Lawrence earned his Bachelor's degree in social work and psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He earned his Master's degree in educational psychology from Arizona State University. Lawrence's teaching interests are in the area of applied psychology, and he has taught a variety of courses in child and adolescent development, learning, motivation, assessment, action research and early childhood education. Lawrence has also taught general psychology, human development, statistics and research methods in psychology. He specializes in teaching education students how schools can develop protective factors for optimizing child and adolescent development, using motivation concepts in lesson planning, and beliefs and conceptual change in beginning teachers. He has worked as a school social worker and as a school-readiness evaluator for preschools.