| Name: | Dr. John F. McAdam |
| Title: | Assistant Professor, Teacher Education Department |
| Office Location: | Dyson 388I |
| Extension: | (845) 575-3000 ext. 2971 |
| Email: | John.McAdam@Marist.edu |
| Degrees Held: | John earned his Ph.D. from the Lynch School of Education at Boston College and his Master of Education degree from Boston University. His undergraduate work was completed at Salem State College, Salem, Massachusetts. John completed his Ph.D. work at Boston College in 2000 under the mentorship of Lillie R. Albert, Ph.D. and Michael S. Schiro, Ed.D. |
| Bio: | Dr. McAdam joined the Teacher Education Department at Marist College in September of 2000 as an Assistant Professor. During the 2005-2006 Academic Year, Dr. McAdam was recommended for Promotion and Tenure by both his Peer Review Committee and the college-wide Rank and Tenure Committee. He was awarded his Tenure at Marist College in June of 2006. In August of the same year, the Academic Vice-President at Marist College announced that Dr. McAdam was selected as a Special Recognition Award Recipient "in recognition of his outstanding contribution in the area of teaching." Professor McAdam's specialty in the Teacher Education Department includes working with prospective teachers in the area of mathematics education, and assisting elementary and secondary prospective teachers in making connections between their prior procedural knowledge and conceptual understanding. Central to his conceptual framework for the teaching and learning of mathematics is that prospective mathematics teachers need "experiences-as-learners" as they re-learn mathematics with a focus on conceptual understanding. He is fond of saying that "mathematics is not a spectator sport" and that students need to be "doers" of mathematics. Most recently, Professor McAdam's teaching responsibilities have included teaching EDUC 241: Mathematics for Elementary School Teaching: Content and Methodology For Regular and Special Education and EDUC 424: Methods of Teaching Mathematics In Secondary Schools. Former responsibilities included teaching EDUC 111: Learning Through Technology. In addition to his teaching responsibilities, he supervised student teachers in their general education and special education placements. Prior to joining the Marist College faculty, Professor McAdam was an Adjunct Professor at Boston College, a School Principal, and a classroom teacher. Teaching experience in a public school setting included teaching a second-third multi-age combination class, as well as five years as a sixth grade teacher. Experience as a Principal was gained in three distinct public school districts including: Newton, Massachusetts; Melrose, Massachusetts; and Nottingham, New Hampshire which included the Middle School grades of 6 through 8. |
| Interests: | The teaching and learning of mathematics, multiage grouping, and the pursuit of happiness. |
| Awards & Honors: | Marist College Special Recognition Award Recipient for 2006: "John McAdam, Assistant Professor, in recognition of his outstanding contribution in the area of teaching." Marist College Awarded Tenure June 2006 Who's Who Among America's Teachers: The Best Teachers in America Selected by the Best Students: Fifth Edition 1998; Eleventh Edition, 2007 The Donald J. White Teaching Excellence Award, Boston College, 1995 Distinguished Service Award, School Administrative Unit #44, Nottingham Elementary School, Nottingham, New Hampshire, August 21, 1989 - July 31, 1993 Dedication to the Students of Nottingham School Award, Nottingham, New Hampshire, Nottingham School Board, July 28, 1993 Humanitarian Award, Memorial School Parent-Teachers Association, Newton, Massachusetts, 1977 |
| Publications: | Albert, L. R., McAdam, J. F. (2007). Making sense of decimal fraction algorithms using base-ten blocks. In W. G. Martin, Coeditor, M. E. Strutchens, Coeditor, and P. C. Elliot, General Yearbook Editor, The learning of mathematics ( Sixty-ninth Yearbook). Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. McAdam, J. F. (2007). Prospective teachers' use of concrete representations to construct an understanding of addition and subtraction algorithms. In W. G. Martin, Coeditor, M. E. Strutchens, Coeditor, and P. C. Elliot, General Yearbook Editor, The learning of mathematics ( Sixty-ninth Yearbook). Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. |
| Research Interests: | Dr. McAdam's research interests focus on prospective teacher development as they make connections between procedural and conceptual knowledge while learning mathematics content pedagogy. He values the advantages gained through collaboration as demonstrated through his classroom pedagogical practices, and as can be judged through his scholarship and professional presentations. Professor McAdam values working with his former students through Independent Studies. Independent Studies often culminate in co-presentations at local, state, and national meetings of teachers of mathematics. Also, Professor McAdam has continued his professional relationship and collaboration with Dr. Lillie R. Albert, a collaboration started during his doctoral studies as Boston College. |
