Latest Updates

03/08/2023 Congratulations to our lab manager, Katelyn McClure, for receiving an offer from Kent State’s Ph.D. program in Cognitive Psychology!

02/28/2023 Check out our lab’s latest work on student motivation, cognitive load, and online lecture video design.

02/27/2023 Dr. Chen has been named the Chair of the Psychology Department at EKU.

11/25/2022 Check out our lab’s presentation on the usage of headings in reading and writing.

11/10/2022 Check out our lab’s new study on headings and the teaching of headings.

10/24/2022 Congratulations to our lab manager, Katelyn McClure, for successfully defending her Master’s thesis!

08/25/2022 Dr. Chen has been appointed as the Interim Chair of the Psychology Department at EKU

11/12/2021 Check out our lab’s latest Human Factors publication on voice effect on student effort and performance.

11/09/2021 Our lab presented three studies at the annual conference of the Kentucky Academy of Science. Three studies were presented, including 1) Human-Dog Interactions: Effects on Openness and Happiness [Christian Phillips], 2) Non-Native English-Speaking Instructors and Online Learning [Katelyn McClure], and 3) Effects and Implications of Contact Hypothesis in the Online Classroom [Benjamin Meadows]. Ben’s presentation has also garnered the third-place award at the conference. Congratulations!

07/01/2021 Dr. Chen has received a temporary assignment as the Interim Associate Dean of the College of Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences.

04/19/2021 Check out our lab’s latest presentations on Literature Genre Effects (by Katelyn McClure) and Lecture Video Styles with Non-Native-English-Speaking Instructors.

04/12/2021 Thomas Morris, winner of the student presentation award at the 2020 KAS conference, has also won the first place poster award at the annual Blue Ridge Undergraduate Research Conference. Congratulations Thomas!

04/10/2021 Dr. Chen is the recipient of the 2021 Outstanding Undergraduate Mentor Award by the Kentucky Psychological Foundation.

04/09/2021 Our lab manager, Megan Thomas, is the winner of the 3-Minute Thesis competition for this year. Congratulations Megan! You can check out her presentation here.

03/24/2021 One of our undergraduate students from the lab, Jon Phillips, has been accepted into EKU’s PsyD program. Congratulations Jon!

03/22/2021 One of the undergraduate students from our lab, Thomas Morris, has been accepted into eight PhD programs for the Fall 2021 semester. The eight schools include: Old Dominion University, Arizona State University, Clemson University, University of Illinois, Chicago, Ohio State University, Virginia Tech University, University of Central Florida, and Wright State University. Congratulations on this accomplishment, Thomas!

03/10/2021 Dr. Chen is the recipient of the Spring 2021 Teaching and Mentorship Award for CLASS (College of Letters, Arts, & Social Sciences)!

03/05/2021 Dr. Chen is the recipient of the 2020-2021 EKU Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) Award!

11/12/2020 One of the students in our lab, Thomas Morris, has just received the first place student presentation award at the 2020 Kentucky Academy of Science conference. You can check out his presentation on the usage of computer-generated voices.

10/10/2020 Check out our lab’s presentation on the effects of computer audio agent’s voice on learning.

09/01/2020 Check out our lab’s latest research presentation (HFES 2020) on semi-autonomous driving and audio learning.

07/01/2020 Dr. Michael Chen has been named as the new Associate Chair of the Psychology Department at Eastern Kentucky University

07/01/2020 Dr. Michael Chen has been promoted to the rank of Associate Professor in Psychology

06/01/2020 Our lab has published a new study on the Effects of Priming Messages to Decrease Negativity in Online Learning Environments!

04/07/2020 One of our former research assistants, Haley Hill, hasjust been accepted into EKU’s PsyD program. She is the third student from our lab in the past three years to have been admitted into the doctoral program. Congratulations Haley!

03/13/2020 Our lab has published a new study on the Effects of Lecture Video Styles on Engagement and Learning!

02/03/2020 One of our former lab members, Emma Moore, has just been accepted into a MPH program in Global Health at Queen’s University Belfast (Northern Ireland). Congratulations Emma!

1/03/2019 Dr. Chen is presenting his research on heading structure and highlighting at NITOP. Click here for the PDF file of the poster.

12/21/2019 Dr. Chen has just received early promotion to the rank of Associate Professor!

11/05/2019 Our senior research assistant, Haley Hill, has just won 2nd place in the annual Kentucky Academy of Science poster presentation. Congratulations Haley!

10/12/2019 Check out the new autonomous driving study! This study will be presented at the annual conference of the Kentucky Academy of Science

04/09/2019 Dr. Chen was nominated for the 2019 Critical Reading and Critical Thinking Teaching Award!

01/03/2019 Dr. Chen has just received a grant to purchase an eye-tracker. Please contact Dr. Chen if you are interested in working in his lab!

04/01/2019 The eye-tracker has arrived! Here is a sample output video

01/03/2019 Dr. Chen has just received a grant to purchase an eye-tracker. Please contact Dr. Chen if you are interested in working in his lab!

10/09/2018 Dr. Chen’s work was featured in the Best Lessons series!

08/14/2018 Dr. Chen presented his latest findings on Gamified Practice Testing at the annual Distance Teaching & Learning in Madison, WI.

04/02/2018 Dr. Chen was nominated for the 2018 Critical Reading and Critical Thinking Teaching Award.

03/26/2018 Dr. Chen is the recipient of the 2017-2018 Faculty Innovation in Teaching Award!

02/08/2018 Dr. Chen is presenting his latest research findings on lecture video rendering and online disinhibition effect at Morehead State University as an invited colloquim guest speaker.

12/14/2017 Dr. Chen has just received the Early Career Travel Grant from the Society for Teaching in Psychology. He will be attending the annual meeting in 2018.

12/08/2017 Watch Dr. Chen’s latest media appearance with EKU Online.

12/06/2017 Dr. Chen was nominated for the 2017 E-Campus Excellent Online Instructor and Excellent Online Course Design awards.

11/12/2017 Dr. Chen has just received a mini-grant award to promote Chinese language and culture at Eastern Kentucky University!

10/13/2017 Dr. Chen will be teaching Physiological Psychology (PSY 311) during winter term this year. Sign up before it’s too late!

08/26/2017 Dr. Chen is teaching PSY 309W and PSY 200 online this Fall. The LET lab is currently conducting several studies on reading processes, growth mindset, and online disinhibition effect. Please contact Dr. Chen if you are interested in joining the lab.

08/01/2017 Dr. Chen’s work was featured on the Society for the Teaching of Psychology’s website. Here is the link to Dr. Chen’s article.

5/16/2017 Dr. Chen will be teaching PSY 309W Research Methods and PSY 317 Cognitive Psychology this summer.

5/1/2017 Dr. Chen will be presenting his findings about incorporating gamified elements into teaching at the annual Human Factors and Ergonomics Conference 

5/1/2017 Dr. Chen will be presenting his findings about the strategic usage of small groups at the annual Pedagogicon Conference