She is an international expert in the fields of cognitive and learning sciences, comprehension, writing, natural language processing (NLP), intelligent tutoring, and artificial intelligence in education. She and her team have developed several intelligent tutoring systems, including iSTART and Writing Pal, for comprehension and writing instruction and practice. Research on these technologies have explored methods for improving student engagement via game-based practice, enhanced adaptability functions, and assessed the feasibility and usability of these systems in real world settings such as high school classrooms. Dr. McNamara has also led the development and testing of multiple NLP tools that have been used in various contexts and learning environments involving essay writing, reading comprehension, second language learning, and creativity. Such tools allow for quick, efficient, and reliable analyses of large text corpora, which is particularly relevant and valuable when analyzing big data. She is an APS, AERA, and ST&D fellow, Founding Editor of APA Technology, Mind, & Behavior, and served as associate editor for the Cognitive Science Journal, Journal of Educational Psychology, Learning & Instruction, International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education, and founding AE of Topics in Cognitive Science.