| Conferences & Workshops: | Spring 2008 (Accepted Proposals) Flood, L. (Marist 07), McAdam, J.F. co-presenters. (2008, April). The Wheel! When Is It Not A Circle? Graph It! Discover Peaks, Valleys, and More! Presentation at the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics 86th Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, Utah. Flood, L. (Marist 07), McAdam, J.F., Schultz, Leah (Marist 06). co-presenters. (2008, April). Hip, Hip, Array! Understanding Multiplication, the Distributive Property, and Algebraic Reasoning. Presentation at the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics 86th Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, Utah. McAdam, J.F., Schultz, Leah (Marist 06). co-presenters. (2008, April). Algorithms: Let's Make Sense of the Short Cuts That Get Us There Faster. Presentation at the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics 86th Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, Utah. Fall 2007 (Accepted Proposals) Krause, N. (Marist 08), McAdam, J.F., co-presenters. (2007, October) Using a Sheet Cake Model to Create, Illustrate & Understand Common Fractions. Presentiation/Mini-Workshop at the Association of Mathematics Teachers of New York State 57th Annual Conference, Rochester, New York. Flood, L. (Marist 07), Flood, L., McAdam, J.F., co-presenters. (2007, October) Hip, Hip, Array! Understanding Multiplication, the Distributive Property, and Algebraic Reasoning. Presentiation/Mini-Course at the Association of Mathematics Teachers of New York State 57th Annual Conference, Rochester, New York. McAdam, J.F., Koegel, K. (Marist 08), co-presenters. (June 27, 28, 29, 2007). Geoboards, Geometry, Algebraic Thinking, and Problem Solving. Three day professional development workshop for teachers of mathematics grades 3-8, sponsored by The Teaching Mathematics for Understanding (TMU) through the UAlbany and Albany School District, Albany, New York. Flood, Lauren (Marist 07), McAdam, J.F., Schultz, Leah (Marist 06) co-presenters. (2007, March). Using A Sheet-Cake Model To Create, Illustrate, and Understand Common Fractions. Presentation at the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics 85th Annual Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia. Flood, Lauren (Marist 07), McAdam, J.F., co-presenters. (January 27, 2007). Hip, Hip, Array! Understanding Multiplication, Decimal Fractions and Algebraic Reasoning Through Cooperative Learning and Concrete-Visual Representations. Saturday workshop sponsored by The Teaching Mathematics for Understanding (TMU) Saturday Institute (Albany, Schenectady, UAlbany), Saratoga Springs, New York. Flood, Lauren (Marist 07), Manning, Michelle (Marist '05), McAdam, J.F., co-presenters. (2006, October) Collaboration: From Theory To Practice. Workshop at the Association of Mathematics Teachers of New York State 56th Annual Conference, Saratoga Springs, New York. Carullo, Mario (Marist 07), Ferrell, Courntney (Marist 05), McAdam, J.F., co-presenters. (2006, October) Algebraic Concepts: Improve the Odds of Developing Understanding of Algebraic Concepts Through Concrete-Pictorial-Symbolic Modeling With Algebra Tiles. Mini-Course at the Association of Mathematics Teachers of New York State 56th Annual Conference, Saratoga Springs, New York. McAdam, J.F, Schultz, Leah (Marist 06) co-presenters. (2006, April). Probability For All! Don't Leave It To Chance. Presentation at the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics 84th Annual Meeting, St. Louis, Missouri. Albert, L.R., McAdam, J.F, (2006, April). Counting on Algebra: Using Representations to Promote Algebraic Thinking. Presentation at the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics 84th Annual Meeting, St. Louis, Missouri. McAdam, J.F.(2005, November) Using Base Ten Blocks to Understand Decimal Fraction and Decimal Fraction Algorithms. Presentation/Workshop at the Association of Mathematics Teachers of New York State 55th Annual Conference, Buffalo, New York. McAdam, J.F., Nesti, M. (Marist 05), co-presenters. (2005, November) Geoboards & Geometry to Discover Prime Numbers and More. Presentation/Workshop at the Association of Mathematics Teachers of New York State 55th Annual Conference, Buffalo, New York. Manning, M. (Marist 04), McAdam, J.F., co-presenters. (2004, November) Long Division: An Algorithm That Students Can Really Figure Out And Understand. Presentation/Workshop at the Association of Mathematics Teachers of New York State 54th Annual Conference, Rye, New York. Albert, L.R., McAdam, J.F., co-presenters. (2004, April). Competition to Collaboration: Engaging in Hands-on and Mind-on Problem Solving. Presentation at the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics 82nd Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Ciccone-Burns, C.M., (Marist 02), Manning, M. (Marist 04), McAdam, J.F., co-presenters. (Spring 2004) Math Madness Workshop! Overlook Primary School, Poughkeepsie, New York. McAdam, J.F., Wegel, K.M. (Marist 03), co-presenters. (2003, November). Probability For All! Don't Leave It To Chance! Make Probability More Likely To Happen In Your Classroom. Join Us For a Hands-on and Mind-on Workshop. Presentation/Workshop at the Association of Mathematics Teachers of New York State 53rd Annual Conference, Syracuse, New York. McAdam, J.F. presenter (2003, April). Long Division: An Algorithm That Students Can Really Figure Out. Presentation at the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics 81st Annual Meeting, San Antonio, Texas. Ciccone-Burns, C.M., McAdam, J.F., co-presenters. (2002, December 3) Long Division: An Algorithm That Students Can Really Figure Out. Presentation Sponsored by Mid-Hudson Teacher Center, Wallkill Teachers