Frances Lawrenz
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Professor Emeritus
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Educational Psychology
250 Education Sciences Bldg.
56 East River Road
Minneapolis, MN 55455
- lawrenz@umn.edu
Areas of interest
- Science and mathematics program evaluation
- Assessment instrument development
- Quantitative and qualitative research methodologies
- Mixed methods
Ph.D., University of Minnesota
Francis Lawrenz's major research focus is science and mathematics program evaluation. Lawrenz's evaluations utilize a variety of techniques to best fit the needs of a given situation and usually involve mixing methods in a variety of ways. She has been involved in the evaluation of several national science and mathematics programs. Lawrenz is interested in instrument development and in distinguishing among various types of assessments those that are most appropriate for a given situation.
Awards
- American Educational Research Association, Research on Evaluation SIG Distinguished Scholar Award, for outstanding contributions to advance research in the field of evaluation, 2016
- National Association for Research in Science Teaching Distinguished Contributions to Science Education through Research Award, outstanding contributions to science education, 2014
- American Evaluation Association National Practice Myrdahl Award, for consistent, outstanding contributions to evaluation practice, 2006
- All University award for outstanding contributions to graduate education, 2003
- Appointment to U of MN Academy of Distinguished teachers, 2003
- Robert Beck outstanding teacher award, College level award, 2003
- Wallace Professor of Teaching and Learning (endowed chair), 2000
- Gordon Mork Award for outstanding UMN Alumni in Education, 1990
Journal articles
Betzner, A., Lawrenz, F. and Thao, M. Examining mixing methods in an evaluation of a smoking cessation program. Evaluation and Program Planning, 54:94-101, Feb 2016
Thao, M., Lawrenz, F. Brakke, M. Sherman, J. and Matute, M. Insights into implementing research collaborations between research-intensive universities and minority serving institutions. Natural Sciences Education, 2015
Bowe, A. Desjardins, C. Covington-Clarkson, L. and Lawrenz, F. Urban elementary single-sex math classrooms: Mitigating stereotype threat for African American girls, Urban Education, 1-30, 2015 DOI: 10.1177/004208591557452
Roseland, D., Lawrenz, F. and Thao, M. The relationship between involvement in and use of evaluation in multi-site evaluations. Evaluation and Program Planning, 48:75-82, Feb 2015.
Evaluations
Evaluation Report UW River Falls STEP Grant: the GREAT Falcon Project, Report available from GREAT Falcon Project, U WI River Falls, July 2016
Data report of the TCAP PI data on plant breeding education across years (2011-15), Evaluation of the Triticeae Coordinated Agricultural Project (TCAP) with Mao Thao, Report available from TCAP project, November, 2015
Data report of the TCAP PI data on plant breeding education across years (2011-15), Evaluation of the Triticeae Coordinated Agricultural Project (TCAP) with Mao Thao, Report available from TCAP project, November, 2015
Book chapters
Lawrenz F. and Thao, M. Science Education Evaluation, Chapter 37 in Handbook of Science Education Research, N Ledderman editor, Routledge, 2014
Lawrenz, F. and Desjardins, C. Trends in US Government Funded Multisite K-12 Science Program Evaluation, in B. Fraser, K Tobin and C. McRobbie (Eds.), Second International Handbook of Science Education, Springer , 2011.
Lawrenz F. and Thao, M. Curriculum Evaluation. In Gunstone R (ed.) Encyclopedia of Science Education, Springer Dordrecht, Heidelberg, New York, London, (2014).