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Stephen Tonks, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Educational Psychology Dept of Leadership, Educational Psychology & Foundations Graham Hall 227B DeKalb, IL 60115 (815) 753-5429 stonks@niu.edu |
| Education
My research interests focus on motivation and culture, and on ways to increase students’ motivation in the classroom. I also have strong interests in Japanese schooling and culture and in reading motivation. In my research, I strive to be open to the uniqueness of ethnicities and cultures, including individuals within these groups, such that existing theories of motivation may need to be tailored to groups and individuals in order to be effectively applied. I am currently working on a study of perceived autonomy and academic motivation in Japanese elementary school students, as well as a study linking standardized testing to motivational and emotional outcomes in U.S. elementary school students. Previously, I worked for six years on an intervention project called Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction that aims to increase reading engagement and motivation and thereby reading achievement in elementary school students. Full Vita (pdf) |
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