This award is both humbling and validating. Humbling because I am aware of so many other teachers who are equally deserving. Validating because my efforts as a physics teacher are being recognized. Those efforts have always had, at their foundation, the belief that we learn something because we have evidence to support our beliefs. This is the essence of education: to develop critical thinking abilities that enable important life decisions based on evidence.

Michael Lawrence West Orange, NJ | 7-12, Science, 2013

The official biography below was current at the time of the award.

Dr. Mike Lawrence taught Honors and Advanced Placement Physics C to 11th and 12th graders for 40 years at West Orange High School. He retired in June 2014. Mike spent more than 20 years doing physics education research. He served as the co-director and an expert lead teacher for the Rutgers Astrophysics Institute from 1998-2013; consultant for the Assessment of Scientific Abilities from 2003-2006; consultant for the Investigative Science Learning Environments from 2002-2005; and expert lead teacher for the Video Assessments in Science Teaching Institute from 1991-1996. As a result of his participation in these programs, Mike coauthored physics education research articles. His work was published in six peer-reviewed journals. Mike has presented his work at numerous conferences. These include state and regional conferences, national meetings of the American Association of Physics Teachers, and the New Jersey Science Teachers Convention. Mike's teaching has received formal recognition many times from schools such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton, and the College of New Jersey. Mike has a B.S. in mathematics from the New Jersey Institute of Technology, a M.A.T. in mathematics from the University of Florida, a M.S.T. in physics from Rutgers University, and an Ed.D. in science education from Rutgers University. He was certified in high school physical science education.

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