Rhonda Martinussen email: rhonda.martinussen@utoronto.ca   Department: Applied Psychology and Human Development

Research Overview Dr. Martinussen's research interests focus on developing a better understanding of the individual difference and contextual factors that are associated with academic achievement in children with attention and/or learning difficulties. Specifically, she is interested in a) research examining the role of cognitive (e.g., working memory) and affective (e.g. motivation) factors in learning (e.g., reading, writing) b) research examining classroom instructional practices and their impact on the development of reading and writing skills in at-risk children, and c) intervention research focusing on the improvement of reading and writing skills in children with attention problems. In applied practice, she is interested in working collaboratively with teachers to build capacity regarding the instruction of students with attention and/or learning difficulties. She is currently part of a research team that is working on two Knowledge Exchange projects. One project is examining how to use multimedia resources to support teacher professional development regarding working with students with ADHD. A second project involves working collaboratively with expert teachers to develop the curriculum for an intensive summer institute for Lead Teachers on ADHD. In addition, her research on cognition, attention, and adaptive instruction has direct implications for classroom instruction in the elementary grades.