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。大规模监禁不成比例地影响社会经济地位较低的人和有色人种。在监禁期间参加教育，特别是高等教育，是已知的减少获释后重返监狱机会的最有效方式。监狱的高等教育项目目前普遍缺乏STEM课程，由于最近立法的变化，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强。在监狱环境中应用计算机科学教育研究将为与特殊人群相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面临的挑战。此外，该团队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机，例如访问互联网和在线资源有限。扩大和改善监狱中的计算机科学教育也将使我们的学生人口和劳动力多样化，特别是在未被充分代表的种族、年龄和社会经济地位群体中，为计算机领域服务。这个扩大参与计算示范项目将扩大被监禁的个人（以及构成监狱人口大多数的代表性不足的群体）对计算的参与。具体地说，这个项目寻求发现和发明在监狱大学级别教授计算机的最佳实践。这项研究将通过研究小组自己的教学干预和每周在课堂上被监禁的学生的自我反思来获得信息。通过在监狱环境中教授编程入门课程，本研究将回答以下研究问题：1)在监狱环境中执行大学水平的计算机课程的挑战是什么；2)被监禁学生面临的独特挑战是什么；3)在这种环境下的教学经验如何改善计算机教育？这一新知识将帮助全国的计算机教育工作者准备好参与监狱高等教育项目的扩展，并为他们所教的在押学生提供最好的服务。此外，这项工作将引起计算机教育研究界对被监禁学生群体独特的学术优势和需求的关注，以及监狱计算机教育对被监禁个人和社会的深远积极影响。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

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.