BPC-DP: Improving Computing Education for Incarcerated College Students

加州大学圣地亚哥分校将在监狱环境中部署和评估计算机科学教育的创新。大规模监禁对社会经济地位较低的人和有色人种的影响不成比例。 在监禁期间参加教育，特别是高等教育，是减少一个人获释后重返监狱的最有效的方法。监狱中的高等教育课程目前普遍缺乏STEM课程，由于最近的立法变化，高等教育的机会将增加，因此增加多样化机会的势头正在增长。在监狱环境中应用计算机科学教育研究将为与独特人群有关的领域提供新的知识，包括解决学术准备方面的差距，成人学习者的需求以及有学习障碍的学生所面临的挑战。 此外，该团队还将研究如何在具有重大环境障碍的环境中有效地教授计算，例如有限的互联网和在线资源。扩大和改善监狱中的计算机科学教育也将通过使我们的学生人口和劳动力多样化来服务于计算领域，特别是在代表性不足的种族，年龄和社会经济地位群体中。这个扩大参与计算示范项目将扩大参与计算之间的监禁个人（和代表性不足的群体，构成监狱人口的大多数）。具体而言，该项目旨在发现和发明在监狱大学一级教授计算机的最佳做法。这项研究将通过研究小组自己的教学干预和每周的自我反思，从他们的班级被监禁的学生。通过在监狱环境中教授入门编程课程，本研究将回答以下研究问题：1）在惩教环境中执行大学水平的计算课程的挑战是什么？2）被监禁的学生面临的独特挑战是什么？3）如何从这种环境中的教学中吸取的教训，提高计算教育？这些新知识将帮助全国各地的计算机教育工作者做好准备，参与监狱高等教育项目的扩展，并为他们所教的被监禁学生提供最好的服务。此外，这项工作将提请注意在计算教育研究界的独特学术实力和被监禁的学生群体的需求，以及深远的积极影响，在监狱中的计算教育可以对被监禁的个人和society.This奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

The University of California, San Diego will deploy and assess innovations in computer science education in prison settings. Mass incarceration disproportionately impacts people of lower socioeconomic status and people of color. Participating in education during incarceration, and especially higher education, is the most effective way known to reduce one’s chances of returning to prison once released. Higher education programs in prisons are currently broadly lacking in STEM offerings, and momentum is growing to increase diverse opportunities as access to higher education is set to increase due to recent change in legislation. Applying computer science education research in prison settings will contribute new knowledge to the field pertaining to a unique population including addressing gaps in academic preparation, the needs of adult learners, and challenges faced by students with learning disabilities. In addition, the team will study how to effectively teach computing in a setting with significant environmental barriers, such as limited access to the internet and online resources. Expanding and improving computer science education in prisons will also serve the field of computing by diversifying our student population and workforce, specifically amongst underrepresented racial, age, and socioeconomic status groups. This Broadening Participation in Computing Demonstration Project will broaden participation in computing amongst incarcerated individuals (and the underrepresented groups that make up the majority of the prison population). Specifically, this project seeks to discover and invent best practices for teaching computing at the college-level in prisons. The research will be informed through the research team's own instructional interventions and weekly self-reflections from the incarcerated students in their classes. Through teaching introductory programming courses in a prison setting, this research will answer the following research questions: 1) what are the challenges of executing college-level computing courses in a correctional setting; 2) what are the unique challenges faced by incarcerated students; and 3) how can the lessons learned from teaching in this environment improve computing education in general? This new knowledge will help prepare computing educators across the country to participate in the expansion of higher education programs in prisons, and best serve the incarcerated students they teach. In addition, this work will bring attention in the computing education research community to the unique academic strengths and needs of the incarcerated student population, and the profound positive impact that computing education in prisons can have on incarcerated individuals and society.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.