Kenneth Kiewra


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Kenneth Kiewra Emeriti Professor, Developmental & Learning Sciences

1982 Ph.D., Educational Psychology, Florida State University
1977 B.A., Secondary English Education, Elementary Education, State University College of New York at Oneonta

Philosophy Statement:

If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day, but if you teach him how to fish, he'll be able to feed himself for a lifetime. (He'll also drink a lot of beer and get sunburned.) Educators need to be more than fish givers (using effective teaching practices that help students learn today), they need also to be good fishing teachers. Educators need to teach students how to learn. They need to embed the teaching of learning strategies in content instruction so that the fishing pole is gradually transferred from teacher to student.

Talent is not potential but productivity, not promise but fulfillment, and not answers on an intelligence test but real-world achievement.

Talent is not born but made. Whatever biological hand we are dealt can be greatly enhanced as we draw new environmental cards that support or even trump biology. Through practice and training, we can alter our bodies and our brains. We make talent. None of the famously talented people you know, or I studied, could have been who they became without a constellation of environmental factors firing in sync.

Talent is a continuum, a process of increasing growth, striving to be better on Friday than on Monday, in December than in January. All people are somewhere on that talent continuum. There are no winners and losers, only developers—whether talent takes us to Carnegie Hall or to community band.

Courses Taught

  • EDPS 209 - Academic Success
  • EDPS 362 - Learning in the Classroom
  • EDPS 855 - Teaching Learners to Learn
  • EDPS 921 - Creativity and Talent Devlelopment
  • EDPS 966 - Psychology of Learning

Published Books

  • Kiewra, K.A. (in press). Be a More Productive Scholar. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
  • Kiewra, K. A. (2022). SOAR to college success and beyond (First Edition). San Diego, CA: Cognella.
  • Kiewra, K. A. (2019). Nurturing children’s talents: A guide for parents. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger
  • Kiewra, K. A. (2009). Teaching how to learn: The teacher’s guide to student success. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
  • Kiewra, K. A. (2005). Learn how to study and SOAR to success. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
  • Kiewra, K. A., & DuBois, N. F. (1998). Learning to learn: Making the transition from student to lifelong learner. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

Professional Highlights


Honors and Recognition
2023, John E. Weaver Professorship in Recognition of Sustained Teaching Excellence and National Visibility for Instructional Practice, University of Nebraska-Lincoln2023, Donald R. & Mary Lee Swanson Award for Teaching Excellence, CEHS, University of Nebraska-Lincoln2022, Featured as a pioneering scholar in the Hefer Bembenutty Contemporary Pioneers in Teaching and Learning2021, Outstanding Teaching and Instructional Creativity Award (OTICA), University of Nebraska’s Four Campuses2021, Recognized Among the Top 2% of the Most Cited Researchers Worldwide2021, Keynote Speaker, 17th Conference of the European Council for High Abilities, Porto, Portugal2017, Advisor to Abe Flanigan, Recipient of Outstanding Graduate Research and Creative Activities Award, University of Nebraska-Lincoln2013-2014, Charman Outstanding Professor Award, College of Education and Human Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln2000, Phi Delta Kappan Outstanding Dissertation Award to advisee Patti Gubbels1999, Oneonta State University’s 110 Top Graduates (in 110 years)1998, Distinguished Teaching Award, Teachers College, University of Nebraska-Lincoln1991, Advisor to Sung-Il Kim, Recipient of APA’s 1991 Edwin B. Newman Award1991, Honorary Member in Golden Key National Honor Society, University of Nebraska-Lincoln1984, Honorary Member in Golden Key National Honor Society, Kansas State University
Experience
2001-2005, Editor of Educational Psychology Review1995 to present, Professor of Educational Psychology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln1989-1994, Director of the Academic Success Center, University of Nebraska-Lincoln1988-1995, Associate Professor of Educational Psychology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln1986-1988, Associate Professor of Psychology, Utah State University1982-1986, Assistant Professor of Educational Psychology, Kansas State University1982, Research Assistant, Florida State University1979-1982, Teaching Assistant for Educational Psychology, Florida State University1978-1979, Varsity Tennis Coach, Miller Place, NY1977-1979, Third Grade Teacher, Andrew Muller Primary School, Miller Place, NY