology: Sensory Vision and Visual Perception
Minor: Statistics and Math
Title: The Interaction of Color and Luminance in Random-dot Stereograms Controlled for Chromatic Aberrations.
B.A. Completed May 1987: University of Texas at Austin
Major: Honors Liberal Arts (Plan II); in addition completed basic sequence in honors mechanical engineering.
Title: A Comparative Evaluation Testing the Validity of the Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Finger Tapping Instrument
Professional Experience
Director for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) and Professor of Psychology, Department of Behavioral Sciences & Leadership, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colo. (June 2009-Present)
Distinguished Visiting Professor, Department of Behavioral Sciences & Leadership, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colo. (July 2008-May 2009)
Founding Co-director of the SFA Teaching Excellence Center (Jan. 2006-June 2008)
Full professor promotion approved by Board of Regents (April 2003)
Graduate Program Coordinator for Psychology Department (Sept. 2002-Dec. 2005)
Associate professor promotion approved by Board of Regents (April 1999)
Tenure approved by Board of Regents (April 1998)
Assistant Professor, Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, Texas (Jan. 1993-Aug. 1999)
Instructor for Statistical Methods in Psychology, UT Austin (Fall 1991)
Teaching Assistant UT Austin (Fall 1987-Spring 1992)
Honors & Awards
Best Technical Paper Award for the ASCE Journal of Civil Engineering Education (2022)
The Gary Poole Distinguished Reviewer Award for the ISSOTL journal Teaching & Learning Inquiry (2021)
Dean of Faculty Civilian Category III of the 4th Quarter (2020)
The MERLOT Classics Award for Faculty Development Resources (2017)
Outstanding Academy Educators Award for DFE, May (2012)
The Lauren Scharff State Representative Symposium Endowed Fund for the Southwestern Psychological Association; established April (2010)
AAUW Community Service in Education Award (2008)
Florence L. Denmark National Faculty Advisor Award (Psi Chi) (2007)
Psi Chi Regional Faculty Advisor Award for the Southwestern Region (2004-2005)
College Nominee for the Texas Piper Teaching Award (2003, 2005)
SFA Foundation Faculty Achievement Award for Teaching (2000)
SFASU President's Lagniappe Award Fall 1998 (for work on the ACE/Kellogg Project to revitalize faculty) (1998)
College of Liberal Arts Teaching Excellence Award (1998)
SFASU President's Lagniappe Award Spring 1998 (for efforts reworking New Faculty Orientation) (1998)
AAUW Community Service Award (1998)
SFASU Leadership in Service Award (1996)
Research and Scholarly Interests
Metacognition
Science of Learning
Human Factors
Publications
Select Publications
Scharff, L. & Samuels, M. (2023). Developing and Assessing Respect for Human Dignity in College Students. Teaching and Learning Inquiry. DOI https://doi.org/10.20343/teachlearninqu.11.12
Sloan, J. & Scharff, L. (2022). Student Self-Assessment: Relationships between Accuracy, Engagement, Perceived Value, and Performance. Journal of Civil Engineering Education, 148(3);https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)EI.2643-9115.0000063 Awarded the Best Technical Paper of 2022 by the ASCE Society.
Scharff, L., Draeger, J., Robinson, S., Pedro, L. & Peak, C. (2021). Developing Metacognitive Instructors through a Guided Journal. Teaching and Learning Inquiry. https://doi.org/10.20343/teachlearninqu.9.2.10
Scharff, L., Divan, A. & Motley, P. (2021). Foreword: 2019 International Collaborative Writing Groups (ICWGs). Teaching & Learning Inquiry 9 (1), 258-61. https://doi.org/10.20343/teachlearninqu.9.1.17
Post, M. Bates, K., & Scharff, L. (May, 2020). Factors Influencing Cooperative and Competitive Decisions in STEM Courses. Journal of STEM Education: Innovations and Research, Vol 21(1), pp. 34-40; https://www.jstem.org/jstem/index.php/JSTEM/article/view/2413/2151
Friberg, J. & Scharff, L. (2020). Structures and Considerations for SoTL Educational Development. In Evidence-Based Faculty Development Through the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL), Rachel C. Plews and Michelle L. Amos, Eds. IGI Global Publishers. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-2212-7
Jensen, M. & Scharff, L. (2019). Improving Critical Reading with E-Texts: A Controlled Study in a Collegiate Philosophy Course. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, Vol19(3), pp. 48-67. doi:10.14434/josotl.v19i2.23868, https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/josotl/article/view/23978/32735
Heft, I. & Scharff, L. (July 2017). Aligning best practices to develop targeted critical thinking skills and habits. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, Vol 17(3), pp. 48-67. http://josotl.indiana.edu/article/view/22600
Scharff, L., Draeger, J., Verpoorten , D., Devlin, M., Dvorakova, L., Lodge, J. & Smith, S. (2017). Exploring Metacognition as Support for Learning Transfer. Teaching and Learning Inquiry, Vol 5, No. 1. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.20343/5.1.6
Scharff, L. & Draeger, J. (September, 2015). Thinking about metacognitive instruction. The National Teaching and Learning Forum, 24(5), p. 4-6. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ntlf.2015.24.issue-5/issuetoc
Scharff, L. (2013). Getting at the Big Picture through SoTL. In, The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning In and Across the Disciplines, Edited by Kathleen McKinney. Indiana University Press.
Vision Science & Human Factors
Gibb, R., Ercoline, W., & Scharff, L. (December 2011-January 2012). Curbing a Killer. Aero Safety World. The Journal of Flight Safety Foundation, 46-47.
Gibb, R., Ercoline, W., & Scharff, L. (2011). Spatial Disorientation: Decades of Pilot Deaths. Aviation, Space and Environmental Medicine, 82(7), 1-8.
Kortum, P. & Scharff, L. (2011). The Impact of Web Site Familiarity on User Performance When Critical Navigation Links Change. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, Las Vegas, NV Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.
Gibbs, R., Gray, R. & Scharff, L. (2010). Aviation Visual Perception: Research, Misperception and Mishaps. Surrey, UK: Ashgate Publishing Group. ISBN: 0754674975