Kathryn O’Toole featured image background

Kathryn O’Toole

Associate Professor of Psychology

Dr. Kathryn O’Toole knew North Park was the right fit for her because of the close-knit community among students, faculty, and staff. “I eschew the traditional instructor-student relationship, in which the teacher teaches and the student listens, in favor of one that is more cooperative, collaborative, and bidirectional,” she says.

Teaching is her passion, and she finds that North Park excels at fostering the professional growth and development of its professors. “This support allows me to strengthen my pedagogy,” she says, “which in turn benefits the students.”

O’Toole believes that the variety of psychology courses offered meet the needs of all students. “Non-majors will benefit by developing critical thinking skills and applying psychology to their own lives,” she says. Psychology majors will also develop scientific thinking skills to prepare them for success in graduate school and their future careers.

Many of O’Toole’s students gain experiential learning through internships in Chicago at nonprofits, hospitals, businesses, and schools. “I like to point out opportunities for students to apply what they learn in the classroom to the Chicago context,” says O’Toole.

Recent Publications

K. O’Toole. “Young Children’s Story Comprehension from Print and Electronic Books.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago. April 2015.

K. O’Toole, K.N. Kannass, and E. David. “Pre-literacy Skills in Print and Electronic Contexts: Effects of Book Type, Narration, and Attention on Word Learning.” Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Philadelphia. March 2015.

K. O’Toole and K.N. Kannass. “The Effects of Televised Distractors on 3-year-olds’ Task Progress and Attention.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago. May 2014.