Association, Gardiner, New York. Albert, L.R., McAdam, J.F., co-presenters. (2002, November 15) by invitation from NCTM. Decimal Fraction Algorithms Using Base Ten Blocks: Theory into Practice. Presentation at the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Eastern Regional Conference, Boston, Massachusetts. Albert, L.R., McAdam, J.F., co-presenters. (2002, April). Developing Multiple Representations of Fraction Algorithms Using Concrete Materials. Presentation at the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics 80th Annual Meeting, Las Vegas, Nevada. Albert, L.R., McAdam, J.F., co-presenters. (2001, April). Theory and Practice: Decimal Fraction Algorithms Using Base Ten Blocks. Presentation at the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics 79th Annual Meeting, Orlando, Florida. Albert, L.R., McAdam, J.F., co-presenters. (2000, April). Using drawings to examine elementary teachers' perceptions of teaching mathematics. Presentation at the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics 78th Annual Meeting, Chicago, Illinois. |
| Affiliations: | National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Association Mathematics Teachers of New York State(AMTNYS) |
| Miscellaneous: | PEDAGOGICAL PHILOSOPHY STATEMENT: As Viewed Through the Teaching of Mathematics Methodology Course I view my teaching philosophy as an evolving set of guiding principles and beliefs that have been grounded by my personal and professional experiences. Among the experiences that contribute to my philosophy are my life's experiences as a student, father, teacher, principal, teacher educator, and researcher. Central to each of these experiences is the recognition and value that I hold for others. In practice I have enjoyed the challenges and successes of working collaboratively to establish and achieve mutual goals. In my teaching of mathematics methodology, I accept the challenge to assist prospective teachers to end the cycle of failure and personal anxiety in mathematics by helping prospective teachers develop their own competencies and pedagogical practices. I accept the challenge to help prospective teachers connect theory and practice by providing them with a model of instruction, which they can implement as teachers in their own classrooms. Through the teaching and learning cycle of the mathematics methodology course, prospective teachers are engaged in activities and with principles of development that are fundamental to my philosophy. Prospective teachers work through hands-on activities with concrete materials that pose problems for them to solve collectively. As they encounter personal challenges, they become interdependent within their collaborative groups, as well as with other members of the class. In this way, prospective teachers assist each other by providing different perspectives and alternate strategies to solve problems. Collaborative group success is a function of both process and product. By engaging prospective teachers in activity-centered collaboration with manipulatives, different perspectives and strategies emerge through active group participation. Real world conflicts will be discussed, alternative strategies evaluated, and solutions agreed upon. Such activity-centered collaborations for prospective teachers promote cognitive processes that provide valuable insights to them regarding mathematics content, pedagogical practices, and children's problem solving experiences. In summary, I have attempted to outline my teaching philosophy while reflecting on my approach to the teaching of mathematics methodology. I advocate for the use of concrete/visual representations in a context of problem solving through group collaboration that relies on interdependence to develop independent learners. I believe in a process/product model that relies upon active participants in a reflective cognitive process. I am aware of the negative attitudes that many elementary prospective teachers have towards mathematics and accept the challenge of assisting them to change those perspectives. I am aware of the research that states that secondary mathematics teachers also need "experiences-as-learners" to broaden their conceptual understanding of the mathematics. Whether the Conference Board of Mathematical Sciences (2001), The National Science Foundation (2002), the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (2004), or Stigler and Hiebert's (1999) review of the TIMSS (Third International Mathematics and Science Study) cross-cultural study, research asserts that mathematics teachers need "experiences-as-learners" (National Science Foundation). Personal experiences as reflective practitioners that engage mathematics teachers in collaborative problem solving activities deepen their understanding of mathematics and develop what Ma (1999) refers to as Profound Understanding of Fundamental Mathematics (PUFM). Also, I value the need to help prospective teachers connect theory and practice. Finally, I view my philosophy of teaching as closely connected to my practice of teaching, and reflective of the current calls for reforms as presented by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Principles and Standards (2000), Adding It Up: Helping Children Learn Mathematics (2001) and the value of group collaboration as espoused by Vygotsky (1978). "I know how to begin the old pattern but I do not know how to begin the new." -Old Kpelle Proverb (Liberia) |
