Dr. Adam M. Friedman is Chair of the Department of Education and Professor of Social Studies Education at Wake Forest University.
Dr. Friedman teaches undergraduate and graduate secondary social studies methods, elementary social studies methods, a graduate research course in social studies, and student teaching supervision. He also designed and developed Sports, Culture, and Geography, a First Year Seminar which he has taught on numerous occasions. Dr. Friedman has also directed a summer study abroad program at the Worrell House in London and directed the LENS program in Nicaragua.
His research agenda focuses on how technology resources, particularly digitized primary sources, and more recently XR technologies, can be used to enhance the teaching and learning of social studies, the factors that encourage and barriers that impede their use, and their impact on student achievement. Recent research includes examining the College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for State Standards‘ impact on social studies teachers’ instructional design and implementation, as well as teaching religion within social studies. He has published his work in a variety of social studies and technology journals and book chapters, including Theory and Research in Social Education, CITE-Social Studies, and the International Journal of Social Education, and was the co-editor of the book Research on Technology in Social Studies Education.
- Chair, Department of Education
- Professor of Social Studies Education
- Program Coordinator, Social Studies Education
- Member, Graduate School Faculty
- Ph.D., University of Virginia, 2004
- M.Ed., University of Virginia, 1999
- B.A., State University of New York (SUNY) College at Geneseo, 1997
- Director, Instructional Technology Group
- Chair, Department of Education, Wake Forest University
- Assistant Professor, Instructional Systems Technology, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
- Lead Graduate Instructor, Department of Leadership, Foundations, and Policy, Curry School of Education, University of Virginia
- Social Studies Teacher, Nelson County High School, Nelson County Public Schools
- Head Varsity Tennis Coach, Nelson County High School, Nelson County Public Schools
- FYS 100: Sports, Culture, and Geography
- EDU 295: Teaching Elementary Social Studies
- EDU 354/654: Content Pedagogy: Social Studies
- EDU 354/654L: Content Pedagogy Rounds: Social Studies
- EDU 364L/664L: Secondary Student Teaching: Social Studies
- EDU 365/665: Professional Development Seminars
- EDU 393/693/783: Individual Study
- EDU 715: Action Research: Social Studies
- EDU 716: Professional Growth Seminar: Social Studies
- EDU 725: Action Research II
- Fitzpatrick, C., Hicks, D., Ogle, T., & Friedman, A. M. (2021). Using extended reality technology for C3 inquiries. Social Education, 85(2), 98-104.
- Fitzpatrick, C., & Friedman, A. M. (2020). Teaching and learning about Islam in a middle school classroom. Religion & Education, 47(4), 44-62. https://doi.org/10.1080/15507394.2020.1834820
- Thacker, E. S., Friedman, A. M., Fitchett, P., Journell, W., & Lee, J. K. (2018). Exploring how an elementary teacher plans and implements social studies inquiry. The Social Studies, 109(2), 85-100. DOI: 10.1080/00377996.2018.1451983
- Thacker, E. S., & Friedman, A. M. (2017). Three social studies teachers’ design and use of inquiry modules. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 17(3). Retrieved from http://www.citejournal.org/volume-17/issue-3-17/social-studies/three-social-studies-teachers-design-and-use-of-inquiry-modules/
- Friedman, A. M. (2014). “Computer as data gatherer” for a new generation: Martorella’s predictions, the past, the present, and the future of technology in social studies. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 14(2). Retrieved from http://www.citejournal.org/vol14/iss2/socialstudies/article1.cfm
- Friedman, A. M., & Garcia, E. R. (2013). “People with real experiences.” Using mobile devices in high school social studies. Social Studies Research and Practice, 8(3), 115-127.
- Friedman, A. M. (2006). World history teachers’ use of digital primary sources: The effect of training. Theory and Research in Social Education, 34(1), 124-141.
- Fitzpatrick, C., & Friedman, A. M. (2024, November). “I got knocked down”: Factors impacting a novice teacher’s decision making. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the College and University Faculty Assembly (CUFA), Boston, MA.
- Friedman, A. M., Fitzpatrick, C., & Fahringer, C. G. (2024, February). Teaching Judaism beyond Hanukkah. International Society for the Social Studies, presented online.
- Hicks, D., Ogle, T., Friedman, A. M., & Fitzpatrick, C. (2021, October). Preparing social studies and ELA teachers to use XR technologies intentionally to support learning. SITE Interactive Online 2021 Conference.
- Fitzpatrick, C., & Friedman, A. M. (2019, November). The ‘difficultness’ of religion. In D. Hicks (Chair), Teacher education: Initiating cases into teaching difficult knowledge/difficult histories. Symposium conducted at the annual meeting of the College and University Faculty Assembly (CUFA), Austin, TX.
- Hicks, D., Thacker, E. S., & Friedman, A. M. (2016, November). Does soccer really explain the world? A global inquiry. Power session presentation at the annual meeting of the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS), Washington, DC.