Research Overview

Professor McAdam's primary interests are teaching, teaching psychology, general psychology, history of psychology, and human biopsychology.

The development and use of procedures that will move in the direction of individualization of large lecture courses has been a major interest. The advanced undergraduate as peer-teacher has been a central fixture in this effort. The chief concern has been to provide the appropriate support for the peer teachers to allow them to use their individual knowledge of the subject matter in service of the general educational goals of the course. A related area of interest is introductory/general psychology and the development of materials that will focus on the interrelationships, specifically the bridges, between the various areas of psychology.

Selected Publications

• Mathie, V.A., Benjamin, L., Beins, B. , Ewing, M., Hall, C., Henderson, B., McAdam, D., and Smith, R. Promoting Active Learning in Psychology Courses. In Handbook for Enhancing Undergraduate Education in Psychology: The 1991 St. Mary's Conference. Thomas V. McGovern (Ed.) American Psychological Association, 183-214, 1993.
• Provocations: Teaching Essays, Poems, & Pictures. Privately printed. Second Edition, 133 pages, 1997.